Powerless
My 1991 motorhome is built on a Ford chassis with the 460-cid engine. It will go about 20 miles and then lose power, and I have to keep my foot on the gas feed to keep it running. It’s like it is not getting enough gas. Could it be vapor lock? Any suggestions?
Norma Maurer, Pineville, Louisiana
The Ford F-53 chassis with a 460-cid V- 8 engine used on motorhomes built in the 1990s was notorious for having stalling or vapor lock issues, particularly in warm-weather driving conditions. Through the years Family Motor Coaching has received numerous letters from owners seeking solutions to these types of problems.
For the majority of these queries, the answer was to have the fuel filter and/or fuel pump inspected or replaced. In the August 2003 issue, Buck Masser described a vapor lock issue in his 1992 Winnebago built on the F-53 chassis with a 460-cid engine (“Ford Fuel Flow,” page 30). He went on to say how the problem presented itself when the temperature was very hot and explained what he had to do to get the engine running again. Of course, he wanted to know how to fix the problem.
The answer was found in Ford Technical Service Bulletin (TSB) 97-23-9, “Fuel Pump – Availability Of New Turbine Style Fuel Pump And Sender – F Super Duty Motorhome Chassis,” which applies to 1989 through 1997 F-53 motorhome chassis. Apparently the original-equipment fuel pump located in the fuel tank was inadequate to supply fuel to the engine in hot or low-fuel situations. The bulletin indicated that a new turbine-style fuel pump and sender assembly was available to resolve the problem.
This issue was brought up again in a letter sent in by Dave Bendt that appeared in the January 2009 issue (“Vapor Lock Revisited,” page 22). He was responding to a previous letter (“Vapor Lock?” August 2008, page 22) that gave possible causes of a vapor lock issue in an F-53 chassis. Mr. Bendt reiterated the information about Ford TSB 97-23-9 as the solution to this problem.
Height Help
My wife and I are somewhat vertically challenged “” she’s 5 feet tall and I am 5 feet 4 inches tall. So we have problems reaching knobs and switches on the high ceiling of our lovely Gulf Stream Sun Voyager. The two grabbers we have found thus far are too weak to replace our human fingers, and it’s a nuisance to lug and assemble the stool we have. Do you have any suggestions for good grabber products or other ideas to solve our ongoing problem?
Richard Goldman, F102163, Swarthmore, Pennsylvania
My wife has short arms, so she usually asks me to reach the high stuff (I’m 6 feet 2 inches tall). But when I’m not around, she relies on a fold-down, two-step stool, available at any hardware or home-improvement store. It folds up into a very narrow, easily stored item, much like a very short stepladder.
Surge Protection
I have a gas-powered Coachmen Santara Type A motorhome. When I plug into 30-amp shore power, my wall monitor panel shows amps and the drop in voltage when various electrical components are being operated. However, when I plug into 50-amp service, all I get on my monitor are running lines and no measurement of the amps being pulled. But the power works fine. Should I be alarmed or do 50 amps not show on the monitor like the 30 amps do?
Also, a service technician recommended that I have a hard-wired 50-amp surge protector installed on my coach. Is this really necessary?
Vernon Pratt, F390234, Newport, Michigan
A service technician will be needed to solve this problem. If the panel works when you’re connected to 30-amp power, there may be an incomplete common ground or a reversed polarity issue on the 50-amp side before it gets to the breaker panel, thereby causing the electric flow not to register on the panel. However, it’s just a guess, as this really defies logic. The tech will need to trace the electrical paths from the 50-amp plug at the post through the lines and through the breaker panel on all four wires of the 50-amp circuit. I doubt that the problem is with the monitor panel itself, but I could be wrong.
As far as having a surge protector, just like other protection devices, you don’t need one until you need one. A good surge protector with a high value will give an equal value of surge protection, while an inexpensive, cheaply produced unit will provide less protection. However, in most cases, even an expensive surge protector can’t handle a lightning strike. If an electrical storm is imminent, the best protection for your motorhome is to unplug it from the pedestal. Nothing can protect the vehicle from a direct lightning strike, but this will keep it safe from a nearby strike that surges through the campground’s electric grid.
Digital TV
To replace our analog TVs, we purchased two HDTVs for our motorhome. We are having trouble getting our satellite to hook up with the TV. Any and all help would be greatly appreciated.
George & Carlene Ritter, F294390, Grove City, Ohio
First, consult the setup instructions found in the owners manuals for both the television and the satellite receiver. Each should indicate where the various wires need to go and what type of settings need to be made on the television and receiver. There’s a good chance you simply have a wire plugged into the wrong port. You also may want to refer to the article “Out With The Old – TV, That Is” that appeared in the August 2008 issue of FMC magazine (page 54). If you no longer have that issue, you can find it online at FMCA.com.
TV Interrupted
I have a 2005 Safari Simba motorhome built on a Workhorse chassis with an 8.1-liter Vortec engine. While installing a DTV converter box, I lifted up the video selector box (Winegard model VS-0503/5312) and lost all power to the TV and the converter box. I checked the reset button on the converter box and it was not in the reset position. I checked the fuses and found that a 5-amp fuse had blown. I replaced the fuse and it blew again. At that point I decided to get a new flat-screen digital TV, so I removed the old 24-inch TV. While I had the TV out, I checked all the wiring for a dead short. All the wires looked fine where I could see them before they disappeared into the ceiling. I replaced the fuse again and the same thing happened, so I did something I probably should not have done and replaced the 5-amp fuse with a 7.5-amp fuse. It did not blow. This leads me to believe that there is not a short in the wiring.
I plugged the power back into the video selector box with 13.2 volts into the box, and I pushed the button and the red light came on. But I still did not have power to the converter box. I plugged the new digital TV into the regular 120-volt-AC outlet and it worked fine. I played a CD and it worked fine. But there is no power going from the video selector box to the TV antenna (power measured on the roof). Do you think that the problem is the video selector box or something else? Thank you very much for your help. This really has me stumped.
Richard Miller, F370689, La Grange, California
Now that you have a digital TV installed, you no longer need the converter box. Just remove it from the system and return to what you had previously. That may correct your problem. Perhaps the reason you kept blowing fuses is that the 5-amp fuse is just strong enough to protect the original equipment, and the added converter requires too many amps for the fuse.
Finding out why there is no power between the video selector box and antenna is a matter of fault tracing to locate where the 12-volt-DC antenna supply current stops. Measure at each connection until the interruption is found. It could be the video selector, or it could be a coaxial connection.
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