Fueling up - How to Alleviate Diesel Fuel Pump Burp?

[Rick]

That may be a fast solution to a real problem.

[doszorros]

I have a 96 PT42 with fuel fill on either side. I tried opening the fuel fill on the far side and it merely burped fuel out that side instead of my fill side.

I now put a pair of surgical gloves (mechanics latex gloves) and a rolled up blue shop paper towel in a zip lock bag behind each fuel filler door. When I fuel, I put on the latex gloves and roll the paper towel around the fuel filler nozzle. The towel catches the burp and when finished, I put the soaked towel in the garbage barrel, take off the gloves and put them in the barrel and get back in the coach without having to change clothes and shoes which I have done several times in the past before using this method.

[Stick Miller]

If you really want to tick someone off, pull into the truck lane with a VW Jetta TDI. Diesel passenger car drivers really have to work to find auto diesel. It doesn't take long to fill up the Jetta, but it does burp. Truckers don't like us, but I like the great mileage and when you are wheezing, you buy diesel where you can find it.

[JackandLiz]

Howdy, WOGers.
Thank you for all of the replies to our question.
Today, we bought diesel fuel at the RV pumps at the Flying J station at Tucumcari, NM. The apron in front of the store is pretty large. Jack had a goodly amount of room to pull forward from the pump and turn into the adjoining lane to get out onto the street. This is the first FJ we have been in where there was room to maneuver the coach and the connected toad.

I like the idea of the collar, FuelKleen but it is up to Jack as he is the DRIVER.

Thanks again,
Liz Pearce

[theronflatlee]

Originally Posted by adamssam

artical at the vintagebird site by Jeff Miller...Fuel Filler Splashback Fix...

The PO of our '83 was Gary Miller, Jeff's brother. Gary did this fix and I have never had a diesel bubble bath with that coach when filling with the big nozzle. Our '88, however, needs the fix, but only for the high-flow pumps.

[fxdwg]

John,
That looks like a really neat idea. It's cheap enough, I'm going to make one once I get back home. Have you tried one without the holes?

Jack & Liz,
I've traveled a bunch on the I40 corridor, from AZ to the eastern end of TN. The smallest FJ I've found has been in NM on the western side of the state. I don't remember the town at this time, but it was TINY! I was still able to pull through the parking lot/fuel pumps with my toad and park. I will say I waited a minute for a small crowd to leave, but I was able to get through it. Most are MUCH larger.

[birds_first]

John, I tried one and I got a little burp through the pipe. I think the holes allows the pipe to vent. What I have noticed is the foaming affect is minimum and as soon as you get closer to a full tank the pipe is below the diesel in the tank and you get more fuel & much less foam.

I pull about 3 feet of paper towel from there dispencers and wrap it around the nossel after i insert it in the fill .that seems to stops the burp.

[peteaeonix]

Originally Posted by birds_first

John, I tried one and I got a little burp through the pipe. I think the holes allows the pipe to vent. What I have noticed is the foaming affect is minimum and as soon as you get closer to a full tank the pipe is below the diesel in the tank and you get more fuel & much less foam.

One of the "solutions" to the problem I found when looking for ideas about 3 years ago was to push a pipe fully down into the tank with holes drilled in the sides for the bottom 24" or so.

The pipe would be cut off so it stayed in the tank, just below the 'rim' of the filler tube, so the cap would cover everything.

The suggestion was to use schedule 20 PVC with and inside diameter of 2" -- inside the 3" diameter fuel filler tanks. Nice idea, except (1) I could only find schedule 40 PVC in my area and (2) the fuel filler on my coach is only 2" to begin with.

It seemed as if 1-3/4" pipe might work or even 1-1/2" pipe (have to check the nozzle size) with the 2" filler tube. Copper pipe would also be required since the Schedule 40 PVC is so thick.

Price of copper + learning the rag trick (variations of which have been posted) never got me sufficiently motivated to try this -- but it should offer a more or less permanent solution to the burp problem.

THe only downside I see is that the pipe to the bottom of the tank would stir up the crud that tends to gather there -- so if your tank isn't pretty clean, you might want to proceed carefully (and carry plenty of extra fuel filters).

[fxdwg]

And the vibration of the pipe would eventually wear through the tank floor, all the while putting metal particles into the fuel system.