krell
Salem, Oregon
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Joined: 04/14/2003
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My 2003 RoadTrek 200 is a pleasure to travel in when all is operating well. That is a rare occurrence. The extended coverage was about to expire in a few days and then the engine won't start. Towed to the mechanic... bang bang on the bottom of the fuel tank with a hammer and the engine starts. Experience says that the fuel pump is bad. New fuel pump and more random starting issues. Replaced pump again. Parked for two days at campground and won't start. After a long while started again after smacking the tank a bit. I think the pump is not the problem, but something is causing the pump not to prime or even operate. Fuses ok, swapped the relay with it's neighbor, same result. Security system not indicating an issue. Now, although the fuel tank is after market, the pump/gauge assembly is Chevrolet. The new pump came with new plug/harness at the pump end. Only 35,000 miles on the engine. This of course is not specific to Class B or RoadTrek, but maybe someone out there has had the same problem. We have never had so much trouble with a vehicle with the exception of owning a Dodge Caravan and that was absolutely hideous. I would need a short book to detail the troubles with the RoadTrek/Chevrolet. The most notable was when fiberglas resin bubbled up under the paint. The dealer completely sanded and repainted the van. Looked like new until more resin bubbled up everywhere. Well, they sanded the heck out of it until I doubt there is any gelcoat left and the van looks like a home-made science project. I don't care anymore as long as it keeps the weather out. I thought I could live with it until now it won't run and the front brakes are warped again. Maybe, someone has a clue about the fuel problem so I can get it started and drive it off a cliff into the Pacific Ocean. It would make a great artificial reef.
PS. I'm truly grateful that aircraft are built to higher standards.
Steve
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Islandman
NW Washington
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Joined: 02/18/2007
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I'm not familiar with RT's on Chevy chassis, but are there some fuel filters that may be causing the problem? Had a Ford Taurus a few years back that req'd a new filter about every 50K miles, it was fun crawling under the car to replace it!
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booster
Minnesota
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Joined: 10/14/2007
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My understanding is that the tank is the standard Chevy tank, just moved down a few inches. Lots of folks have had issues with getting the correct fuel pumps for them, however. I think Roadtrek used all California compliant pumps, so they could sell them anywhere, so the VIN might get you the wrong pump. You might want to drop in on the Roadtrek board that is on Yahoo.
http://autos.groups.yahoo.com/group/roadtrek/messages
A member handled Campskunk has an RT of the same vintage and has just done a bunch of fuel pump work and research.
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JudoJeff
Southwick, MA
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Joined: 08/06/2008
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Just offering an opinion, take it for what it's worth....
#1: Sometimes a piece of crud is in the tank, and settles on the fuel pump intake. The pump tries, but no flow. Once it's loose, all is well again.
If possible, drain the tank, or drop and drain it. You might find one of those pesky cotton balls in there.
#2: You should hear the fuel pump running. Disconnect the output side, and see if it's pumping fuel. Then try this on the filter's output side.
Good luck!
K1BE Jeff
Vulneratus Non Victus
"Wounded but not Conquered!"
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krell
Salem, Oregon
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Joined: 04/14/2003
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The tank is not OEM, but the pump is. The tank innards are clean and no debris was found on the original strainer (metal screen) The replacement pump uses a plastic screen and no dirt was evident on it. We are now on the second replacement pump. I replaces the fuel filter when the first replacement pump acted up and no change. At the campsite, I disconnected the fuel line at the filter and places a pan under it to catch any gas. At no time did any fuel come out under pressure. Approximately 16 oz of gas did siphon out when the end of the fuel line dropped below the chassis. A week ago I did check the ignition and there is a spark coming out of the ignition coil that would stop the heart on an elephant. This morning the engine started right up and I drove it to the mechanic. If I had a wiring diagram I would try to fix it myself. I was really hoping that someone had been down this road before because you know how it is with these intermittent problems, the fix is always the last place you look.
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diyvanner
Rhode Island
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Joined: 07/04/2007
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I had a similar problem with my previous FORD van. I would travel for different lengths of time, stop and turn off the engine, then get back in and the engine wouldn’t start. Sometimes it was a short stop or over half a day. Happened more frequently in hot weather. Replaced just about everything, fuel pump, fuel filter, relay, fuse, checked computer and wiring, etc. Never found the problem. It really caused a lot of anxiety and missed travel time. The only thing that seemed to be a possibility was a short in the wiring that occurred when things got hot. I checked into getting it rewired but that would be very expensive with no warrantee and it was still just a guess. In retrospect, I should have gotten rid of it long ago. Kind of like the market or poker, you’ve got to cut your losses.
That’s one of the reasons that I kept everything relating to the coach separate from the stock GMC van when building my present Class B. Remember: one hand for yourself and one hand for the ship…sometimes you have to abandon ship 
diyVanner
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VE3ESN
Ontario, Canada
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Joined: 03/08/2002
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As the president of Ford of Canada wrote in reply to my complaint that our Mercury Sable was a lemon, "we occasionally build vehicles that fail to meet the customer's expectations". 
Jerry & Susie
1996 Roadtrek 190 Versatile (Dodge 5.2 L)
FMCA F390585
Trees are being destroyed through the transportation of invasive insects and diseases in firewood. For more information, please visit www.dontmovefirewood.org
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Bob Karr
Tucson, AZ
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Joined: 06/17/2001
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krell wrote:My 2003 RoadTrek 200 is a pleasure to travel in when all is operating well. That is a rare occurrence. The extended coverage was about to expire in a few days and then the engine won't start. Towed to the mechanic... bang bang on the bottom of the fuel tank with a hammer and the engine starts. Experience says that the fuel pump is bad. New fuel pump and more random starting issues. Replaced pump again. Parked for two days at campground and won't start. After a long while started again after smacking the tank a bit. I think the pump is not the problem, but something is causing the pump not to prime or even operate. Fuses ok, swapped the relay with it's neighbor, same result. Security system not indicating an issue. Now, although the fuel tank is after market, the pump/gauge assembly is Chevrolet. The new pump came with new plug/harness at the pump end. Only 35,000 miles on the engine. This of course is not specific to Class B or RoadTrek, but maybe someone out there has had the same problem. We have never had so much trouble with a vehicle with the exception of owning a Dodge Caravan and that was absolutely hideous. I would need a short book to detail the troubles with the RoadTrek/Chevrolet. The most notable was when fiberglas resin bubbled up under the paint. The dealer completely sanded and repainted the van. Looked like new until more resin bubbled up everywhere. Well, they sanded the heck out of it until I doubt there is any gelcoat left and the van looks like a home-made science project. I don't care anymore as long as it keeps the weather out. I thought I could live with it until now it won't run and the front brakes are warped again. Maybe, someone has a clue about the fuel problem so I can get it started and drive it off a cliff into the Pacific Ocean. It would make a great artificial reef.
PS. I'm truly grateful that aircraft are built to higher standards.
I recently had my '97 Chevy Chassis RT200's fuel pump replaced. What I learned was that there are several fuel pumps GM installed in that particular series. To get the correct replacement I had the mechanic call Roadtrek who looked up our particular unit's components.
Perhaps the same with your model?
Hope this helps.
RT 200V
"The road is long, life is short." Anon.
There was only one man who was perfect and you know what happened to him.
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studio_driver
Calgary, AB Canada
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Joined: 11/08/2007
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Although not related to your model or a fuel pump, I once had a weird intermittent problem to start a VW Eurovan. After all sorts of investigation, it turned out to be a crack in the relay board that, when opening in certain conditions, would disable the starter solenoid relay. Once the engine started it had no effect.
I know these intermittent failures can turn you crazy and I wish you can find the fix.
2007 PW Excel TS
2 adults and a collie-cross
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mumkin
Minot ND USA
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Joined: 07/16/2004
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I am rather bothered by the title to this thread. Your problem does not sound like it is with Roadtrek, but with the van... be it Ford or Chevy. Are you saying that the problem wouldn't exist if it had been converted by Pleasureway or Sportsmobile?
Mumkin
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