I need a good mechanic in Prescott AZ.

[learningacrossa]

We started full timing yesterday in our 1985 Travel Queen. She ran great for 685 miles. We traveled from Northern California to Kingman AZ. After I fueled up in Kingman she started have some loss of power during acceleration. It progressively got worse to the point of only doing 15mph on the incline. When pressing on the gas petal it acted as if it was running out of gas, no power. I pulled off on an exit and consulted my mechanic back in CA who is most familiar with it and he had me check the distributor, to see if it had loosened up. It was fine. He had replaced all fuel filters. He mentioned fuel pump and/or possible vapor lock. This took about 30 minutes with the engine off and so when I started it run ok still not much power but still not great. I found a pattern in that if I let it sit and cool then I could drive for a while before I lost almost all power again. I limped it Prescott and on the small hill in town where we were headed for the night she lost all power completely. It died on the hill. I could not get it started. I shut it off and was calling assistance, so I was on the phone for a bit. Got done and tried starting it again and she stated reluctantly. I put her in drive and made it the RV park. Now I just need a good mechanic. The engine was running fine as far as oil pressure and temperature. She starts right up, at least up until I couldn't make it up the last hill. I think fuel pump but not sure. It has a Chevy 454 7.4L engine. I don't think it is altitude but then I have never driven an RV through the higher elevations for a long period of time. Any suggestions?

[jhilley]

you should post a review in

RV Service Reviews

[learningacrossa]

Well we installed an electric fuel pump on the chassis rail and cranked her up and still had the problem. When we removed the fuel filter (the little one by the carb) she ran like a dream. The filter showed no sign of being plugged in any way and looked to be brand new. In any case the I found a great mechanic who not only fixed my rig, he also let us boon dock in his fenced yard, hooked me up to his electric and free wifi.

[learningacrossa]

I have 2 fuel filters on the frame rail. One is the small silver inline cylinder and the other looks like an oil filter, both checked out okay. The mechanic here checked the one near the carb and it looked good also. Not sure about the gas lines, that could potentially be a problem but again the filters (all 3) looked good. Waiting on the part to arrive now. Waiting is so much fun. We have 7 kids with us so laundry time!

[Paul_G_]

x2 on the fuel filter located on the frame rail. On a previous motorhome, I had to have the fuel tanks replace due to rust. The guy that did the tank work did a good job except he didn't replace the pickup tubes which were as rusty as the tanks. Soon after the filter plugged again and again and again, this continued until the pickup tubes were replaced. Goes to show just because you have new tanks doesn't mean all is well and should be ignored.

Paul...

[Emptypockets]

learningacrossameric wrote:
Well a bit of an update, everyone has asked questions and I will try to answer them. First of all I am boondocking in the mechanics fenced in yard AND he let me plug in and use his wifi! I had all the filters replaced back in Feb and had the gas tank dropped and repaired last Sept so we are eliminating the filters. He pulled the small one up by the carb and it looked fine. He thinks it is the mechanic fuel pump. So our plan is to put in an electric fuel pump in under the chassis and go from there. I asked about vapor lock and he seemed to think it wasn't hot enough for it. (When I had her towed in yesterday morning, the temp dropped to around 30 deg that night and she still exhibited the same problems when I pulled her out to get hooked up to the tow truck) So when the fuel pump gets in today and we hook it up< I will update again.

Sounds like you found a qualified mechanic hope he gets you going soon.

[zman-az]

Someone mentioned fuel filter on frame rail. If you have one I would check that before anything else. Dirty fuel goes thru that first before the one on the carb.

[learningacrossa]

Well a bit of an update, everyone has asked questions and I will try to answer them. First of all I am boondocking in the mechanics fenced in yard AND he let me plug in and use his wifi! I had all the filters replaced back in Feb and had the gas tank dropped and repaired last Sept so we are eliminating the filters. He pulled the small one up by the carb and it looked fine. He thinks it is the mechanic fuel pump. So our plan is to put in an electric fuel pump in under the chassis and go from there. I asked about vapor lock and he seemed to think it wasn't hot enough for it. (When I had her towed in yesterday morning, the temp dropped to around 30 deg that night and she still exhibited the same problems when I pulled her out to get hooked up to the tow truck) So when the fuel pump gets in today and we hook it up< I will update again.

[CKNSLS]

Was the gas tank ever cleaned out? A rig that old probably has alot of cr*p in the fuel tank.

[Tim_Nowicki]

Had a 1984 cruise aire many years ago. It had a very fine mesh filter inside the tank. Screwed in from the top of the tank all the way down to the bottom. It was on a very long metal tube. This was the fuel pickup tube.
The mesh on the filter was so fine, it plugged up with crud pretty easy. Never knew it was there till I did some work on the tank. Had to drop the tank. Had the same problem you are having. I eliminated that small filter and no more problem
PS this was a carburated motor with NO fuel pump in the tank. Mechanical pump only.

[Snomas]

My gas 1996 Safari w/ the chev 454 had problems w/ plug wires being damaged from the hot exhust manifold. A typical problem w/the P30 chassis. I found local repair shops on RVrepairreviews.com.

[WA7NDD]

Had the same problem on different motor Ford 460 Van, just as I switched tanks going down the road it just ran out of fuel. Blowing into the gas tank did not help but some gas came out the fill hole. I got a cup collected gas by blowing into the tank then pouring the gas into the carburetor. It started drove a few hundred feet and quit. I did this about three time to get to an off ramp where there was a Quick Stop with gas. I called a tow truck outfit the guy showed up and rammed a screw driver through the fuel filter. It started right up and I drove it on into Salt Lake and back home to Idaho, then change the filter.

[moisheh]

Classic signs of vapour lock. Next time it quits pour some water on the fuel line in the engine compartment. If it fires up right away it was vapor lock. A bad in tank fuel pump can also have similar symptoms. Does an 85 have an engine mounted mechanicalfuel pump?

Moisheh

[Paul_G_]

From past experience, I would guess the fuel filter. A plugged fuel filter will show those exact symptoms. By the way, you have two fuel filters, one along the frame rail (usually right side) and one in the carburetor. Again from past experience, it's usually the one on the frame rail that plugs first. On our first motorhome, I carried two or three as it had rusty tanks until we replaced them.

Paul...

[Seneca_35GS]

Does it have a catalyic converter? A bad catalyic converter makes a engine run like crap.