Hurricane heater ran out of diesel

[Gary Wolfer]

My Hurricane heater started running rough and had a flame out. I purged the fuel line and no fuel came out when it was trying to start so I called Kevin and he said maybe the fuel line is plugged so I pulled the fuel line off the top of the heater and stuck a 5' chunk of 1/4" fuel line between a 5 gallon diesel can and the heater and it fired up and flame is bright orange and good. so Fuel pump is working. I climbed under the coach and behind the heater box there is an inline clear plastic filter that is dry as a bone inside. Does that mean there is no fuel getting to it or can the filter be bad and need replaced Would there always be fuel in the filter if hooked to the fuel tank or could it be plugged at the filter inlet ? Or should I look further between the filter and the tank. It is on my 98 Patriot. I am not sure how hard it is to get to the tank to replace that line or blow it out. If some could help me right away I would appreciate it.

[Marty and Suzie Schenck]

How full is your fuel tank? The factory generally sets that line so it won't draw fuel from the tank if it is at 1/4 or less. If your tank is 1/2 full or so maybe you have a plugged line. Marty

[Gary Wolfer]

The tank gage reads  almost 3/4 of a tank. I am now getting no fuel to the filter so I assume it is plugged. I cannot see where the line goes into the tank it goes up from the back of the hurricane box and above the propane tank I can not see any further. Do you think It could be blown out from the filter connection to the tank?  I had to leave it go until tomorrow but I bought a air hose and will be able to blow it out tomorrow

[Joel Ashley]

It's not uncommon for pickup lines to have been misplaced higher or lower in the tank than factory prescription.  But if you've never had an issue with the Hurricane's fuel supply in the past when you had a less-than-optimum amount of diesel on board, than I'd suspect some debris has been drawn in to block the end of the pickup tube.

I don't know if they put screens or "socks" over the tips of such lines, but if so perhaps algae or 16 years of flotsam has built up enough to plug such a tip-filter device, especially if the rig spends more time parked than on the road.  Blowing air may dislodge things, but the gunk will likely present a repeat performance there or in another device's pickup or filter.  At least filters can be readily changed.

Joel

[Larry Fritz]

Gary,  I have a 98 Patriot 37' Ticonderoga. On my unit the only way to get to the fuel line between the filter and the tank inside is to literally drop the fuel tank.  I have been told it is a big, expensive and nasty job. When the tank drops down, all the lines and cables and stuff between the tank and the rails seems to fall down keeping the tank from easily going back up.

I suggest that if you decide use air pressure to blow out the line, that you keep the pressure no more than 15 PSI to prevent blowing something off or cracking the line. Remember, these lines are 17 years old.

Not sure about your configuration.

Larry Fritz

[Gerald Farris]

Gary,
I would suspect an air leak in the line before a clogged line. If the line is plugged, it should hold a vacuum if you draw a vacuum on it with a vacuum pump. However, if a vacuum pump can not create a vacuum or draw fuel from the tank, you are either out of fuel or there is an air leak in the line.

Gerald 

[Gary Wolfer]

Gerald I did open the bleeder when It was barely running and got zip out of the drain hose. Kevin Lampbert said it was probably the fuel pump. He told me to pull the input fuel line off the hurricane and hook another line from a can of diesel to the inbound line and try it. It fired up and ran normal. Then I found the inline filter. It was a plastic clear one and there was no fuel in the filter. Last time It got this low it started to run rough and I added 30 gallons of fuel and it ran fine. The fuel gage has always been accurate and it shows just below 3/4 of a tank. I have 10 gallons of diesel in jerry cans I will dump them in tomorrow before I try to blow out the line and see if it cures the problem. If so I may have to drop the tank and figure out how to lower the fuel line. I do not want to deal with the heater going off line on 3/4 of a tank. I almost hope the line is plugged.

[Fred Brooks]

     Hi Gary, From reading your posts, I would conclude that you have sucessfully troubleshot your issue. I f you can access and blow on the inlet hose to the filter, you should hear bubbles in the fuel tank. If not then the fuel level is low or the hose is cracked. Not fun working on these but your on the right track. Regards Fred

[Gary Wolfer]

Here is an update to the Hurricane out of diesel issue. I sometimes do stupid things. I sometimes bump my arms and create bruises and scratch my hands  It all comes from age I guess. I added 20 gallons of fuel this morning before I blew out the fuel line. I have been watching the fuel gage while parked the last 3 months. It dropped from full to 3/4 full twice the first time I added 30 gallons of fuel from 5 gallon cans so I did not have to go to the gas station for diesel. The fuel gage went back to full. This morning I added 10 gallons the same way then went to town with my gas cans and got 10 more gallons. I started the hurricane and it started then died. I tried it a second time and it fired off and ran so I bled the system and finally fuel was running out of the bleeder. So I went into the coach and put the key in the ignition and started the engine so I could see how much fuel was in the tank and it dropped almost to the bottom. I cannot believe I was stupid enough not to turn on the ignition and check the gage. I guess it was because it dropped from full to 3/4 with the switch off. Long story short I found a company that delivers heating oil and number 1 and two diesel and they agreed to fill my tank if I signed a paper stating I would not use it over the road. I am not leaving till summer anyway so it will all be used up by that time. I did run down til it quit. The fuel line was dry because it was not getting fuel not plugged up. At least I know if it quits it is an empty fuel tank. I used about a tank and a half of diesel in the last 3 months to heat my coach. It is more expensive than using my electric heater but I always learn the hard way. At least I filled it at $2.21  a gallon this time instead of over 4 dollars. I feel like I forgot what I learned over the years. Thanks for all your posts. I figured I would post this so nobody else makes the same stupid mistakes. Like I said comes with age.

[Steve Huber Co-Admin]

Gary,
It's nice to know there is someone else out there that sometimes missed the obvious and spends much time and effort chasing their "tail". Been there, done that (numerous times)!
Steve

[Bill Sprague]

..... Long story short I found a company that delivers heating oil and number 1 and two diesel and they agreed to fill my tank if I signed a paper stating I would not use it over the road....

More than once I've thought I should put a sticker on the tank fill near the Hydro Hot that says "Furnace/Heating Oil" and another over the driver side tank fill that says "Engine/Highway Diesel". 

[Gary Wolfer]

LOL That would be a good idea sometimes I wish this coach had fills on both sides. At least it is on the passenger side here which works however the guy delivering got soaked because it spit diesel back at us. It is not taking fuel fast enough and keeps kicking off.

[Joel Ashley]

He probably wasn't cognicent that the fill throat and neck of a motorhome isn't exactly wide open to the tank like a home oil tank or truck tank.  High speed pumping doesn't fly, except in your face.

Joel

[Gary Wolfer]

Joel he had a regular gas station Nozzle but it would not take it even on the first click. He had to stand there and hold the nozzle to fill it and it blew back 3 or 4 times  on an 80 gallon fill. It was like a truck nozzle though with the bigger nozzle. It has never blown back that bad before but has kicked off at times.

[Roy C Tyler]

Last week, on the way home from Arizona, we filled up in Henderson, NV and headed on up to the Reno area.  When I got to Sparks, I pulled into a Pacific Pride off the first exit coming into Sparks. I was the only one in the station and it took me 30 minutes to pump 54.33 gallons.  I can never put the pump on one of the click stops.  I have to hold it the full time it takes to fill it. Verrrry Slow pumping.