Got fuel in bus, it died. Stranded....

[wal1809]

For future reference yours is probably mechanical.  Follow the primary fuel line it will lead you to it.  It is gear driven and held on with three bolts, right in front of the blower.  It is kind of a pain in the hiney to get too if you have to.  A quick easy way to prime is a plastic bottle that 80 weight gear oil come is.  just take off a fuel line and jab the pointed nozzle in the line.  When you squeeze the bottle it will push the fuel in there.  Worked well for me a month ago.

[luvrbus]

All 2 strokes have mechanical fuel pumps even the electronic engines 

good luck

[gus]

You left us hanging, what did you do to get it going?

[eagle19952]

So what flavor ice cream does the wife get...

[demodriver]

After I got the filters back on I cranked it for awhile with no luck. It would just spudder and die.  Once the wife got back with the either I had to keep it running for a few seconds with it and it took off.

I have ran it lower then this before (according to guage) and didnt have any issues. I just thought it was awful wierd how it was running fine when I pulled in and then a minute after I bought a little fuel it died.  I will be sure to keep it above 3/8 of a tank from now on.


Thanks again to all who sent pms and who posted with advice.

[robertglines1]

Don't know how a Eagle is but on a MCI -8  setting on a 2 inch slope at pump can lower your level at pick up by 8 to 10 gallons..if wrong side. pick up on passanger side.tank sets cross ways.

[belfert]

I have ran it lower then this before (according to guage) and didnt have any issues. I just thought it was awful wierd how it was running fine when I pulled in and then a minute after I bought a little fuel it died.  I will be sure to keep it above 3/8 of a tank from now on.

I would suggest pulling the fuel sender and checking it.  Mine was rusted all to heck and not reporting accurately.  I ended up installing a new non-mechanical sender from Centroid Products (www.centroidproducts.com).  I first ordered a new sender from MCI, but all they sent me was a generic float type sender that had to be customized for my tank.  I had no idea how to get it calibrated for my tank so I gave up on it.

[demodriver]

From now I will simply relie on my math instead of a guage. The next time I get fuel I get fuel I will put a extra 20 gallons in it and forget its there. I then figure my milleage to my destination and figure how many gallons I need and then buy extra.

[hargreaves]

If you were that low and you said you left it running , when putting the new fuel in it causes air bubbles in the fuel, it probably picked up some air. you should always turn the engine off while fueling. Good Luck  Gerry

[belfert]

A lot of buses don't even have fuel gauges.  Most people just fill up conservatively based on miles driven.  Older Greyhound buses never had fuel gauges.  Greyhound knew how long routes were and where buses needed to be fueled at.

[Busted Knuckle]

A lot of buses don't even have fuel gauges.  Most people just fill up conservatively based on miles driven.  Older Greyhound buses never had fuel gauges.  Greyhound knew how long routes were and where buses needed to be fueled at.

Greyhound even had tags on the dash that said "Fuel after 500 miles" and on the buses with the extra tanks "700" miles.
  BK 

[rv_safetyman]

For those with electronic engines, you can use something like the SilverLeaf to monitor actual fuel going through the engine.  Pretty accurate.  In my case, the generator and Aqua Hot come off a separate tank, so only the engine is using the fuel in the main tank.

Brian hit the nail on the head:  conservative

It makes no sense to push the limit.  Years ago when I had an old Winnebago MH, I used to know how many miles I could get on a tank.  Yes, I used the fuel gauge, but it was not all the accurate.  I was always looking for the cheapest gas.  One time going west on I 80 in Nebraska heading towards my favorite fuel stop, I hit a big headwind and did not take that into account.  Flagging down a trucker to take you to a gas station is not a lot of fun

Jim

[belfert]

I like to minimize fuel stops as each one takes between 20 and 45 minutes.  I always travel with friends and stops generally take a while as some people will go inside to buy stuff.  Sometimes it can take 20 minutes after the bus is fueled to herd everyone back on board.  Before we got the 8x20 enclosed trailer we could make it to Reno, NV with one stop in Cheyenne, Wyoming.  Now, we usually make another stop in Wyoming to top up before we leave the state.

It is still a lot better than 5 guys in a crew cab F350 towing a toy hauler.  We used to have to stop every three to four hours for fuel and every stop took a minimum of 30 minutes.  Everyone would go inside to use the restroom and get food/drinks.  With the bus everyone can use the restroom as needed and we have food and drinks on board.

[Cary and Don]

Have a related Eagle question.  To access the top of the fuel tank on the Eagle,  do you remove the sheet metal box in the passenger side wheel well?  We are looking for the fuel lines to our Webasto and can't figure out where they run to.

Don and Cary
1973 05 Eagle
GMC 4107
Neoplan AN340

[luvrbus]

No Eagles have a small access hatch inside the bus over the fuel tanks unless some idiot covered those 8 x12