During Winterizing Water Pump just stopped

[iluvwdw54]

During our annual winterizing routine, our water pump worked fine for shower and toilet and while pumping to the bathroom sink, it just stopped. Our coach battery is bad, stopped putting the step out, so we assumed that is completely dead and that is why the water pump stopped. Then we start the engine and the entire RV will not start! We have had this issue in the past but it ran fine all summer, no issues. Does a bad step/coach battery effect power to the fuel pump too?

THanks in advance for any help!

[bguy]

For your motorhome engine a new set of sparkplugs may improve starting. Infrequent use and short trips can shorten sparkplugs to the point of fouling.

[iluvwdw54]

yes, gas engine. The water pump was working fine, could hear the buzzing sound it makes and it just came to a dead stop right before I got to the last sink. I thought my husband turned it off from outside where he was holding the container and he thought i turned it off inside. something is preventing power to the coach. just assumed it was a fuse somewhere. they have not been changed since we've owned it from 2006. what about an auxiliary battery relay fuse?

[wa8yxm]

Just a side note.. My water pump was acting weird, Seemed to be sucking air when it first started then, finally once it got pressure up, A leak.

Tightened about half the screws holding it together and now it works fine.

[bguy]

Is this a gas engine?

[iluvwdw54]

We changed the coach battery and also a fuse in there was bad...the step had not been working but we noticed the battery disconnect light is out and also the test lights above the fridge are not coming on. There must be another fuse in there that is bad and i am wondering if that is why the water pump stopped working and possibly the fuel pump. the fuse blowing would explain why the water pump just stopped in the middle of dewinterizing and we had no trouble bringing the RV over from storage and that stopped suddenly as well. Any ideas what fuse would stop the entire power system in the coach?

[Rick_Jay]

You are welcome. 🙂

~Rick

[iluvwdw54]

Thanks, Rick, you've been a huge help! I appreciate it! Donna

[Rick_Jay]

Hmmm...no one else answered. I believe the fuel pump is located in the gas tank, so if someone has their head down near the tank in reasonably quiet surroundings, you can usually hear the pump run.

The fuel filter should be somewhere between the fuel tank and the fuel injector rails on the engine. I believe it does require special tools and the fuel pressure needs to be relieved before attempting to remove the filter. Hopefully someone who has actually done this can lend more input. Perhaps you could ask the question in the

Perhaps this link or this link in the Class C Forums might give you some ideas. On Edit: Found this one too!

If not, you might want to post your question in the Class C Forum where someone is sure to have a rig similar to yours.

Good Luck,

~Rick

[iluvwdw54]

Ok, so that I can tell my husband, where is the fuel pump located and what are we listening for. We are not tech savvy when it comes to this, as you can see! this is our first problem since 2006! Also, he probably knows this, but where is the fuel filter, i need help! haha

[Rick_Jay]

OK, first steps I'd do are to "listen" for the fuel pump and change the fuel filter.

Good Luck,

~Rick

[iluvwdw54]

No, fuel filter has not been changed that we know of. We know the generator shuts down at 1/4 tank and it did that today while running it a bit. It is a Ford Chassis and I do remember reading about fuel pump issues as well. I will ask my husband about that, we can try that tomorrow. Thanks for your help.

[Rick_Jay]

Has the fuel filter ever been changed?

Your comment "It seems when we get down to a quarter tank, we have this problem. That is very characteristic for generators, as the fuel pick-up for generators is usually situated that it will not supply fuel below about 1/4 tank. Just to clarify, you're NOT talking about the generator here, correct?

Is this on a Ford or Chevy chassis? I seem to recall that some Fords did have fuel pump issues somewhere in that era, but not sure if that was on the E-350/450 chassis or the Class A F-53 chassis.

With an ear near the fuel tank, you can usually hear the fuel pump run when the ignition key is put into the "Run" position, right before starting. Can you hear the fuel pump run?

I don't know much about your specific rig so I'm just shooting in the dark. Hopefully someone with more experience can chime in.

Good Luck,

~Rick

P.S. One other thing that occurred to me. If you routinely only keep the tank "half full" or less, there is a good chance that over the years condensation & corrosion have built up in the tank and may be impeding fuel flow. Most recommend that the fuel tank be kept as near full as possible, especially when stored for long periods (and "double especially" if you're in a climate that has cold winter temps). Keeping the tank less then full encourages condensation since there is a larger air-space in the tank.

[iluvwdw54]

I forgot to mention, we tried jumper cables and it is definitely not the problem, the chassis battery is fine, the radio plays fine. We had this problem over the winter and just thought it was too low on gas, once we put more gas in, it did start. Right now there is 1/4 tank and were going to put at least half in but like i said, when we started it, it turned over and almost started, but would not hold enough to run. The emergency starter won't work with the dead coach battery, of course.

[iluvwdw54]

This is a 2000 Coachmen Leprechaun. The regular battery is relatively new, it turns over fine, tries to start with starter fluid but won't hold the start. It seems when we get down to a quarter tank, we have this problem. We checked the fuel shut off under the dash, that is intact as it should be. the coach battery is from 2006 and we should have changed it when we de-winterized the RV and did not. I just find it weird that the water pump stopped and then the motor will not start. It started fine when we took it out of storage to bring over home here. We assumed the water pump problem was the coach battery but wasn't sure if that could affect the fuel pump or not. Just hoping it is not the fuel pump itself.