I've been meaning to ask (and keep forgetting to) if anybody else has this irritating thing? When fueling, I have to hold the nozzle at the very slowest possible flow setting or gas comes gushing right back out after a few seconds ... and even then, it will STILL often bubble out. It takes FOREVER to gas up!! I've been told this is common because motor homes aren't allowed to have vented gas tanks. So is it normal, or is there something I need to check and fix?
Btw, I had been getting 9-10 mpg with my '76 360-engined Clip, which I thought was ok based on what most of you report (albeit mostly with 440s). I did a complete tune-up before my Fla-NY trek and at a steady 60, averaged 12-14... woo HAH :lol: !!! I did bump the initial timing to 10*, instead of the book's 6*. As expected, that did produce some very minor pinging on hard pulls in the mountains, but a top-off with high-octane took care of it. What are you other 360 owners getting?
Quote from: "Andy Illes"I've been meaning to ask (and keep forgetting to) if anybody else has this irritating thing? When fueling, I have to hold the nozzle at the very slowest possible flow setting or gas comes gushing right back out after a few seconds ... and even then, it will STILL often bubble out. It takes FOREVER to gas up!! I've been told this is common because motor homes aren't allowed to have vented gas tanks. So is it normal, or is there something I need to check and fix?
Btw, I had been getting 9-10 mpg with my '76 360-engined Clip, which I thought was ok based on what most of you report (albeit mostly with 440s). I did a complete tune-up before my Fla-NY trek and at a steady 60, averaged 12-14... woo HAH :lol: !!! I did bump the initial timing to 10*, instead of the book's 6*. As expected, that did produce some very minor pinging on hard pulls in the mountains, but a top-off with high-octane took care of it. What are you other 360 owners getting?
Wow - nice mileage. On my first trip a couple of weeks ago, I averaged a solid 8mpg. I had just done a tune up, but did not bump the timing, as I needed to get a smog test done. Passed the smog fine, and it did fine going over the mountains. I was hoping for a little more than 8mpg, but decided I was happy with it because it was a consistant 8 even going over the mountains.
I am able to fill mine at full blast - not sure what the difference can be (other than maybe different nozzle configurations from state to state). My irritation came in the form of not having a reliable fuel gauge. I would just fill every 150 miles or so, which worked out because I usually had to use the boy's room by then :wink:
--dig
Hey..... look at it this way. At 12-14 miles/gal at least you are not filling up that often.
But to answer your question, I can't insert the nozzle all the way in otherwise the gas stops flowing. If I stick it all the way in and retract it a inch or two the gas flows good. I can't use the handsfree clips however. I don't really trust those things anyway.
I get about 7 miles/gal. I'm getting ready to do a tuneup and change to radial tires instead of bias!
If I can get 10 I will be turning cartwheels!
Dig - don some grubbies and crawl under the back to clean your sender connection... failing that, a whole instrument cluster should be less than $50 at a junkyard. My speedometer was goofy (I was pretty sure I wasn't doing 58 parked at Safeway) and it's an easy 4-screw change-out, and the electrical connectors only fit one way.
Big Ray - Tune up & bump your timing = Houston news item.... "EMT crew able to remove silly grin from local bean-counter found cartwheeling through town"
:lol:
Quote from: "Andy Illes"Dig - don some grubbies and crawl under the back to clean your sender connection... failing that, a whole instrument cluster should be less than $50 at a junkyard. My speedometer was goofy (I was pretty sure I wasn't doing 58 parked at Safeway) and it's an easy 4-screw change-out, and the electrical connectors only fit one way.
...
Yea, figured I would give that a try. Adding it to the *long* list ;)
haha - funny - while I have to try to schedule in time to remove the sending unit (and find the short in my cabin lighting, etc...), I was able to take a day to install a new stereo system in my rig :roll: Priorities are funny :wink:
-- dig
I had the same fillup problem. I lowered the fuel tank and found the vent hose that goes to the filler neck was pinched flat. Replace the hose and be careful routing it when you reinstall the tank. Only took an afternoon and now I can fill-up fast and get it full,36 gallons.
Thanks Perry.... so it IS supposed to have a vent line. Guess I'll squirm back under there and put one in, that'll fix the problem. :D
Perry and all....
Damned WASPS!!! I got under there, found the vent line, and guess what?!?! Mom wasp decided the vent outlet was just the PERFECT place to build her nest and raise a family. I guess the previous owner lost his gas-cap. Next generation will have to find a new home..... :D :D :D Can't WAIT for my next fill-up (except for the wallet part.... ouch). Thanks again, Andy.
Man I love this site!
Perry, are you sure you can get 36 gals in your Clipper. I can only get 30. I recall a post where someone talked to Irv who said that the extra 5 gallons was for expansion and 1 gallon was in the line.
I would be good to get another 5 gallons in mine.
Ray....
If I can get ANYthing in mine, in less than roughly an hour.... I'll be just tickled PINK.... :D And yup.... it's an awesome site. Thanks again Shayne and all of our posters!!!!
Andy
Re fueling, sometimes it helps to turn the nozzle upside down.
Harold, #886
Harold.... are you serious, or just celebrating some Irish holiday again??
Dead serious, Andy. Try it!
H.
Guess I won't have to try Harold's "upside-down-nozzle" idea. I filled her up this morning, and with that wasp nest out of there, no prob.... I'm giddy with joy :lol:
Ray, I've always been able to get 34-35 gal in, assuming I let it get that low.... and also assuming I had the time (before).
been gone a few weeks - catching up on these great posts
12-14mpg!!
Man that is REAL good - as in almost unbelievably good at freeway speeds - my best is 10.5 - and I'm running pretty darn near perfectly as far as I can tell.
Maybe knocking that timing back to 10btd really helps? Not sure if I want to do that though....messed with timing and jetting in a 71 Westphalia Camper Van once back in the 80s, and was bragging to my friend that I was getting 25mpg - he said - that's too good, you're paying for it somewhere - burned up the top end of that motor in about 10,000 miles despite regular valve adjustments, oil changes, etc.
Gas filling
On 36 gal polyethylene tanks...
You will notice that that the filler does not come in at the top of the tank - near the the top, but not at the top.
Thus once you get past the filler inlet in tank "fullness", the back pressure of filling through the filler hose increases incrementally the more full the tank gets. That is why you really have to take your time getting those last few gallons in there.
I am amazed that anyone can just fill the full 36 gals at full pump volume.
Hi Horst, nope you had a nice sojurn :D
Yup, I know... the mileage surprised me too... but those are dead-accurate #s... I checked at every fill-up. At the end of the 1,200 mi trek, my overall avg was 13.22!! Since I had rebuilt the carb; torn apart & cleaned the distrib (including advance); put all new vacuum (and all other) hoses (and belts), plugs & wires, etc. on.... besides the timing bump... I can't say what specific thing, or combination of things, did it... but them's the #s!!!. :D I'll keep track again on the way back and post it.
Yeah, I understand your concern about tinkering with stuff like timing, and fyi, just out of curiosity, I pulled 4 plugs after I got up here, and they showed no signs of detonation and were the ideal gray color, so I'd say that's a safe setting, providing you bump your octane for the bumpy roads.
As to filling speed, I never noticed any level-dependent difference... it sucked all the same no matter what. All I can say is I was able to top-off the other day with the nozzle "latched" after removing Mrs. Wasp's handywork.... heeeeeeeeee
Think I'll check my timing and maybe bump it out to 6btd - too chicken to go to 10.
heh heh
Well, I'm just outside Savannah, where my wheels/tires got stolen on the way up, lol.
What a HUGE difference speed makes in mileage!!! My first leg, from NYC (last fillup was actually up in Ct in July) to somewhere at the southern end of NJ, I ran 65/70, and my mileage dropped like a rock to Horst's + 8!!! After that, I dropped back down to a steady 60, and voila... the last 2 fills (Richmond & Fayetteville) yielded 13.02 and 13.8. respectively. Happy camper here again... :D
Btw, the cruise control in this thing sucks.... it hunts up and down like a blind bird-dog!! It works, but I'm only using it for brief stints when my heel got sore. I'll have to find a better unit, huh? Any ideas?
My electric problem resurfaced, with no tail or clearance lights at all. At first, the turn signals worked ok, but went off if I hit the brakes. A really neat mechanic at Lyon's NAPA just outside DC near where I overnighted found a loose ground. NO CHARGE... just "have a safe trip"!!! Did the trick and now, you can see my Clip turning, stopping, backing up, etc.... heeeeeeee
Catch y'all tonight, next stop.... should be in Florida... :D
This is in the "for whatever it's worth" category.
A retired Jeep mechanic was helping with my fuel tank thing this morning, and had some thoughts on our "surging" problem while filling up. In mine at least, he found the stock vent 6-7" down inside, on the "rear" side (mine's obviously been altered, it's right inside the neck). He thinks the fill-line is too long and runs too flat and even has a dip in it, like a sink trap and he also said a lot of tanks have a baffle right inside. All of that could combine to keep the horizontal line "full", and a short fill-nozzle could pump gas into the vent, effectively blocking it... and poof, gas blows out.
Anyway, makes sense to me, and it also kindda corresponds with Horst's thoughts, as well as Al's idea about the upside-down nozzle, and what Ray said about that 5 gal for expansion.
Oh, I also mentined my vapor canister leak. You guys were also right about overfilling. My Chiltons shows there's supposed to be a "riser" in the charcoal canister line to act as a fuel/vapor separator... we didn't see one with the tank out. By overfilling, I just pumped gas into the canister, and this guy thinks that with my carb lines crossed and unclamped, it just squirted fuel up over the canister, also makes sense to me.
Anyway... there ya go. I took time for lunch, but now it's time to head to the parts store for those hoses and get the tank back on. Thanks again for all your help, everyone.