mumkin wrote: 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?
krell wrote: My 2003 RoadTrek 200 is a pleasure to travel in when all is operating well. That is a rare occurrence... 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.
The genius of the RoadTrek is that it is like a Swiss Army Knife on wheels. All the comforts of home in a small space and I can go just about anywhere. That is why I stuck with it so long hoping each time the headache would go away. The current problem is of course specific to Chevrolet and could happen on any RV built on a cut-away chassis. That is unless RoadTrek made a modification that would cause a failure. There are problems as well with the RV accessories common to all makes and models. Specific to RoadTrek is the shabby job building the fiberglass body on my RV. The Elixer Power Supply converter blew up as we were packing for a trip. That could happen to any RV. The front brake disks have always been bad. That is Chevrolet. The headlights fill with water, Chevy again. Air conditioner noisy... pipes resonate and compressor transmits vibrations to rear window that creates a sub-woofer vibration and results in a migraine headache. Better internal design of the AC would help and you could point a finger at RoadTrek for installing a cheap home window AC instead of a made-for-RV unit. I am also to blame because when I first saw this design, my instincts told me that it was a bad idea. I camp in cool locations anyway and the Fantastic Fan does a great job just running off the battery. The water pump noise was so bad that the pipes rattled and tenters in the next site asked me not to crank my generator at night. I was just flushing the toilet. I would have paid a premium if RoadTrek had as standard equipment the Flo-Jet variable speed pump that I put in myself. The Dometic Refrigerator stopped working in Yosemite and food spoiled. A metal flake worked it's way to the gas jet and plugged it up. And the hinge on the freezer snapped off. Oh well, that's just what happens with an RV from time to time and you could just go with the flow if that wasn't one more thing on top of the constant failures. As I said before, I could fill a book, but it would come across as an endless rant. In summary, there are problems that arise relating to the chassis manufacturer, the accessory manufacturer and also the RV people that put it all together. Without exception, there has not been a trip away from home that I did not have to make some sort of repair and making it necessary to keep a complete took kit available. I have a 1988 SeaRay boat with a Mercury motor and in 22 years I never felt that I could not get home safe and sound. Ever. I suppose my experience with the boat set me up for a certain level of expectation. In 2003 on the dealer's lot there were two identical RoadTrek 200s. I am certain that if we chose the other one, I would be playing with the dog on the beach and not typing this at home. There is an RV show in Portland, Oregon this weekend. I'll be there with my best poker face on.
Krell
It sounds to me as if you have truely had more than your fare share of problems. As we all know, any company can make a lemon, and it sounds as if you got the Chevy & Roadtrek & many other lemons all rolled into one. I really hope that you are in a position to be able to replace your troublesome unit with something that suits your needs, and I pray that if you do replace your current unit, you get no lemons this time. So far we have had very few problems in 4-years of enjoying our RT. Yes I have made many many changes and modifications to ours, but most of it has been what I call just personalizing our unit for our own particular wants. The only issue we have had that I considered poor quality was the white sewage macerator hose. Since replacing that lemon with a good quality replacement, all has been well. I did replace our water pump, but that was not because we had a problem with the original, I just wanted one that was quiet, and now we have that. I seriously doubt that I could have been as patient with our class B, if we had all the problems you have described with yours. I think it would have been over that cliff you mentioned. Here is hoping you can get something that allows you to just use it and enjoy it without all of the added drama you have had in the past. I know good units are out there, you hear about happy owners on forums like this one all of the time. Good luck and God bless you in your search for the right move.
Replacing a fuel pump multiple times seems to me to be fixing a symptom. You have a restriction in your fuel line that is overworking the pump. You need to examine the fuel line from the tank to the engine. If there are pieces of rubber line, replace them. Rubber lines can separate on the inside and block or partially block fuel flow like a check valve. You cannot tell if they are bad from the outside and a pressure test won't reveal them either. A volume test would, after a new pump has weakened. If there is no rubber lines, then you have a kink. It's not rocket science, it's logic. A new pump should put up 40+ psi and flow about 30 gallons per hour (at pressure), if it won't then something is restricting the flow. It could even be electrical if there's not enough volts (12-13.5) or amps (about 6) to run the pump properly. Thsoe are the only reasons a fuel pump can't deliver fuel.
I'm not familiar with all the models. Is your 2003 RT built on a cut-away chassis?
Because if it is and, it's like mine, there's only 1 OEM fuel pump which can be used. From what I was told, another 'similar' fuel pump will not function correctly. Again, I recommend contacting the engineers at RoadTrek.
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.
Roadtek isn't gonna do anything about a chassis problem. You need a good mechanic to check out the fuel system.
The fuel pump is either made by Walbro or Bosch. I don't know of another manufacturer of OEM fuel pumps. When someone tells you that there's only 1 fuel pump that will fit a mass produced domestic vehicle, they're full of crap. I'd bet the pump fits about every truck made in that year and maybe several years and if you went through 100 pumps you'd find some from both of those companies and maybe a Chinese knockoff.
topless wrote: Roadtek isn't gonna do anything about a chassis problem. You need a good mechanic to check out the fuel system.
The fuel pump is either made by Walbro or Bosch. I don't know of another manufacturer of OEM fuel pumps. When someone tells you that there's only 1 fuel pump that will fit a mass produced domestic vehicle, they're full of crap. I'd bet the pump fits about every truck made in that year and maybe several years and if you went through 100 pumps you'd find some from both of those companies and maybe a Chinese knockoff.
I didn't say Roadtrek would replace or repair the fuel pump but, because they modified the placement of the fuel tank on the Chevy cut-away, they had a list of the components to obtain from GM.
I beg to differ to differ with your opinion on this. I specifically spoke with the design engineer rep at Roadtrek and had him speak directly with the mechanic at the repair shop as the parts listing showed 10 different part numbers for that particular 3500 series of Chevy vans. As it turned out the '97 cutaways had a very specific GM OEM fuel pump.
This was confirmed by the Chevy dealer in Phoenix who happened to have one in stock and over-nighted the fuel pump to Sedona.
Perhaps the 2003 cutaway 3500 is in the same situation. It's worth a shot. Or tell the Chevy rep to check with Roadtrek.
* This post was
edited 03/11/10 02:46pm by Bob Karr *
The day GM "manufactures" a fuel pump, I'll eat my hat. I've worked on a lot of vehicles, everything from Chevy trucks to BMW's, Volvo's, many different Fords and once you have the pump in your hand (not the pickup tube & screen) the pumps all look like this:
Now, what you had to buy for that specific van was probably the whole assembly including the mount, pickup sock, sending unit, which makes it unique to that truck. But the pump itself? I doubt it. Too many mechanics can only change assemblies when you can replace part of it for a fraction of the cost. GM fuel pump
I don't know everything about every vehicle, but the problem with this van isn't the fuel pump. It's in the delivery of the fuel to the engine. Either electrical supply is low or something is blocking the fuel line.
* This post was
edited 03/11/10 05:22pm by topless *
topless wrote: The day GM "manufactures" a fuel pump, I'll eat my hat. I've worked on a lot of vehicles, everything from Chevy trucks to BMW's, Volvo's, many different Fords and once you have the pump in your hand (not the pickup tube & screen) the pumps all look like this:
Now, what you had to buy for that specific van was probably the whole assembly including the mount, pickup sock, sending unit, which makes it unique to that truck. But the pump itself? I doubt it. Too many mechanics can only change assemblies when you can replace part of it for a fraction of the cost. GM fuel pump
I don't know everything about every vehicle, but the problem with this van isn't the fuel pump. It's in the delivery of the fuel to the engine. Either electrical supply is low or something is blocking the fuel line.
Well, since you were referencing ONLY the fuel pump itself and not the entire, assembly, then it must have been the unique "assembly" with the fuel pump they had to obtain from the Phoenix Chevy dealer.
The mechanic must have been referring to the "assembly" as the "fuel pump", which he did say he couldn't use.
What I do know he had to call around to all the parts supply houses in and GM dealers in Flagstaff, Cottonwood, and two Phoenix dealers.
All I can go by is what they showed me on the computerized parts list, what I observed when they were looking for the part, and what they explained to me.
They did show me the assembly, which was considerably deteriorated. It appeared like it was a tall elongated, open framed white plastic "holder" with teats and hoses on both ends. Is that what you refer to has the assembly. They also assured me the pump was the exact same as what was originally installed.
* This post was
last
edited 03/11/10 06:02pm by Bob Karr *
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topless wrote: The day GM "manufactures" a fuel pump, I'll eat my hat. I've worked on a lot of vehicles, everything from Chevy trucks to BMW's, Volvo's, many different Fords and once you have the pump in your hand (not the pickup tube & screen) the pumps all look like this:
Now, what you had to buy for that specific van was probably the whole assembly including the mount, pickup sock, sending unit, which makes it unique to that truck. But the pump itself? I doubt it. Too many mechanics can only change assemblies when you can replace part of it for a fraction of the cost. GM fuel pump
I don't know everything about every vehicle, but the problem with this van isn't the fuel pump. It's in the delivery of the fuel to the engine. Either electrical supply is low or something is blocking the fuel line.
Well, since you were referencing ONLY the fuel pump itself and not the entire, assembly, then it must have been the unique "assembly" with the fuel pump they had to obtain from the Phoenix Chevy dealer.
The mechanic must have been referring to the "assembly" as the "fuel pump", which he did say he couldn't "rebuild".
What I do know he had to call around to all the parts supply houses and GM dealers in Flagstaff, Cottonwood, and two Phoenix dealers to locate the parts.
All I can go by is what they showed me on the computerized parts list, what I observed when they were looking for the part, and what they explained to me.
They did show me the assembly, which was considerably deteriorated. It appeared like it was a tall elongated, open framed white plastic "holder" with teats and hoses on both ends.
So, now you may be satisfied in displaying your expertise of the technical terms on this subject.
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