Fueling problems at the pump

[Gregory J Dugre]

I have a 2006 Beaver Monterey Ventura IV
Every time I try and fill up the  pump trips off. I have to hold it just barley on to prevent it from tripping off. Doesn't matter what station I go to. I tried opening the fuel cap on the opposite side but it made no difference. It takes forever to fill up and I need to hold the handle of the pump the entire time. Anyone have any suggestions.

[Steve Huber Co-Admin]

Greg,
This is caused by the design of the Magnum chassis. The filler hose to the tank is almost horizontal and to compound matters the hose connects to the tank at about the 3/4 full point, rather than at the top as one would expect. Monaco didn't change the design until they replaced the M series with the R series chassis in 2007. Some members have fashioned pieces of wood at the right thickness to hold the pump fill lever at the correct position. Also, it helps not to have the spout inserted all the way into the filler neck.
Steve

[Fred Cook]

Yep… I have the same situation. I use one of my keys positioned just right under the fill lever… works every time.

[Richard Davis]

The fuel fill hose turns back at 90 degrees and goes back to the tank from the fuel input location.  Turning the fuel nozzle to point to the back and using the lowest setting of the handle usually works.  There seems to be no good solution.  Using the large diameter high flow handles at the truck pumps is next to impossible.  Even on the lowest setting they will shut off (or splash back out).  It is what it is, so I have learned to live with it.
Richard

[David T. Richelderfer]

If I can, I try to use a pump with a car-filling nozzle as opposed to a truck-filling nozzle.  Usually, a car-filling nozzle will stay on with it set on its lowest filling setting.

When using a truck-filling nozzle, as pointed out in earlier replies, it helps to point the nozzle towards the rear of the coach and not insert the nozzle far into the fill hole.  I use a long standard screwdriver to hold the fill nozzle at a setting that stays on.  Be careful though, with the nozzle being held open with a screwdriver, piece of wood, etc., you run the risk of the nozzle not turning off when it senses the tank is full.  ONE TIME I was not close by when the tank overfilled because the nozzle did not automatically shut off. I estimated a quart or two of diesel spilled down the side of the coach and over the island making a mess.

Stay close to the nozzle and you can hear the sound change when the fuel starts backing up into the hose between the fuel tank and the fill hole.

[Carl Boger]

Greg,

I have had good luck with a simple wooden wedge that goes from 0 to about 1/2 inch, and is about 2.5 inches long and 1/2 inch wide.  I wedge it in the handle either from the back or sideways whichever works best and just crack the fuel flow open.  Depending on how much foam the pump produces it can be opened more or less to fill the tank.  It works on the truck pumps as well as the car ones. 

The only  down side is it will not always click off the pump when it is full so you need to be ready to pull the wedge out to stop the flow when the tank gets near full.

Hope this helps.

[Larry Fisk]

I can usually get the pump to stay on by rotating the pump nozzle upside down, with the handle being in the up position. Once again though you need to be ready to shut it off. It usually will not click off on it’s on. I’ve had good luck guess-timating the amount of fuel I need and flipping the handle back to the normal position when I see it’s getting close.

Larry