Hi - Dallas or anyone else who knows about this, What are the mechanical guages? All I have seen so far on my MC9 is the in - dash guage. I'd sure like to know about any mechanical guages. That sounds like a real good idea!
Ever made the BIG mistake, and run your Detroit out of fuel??? All of us who have will never forget it... and those of us who haven't never want to.Well, I have a little trick that I use with Detroits that a mechanic taught me -- years ago when I ran my old Dodge D400 cabover out of fuel. It had a 318, and try as I might I just could not get it to start -- I had completely emptied the pump & filters!One of the first things I do whenever I buy any vehicle with a DD engine is to add a couple of fittings to the line coming from the primary fuel filter to the pump, and I add a check-valve to the line from the tank to the primary (or secondary) fuel filter (this is to keep the fuel from back-flowing into the tank when you pressurize -- many older vehicles did not have one in the line). On the pump side of the primary filter, I add a 90-degree brass elbow with a quick disconnect on the end. I use the male side with an in-line valve so that I can seal the line up after I get everything going again.I also carry a small electric fuel pump -- you can get them at any auto parts store for around $30 to $40 -- with about 6 feet of fuel line that ends in the mating quick disconnect. On the other side of the little pump, I use just enough fuel line to drop into a 5 gallon fuel can.After that, whenever I ran out of fuel, I simply put enough fuel in the tank to get me to a truck stop, then primed the filters and connected the little pump to my new connection; the other end went into a can full of fuel. I would turn on the little pump and let it run for a couple of minutes to pressurize the line to the engine's pump, then start up the Detroit. Once it has run for about 5 minutes with the "assist", shut it down and disconnect your "cheater pump" -- if you used an in-line valve, don't forget to close that before disconnecting!This little trick has worked time and time again for me, and not just on Detroit engines -- Cat engines can be a ^)&%^(*&$#(*& to get started, too!John
John you make a great point, and as a matter of fact I used to use the same set up and posted it a long time ago, then our very own MAK (Mike the owner of this board) taught we a simple neat little trick that works great and cost's less $ ! If you go to any convienence, grocery, walmart, or any other store you can buy a small bottle of dish soap (dump the soap in a cup or ziploc baggie for clean up use after yer done) after putting fuel in the tank. Fill the bottle with diesel, and use it in one of the plugs (where you'd put your quick disconnect) on the filter block to
Quote from: Busted Knuckle on October 20, 2006, 04:06:25 PMJohn you make a great point, and as a matter of fact I used to use the same set up and posted it a long time ago, then our very own MAK (Mike the owner of this board) taught we a simple neat little trick that works great and cost's less $ ! If you go to any convienence, grocery, walmart, or any other store you can buy a small bottle of dish soap (dump the soap in a cup or ziploc baggie for clean up use after yer done) after putting fuel in the tank. Fill the bottle with diesel, and use it in one of the plugs (where you'd put your quick disconnect) on the filter block to Okay, how the heck do you get all the soap residue out of the bottle? I have a soap bottle here I have rinsed numerous times and it still foams up every time I rinse it.Brian Elfert
Quote from: TejasCoachWorks on October 20, 2006, 06:13:52 AM and MC9's don't have one at all.Fuel gauges were an option on MC9s, and I would bet the majority have them.
and MC9's don't have one at all.
Quote from: TejasCoachWorks on October 19, 2006, 08:31:32 PMAfter that, whenever I ran out of fuel, I simply put enough fuel in the tank to get me to a truck stop, then primed the filters and connected the This sentence would indicate that you have run out of fuel multiple times. I don't understand how anyone could make this mistake more than once, unless you are talking on different vehicles.
After that, whenever I ran out of fuel, I simply put enough fuel in the tank to get me to a truck stop, then primed the filters and connected the
Some of the fuel consumption claims that are out of the ordinary are usually traced back to flawed distance measuring devices, or inconsistant tank filling.happy coaching!buswarrior
mileage: how accurate is the odometer/hubodometer you are using? Or the accuracy of ours, the advice givers, for that matter?fuel: are you starting out full to the top? are you filling it up, parked level, front to rear, and side to side, everytime?using a gauge: how do you know whether the gauge/sender unit is reading in a linear fashion?speed? a great big variable!parasites: generator, Webasto, and whatever else that takes fuel out of the tank.Some of the fuel consumption claims that are out of the ordinary are usually traced back to flawed distance measuring devices, or inconsistant tank filling.
Brian, when are you going to post some pix of your coach? All I've seen is the oil filter adaptor. Your mileage is right where S60s fall when driven on flat highways. Seems to be some correlation to moving a specific load at a specific speed. No matter the engine. The difference in high HP engines shows up when climbing mountains...they excel...but there's a cost in fuel economy. Do you have an 11L or 12L 60?