Magnet18's 1983 310

[Isuzusweet]

Yeah, it's suppose to be 60 gallons; my diesel is only 50 for some reason.

I'd be checking the ground on your fuel gauge first, and then your sending unit on your tank for poor grounds or connections.

When you gas up, how much fuel, (not money) does she take between fill ups?

Cheers
Sidekick Tony

[Magnet18]

30 gallons. Fuel gauge seems to work OK, goes up to the appropriate full mark after a fill up. According to my notes from the trip home, 1/8th was 26gal, 1/16th was 30 gal on the nose.

According to the previous owner, this is how it has been the 3 years he's had it, consistently, so if it's a bad ground it's a consistent one.

Or it could be someone changed the sender unit maybe.

The thunderstorm has let up for a bit so I got wet and snapped some pictures of the tank. Other 310 owners with 60 gal tanks, is this what your tank looks like?

[Isuzusweet]

I don't have pics of my tank....but I swear it's bigger than yours. I think someone replaced your tank with a smaller one....much smaller.

I'll see if I can take some pics tomorrow.

Cheers
Sidekick Tony

[mayco]

My '82 310 has a 60ga tank. I can't tell from the pic if it's exactly the same size as mine. Are there any signs that the tank has been replaced? I didn't think that AS offered a 40ga but who knows. That IS a pretty short range between fill ups, especially for a gasser.

[Smartstream]

Your tank looks a lot like the one in my 280, which is 60 gal. I suggest you wait until your gauge near empty and crawl under the coach with a small hammer or other knocking device and gently attack the side or end of the tank to get an educated guess of how much fuel is really in the tank.

[ontheroadagn]

I just had my tank out replacing all the rubber hoses and filler neck. 82 310. Tank measures 35.5 x 26.5 x 16.25 tall. I found out my pickup tube was over 2.5 inches off the bottom of the tank and the sending unit was out of adjustment. With everything readjusted, I have 60 gal useable and know that I have 9 gal useable when generator no longer can pick up fuel. Help - new and don't know how to send pictures.


Dave

[Magnet18]

Thanks all for the input, I'll take a look and measure, look for signs of tampering.

ontheroadagn, click go advanced, and look for the paperclip icon

[ontheroadagn]

[Magnet18]

Sidetracking from the fuel tank

Drawer slides: showed up and they work great, thanks! Will be ordering more for all the drawers.

Furnace: still works intermittently, some days it's fine, sometimes it lights up for a few seconds and goes back out. Of course it didn't work last night, when it was freaking cold out. My earlier thoughts were sail switch, but since I see it light up, I'm thinking I should try cleaning the flame sensor. If that doesn't work I'll see how hard it is to get the control board out.

Damp carpet by the bed: looked under the bed and there are no leaks from the pressure regulator or check valve. Darn. So it's coming from the walls, guess my AirStream is a type 1 (currently leaks). A look behind the carpet panel on the wall isn't the most helpful. So I guess I need to go look at the windows closley and try to figure out if I can figure out what it is I'm trying to figure out with them. Airstream came with gaskets and weepers and piling strips, and my vulkem showed up, so it's time to get to it and see if I can turn the AirStream back into a type 2 (will leak in the future)

Other: one of the dump tank valves has a slow leak, should probably replace them both. Fortunately those look a lot easier to take care of on a motorhome than a travel trailer!

[mayco]

If it's the original furnace you're going to have to pull it out to get to the control board. It's not that bad of a job if the flooring in front of the cabinet hasn't been added to. As in additional layers of flooring over the top of the original. That furnace is a tight fit height wise. There is a cabinet cross member you have to clear to pull it out. There should be two screws in the front of the furnace housing going into the floor and then a long (3") screw threw the center of your vent on the outside. Remove those and the ductwork and wiring and it should pull out.
Where about is the damp carpet near your bed? Post a picture and lets see where it's at.

[mayco]

I don't know of anyone that's replaced the dump valves on a 310. I looked at changing mine over to the Valterra brand because parts are so much easier and cheaper to come by.
I looked long and hard at that dump valve configuration and it's a head scratcher when trying to replace it. Ill be interested to know what you come up with. I never did proceed with changing it out. It's an extremely tight fit. I'm guessing that it was originally installed with the tanks all at once, before the tanks were anchored in place.

[mehes]

I replaced my dump valves with the Valteras but I replaced all the piping from both tanks out. I suppose you can do it piecemeal, but it seemed easier to me to replace it all. It was a moderate job but at least my valves work and I can get parts if needed.


Make sure your tanks are empty before starting this job.

[Magnet18]

Originally Posted by mehes

Make sure your tanks are empty before starting this job.

LOL, no kidding

Pic attached, the whole bottom of the bed under the window was wet. It rained for a few days straight and hasn't been dry long enough for it to dry out since, so i don't have it pinpointed, I'll look around again tonight and see if it's dried out at all and anywhere is wetter than anywhere else

[Magnet18]

That was indeed a lot of carbon on the flame sensor!
Cleaned it off and cleaned up the ground connections a bit, it's working now! Fingers crossed it stays working, it's cold tonight!

[Magnet18]

Damn, blowing cold this morning

A different failure symptoms today, instead of immediately turning off after 5 seconds, the flame was lit for about 30.
I noticed all the carbon buildup was back as well, is that normal?

I also received exciting news that we're moving to Florida in 2 weeks! So I'm not sure how priority this troubleshootig is :/

[Magnet18]

Cleaned the carbon off again and it works again...
So why am I getting so much carbon buildup...


EDIT
not enough oxygen, or too much propane. Time to give things a good cleaning.

[bkahler]

Originally Posted by Magnet18

Cleaned the carbon off again and it works again...
So why am I getting so much carbon buildup...


EDIT
not enough oxygen, or too much propane. Time to give things a good cleaning.

Too much carbon means not enough air is coming in. Check for mud dabber nests and other junk inside the furnace air intake.

[Magnet18]

Yea, that was my first thought, wish i was that easy. Nothing that I can see anyway, I don't have a boroscope. Need to get a better look or maybe try a pipe cleaner. I've heard cleaning the combustion chamber can help take care of it as well.

[Magnet18]

Took advantage of the fact that it's finally not snowing and crawled under there
Tank is 32"x26"x12"

[bkahler]

Originally Posted by Magnet18

Took advantage of the fact that it's finally not snowing and crawled under there
Tank is 32"x26"x12"

Roughly a 43 gallon tank. Not very big for a 310.