1986 Winnebago Chieftain P30/454: Diagnosing No Fuel to Carburetor

[S☉L_starr]

Looking for some guidance from the Winnebago brain trust.

I’m working on a 1986 Winnebago Chieftain on a Chevy P30 chassis with a carbureted 454. The engine will fire briefly on starting fluid, so ignition is good, but I’m getting zero fuel delivery to the carb.

When I open the throttle, there is no accelerator pump squirt at all. Bone dry. No factory electric pump or kill switch that I can find. As far as I understand, this setup should be a mechanical fuel pump driven off the engine.

Before I start throwing parts at it, I want to isolate where fuel flow stops. For those who’ve been through this:

Where do you usually start on these rigs?

Any common failure points specific to the Chieftain or P30?

Fuel pump location confirmation?

Tank pickup or sock issues common on long-sitting rigs?

Any hidden inline filters I should know about?

The RV has been sitting for a while, so bad gas is on the table too.

Appreciate any experience-based insight. Trying to do this methodically, not blindly.

 

[Morich]

Not unusual for fuel filters to stop flow and they are also much easier to deal with, so I might go for making sure fuel gets out of the tank and through that filter.
Not a chevy guy here but I am finding the AI computer can give some good info when we ask!
I get this and it sounds right!

Maybe follow the fuel line back toward the tank and look for something like this:

Far from expert but I like to go for the easier (cheaper?) fix when not sure but I have had really old RV that set long enough for the filter to totally dry out and that can leave a pretty solid chunk of what was in the filter. Even with new gas, that solid chunk can be to tough to let gas flow.
It "could" be worse things like a bad fuel pump that is in the tank and major headaches to get it out but before I would go there, I would want to take this line off at the tank side of the filter. Careful about fire but does gas come out of that open line?
I don't think of the pickup as being a major problem but there are lots of things I have not run into!
I think of the filter as being something semi-easy to get to and use it as a testy point?
Depends on how you want to work, but does fuel get to the filter? Does it then come out the other end? No fuel to filter, move toward tank but if fuel is getting through the filter, move toward the front?
Maybe get lucky and a new filter is all needed?

 

[S☉L_starr]

Thank you yes, I will try this today!!!

 

[creativepart]

I'd guess the Fuel pump is IN the top of the fuel tank and getting to it or getting it out is a major undertaking.

Find the fuel line coming forward from the tank and disconnect it at any convenient junction or in back of the fuel filter and see if fuel is coming from the tank. If it is, then concentrate on the fuel filter. If not, the fuel pump or fuel lines.

 

[S☉L_starr]

Yes, I want to focus backwards fuel from carburetor backwards to the filter and see if that helps it.

 

[Morich]

Like going to Vegas? You figure the odds and go for the move that looks best at the time!
If it has set for a long time and the fuel has dried out, it can clog the tiny little passages in the carb, the filter, or even into part of the pump in the tank.
Many times it is easier to get to the line at the carb to check there but there are lots of times when just changing the filter is one that has reached it's time also.
It's always a educated guess and sometimes the education costs us more then we planned. I quickly reached a point where I never put on old filter back on. Seemed to alert the demons when I did and they are a mean bunch! bu that was in the days when filter were more like $4!!

 

[S☉L_starr]

Like going to Vegas? You figure the odds and go for the move that looks best at the time!
If it has set for a long time and the fuel has dried out, it can clog the tiny little passages in the carb, the filter, or even into part of the pump in the tank.
Many times it is easier to get to the line at the carb to check there but there are lots of times when just changing the filter is one that has reached it's time also.
It's always a educated guess and sometimes the education costs us more then we planned. I quickly reached a point where I never put on old filter back on. Seemed to alert the demons when I did and they are a mean bunch! bu that was in the days when filter were more like $4!!

 

[S☉L_starr]

I have the fuel filter, but I am unable to find the location of the filter underneath the RV. Can somebody help me point it out in the diagram so I can understand how to read that better? If it helps, somebody can call me up would be great.!!

 

[Morich]

I have no drawings for the main chassis parts that gets down to small parts. But the main idea seems to be that they want them and the fuel line to be pretty well protected from getting damage from rocks, etc. So they hide them from rocks and us! I look for the line at one end or the other and it often goes tot eh inside of the frame and if it has a fold at the top, the line runs along the inside and seems to go along the inner edge of the fold?
I tend to think of there being a rubber line that is flexible and then the filter, before going to metal tubing for the main section.
For an exact location, you may need to find a repair manual like a Chilton's for the truck chassis as the fuel line is likely to be bought as a stripped chassis that is used for lots of things like beer or bread trucks.

 

[S☉L_starr]

Well, everybody I have good news and bad news
Seems like the gas gauge is bad so she actually had no gas in either tank so I put 10 gallons in the main tank and she started right up

 

[S☉L_starr]

The bad news is, I don't have any bad news

 

[Morich]

ARGH!
Not to point fingers as we all have been there if we have been around long!
But I would say that is a biggie to getting it running!
But the good news is that it didn't take many parts and hours to replace them!
So who cares what the rest of the world thinks if THEY were not fixing anything at all?

 

[RayIN]

Well, everybody I have good news and bad news
Seems like the gas gauge is bad so she actually had no gas in either tank so I put 10 gallons in the main tank and she started right up

Thanks for posting the resolution.

 

[Morich]

As a second point to be aware of when you do get around to looking at the generator?
It is normal practice on Winnebago for the generator fuel pickup to require around a 1/4 tank of gas!
My understanding is this is done to assure you do not camp somewhere and use all the gas for the generator, leaving you stranded!
Suggest getting a full tank of new gas when around to looking at starting the generator!