A bad morning at Walmart

[belfert]

I am currently on a 4,000 mile trip in my bus.  We stopped in Cheyenne, WY for fuel and planned to stop again in Fernley, NV.

We were pulling into the Walmart in Fernley, NV and the driver reported no response when he hit the pedal.  The engine was dead.  Our trailer was sticking out into the road.  I checked the tank and it was hard to tell for sure if it was empty.  We were only three miles from our planned fuel stop.

I called Coachnet and they called the police and a tow truck to get us out of the road.  (I wasn't sure if we were out of fuel.)  I removed the secondary fuel filter and indeed it was empty.  Someone went for fuel and I refilled the fuel filter.  I had someone else pump the priming button on my Racor primary filter while I cranked the engine.  It started and ran.  I called Coachnet and cancelled the tow truck.

My tank is 150 gallons and I only put in 130 gallons between the pump and the fuel can.  I know now not to expect to get more than 900 miles on a tank.

[John316]

Even though we haven't run out of fuel, I know what you mean. We try to always stay above a quarter tank. We carry 220 gal of fuel, which helps, but it can be tough. Even more so out west. Glad you were able to get it back up and running so quickly.

God bless.

John

Posted by my Itouch.

[belfert]

There are plenty of places to get fuel.  I just thought there was more available fuel than 130 gallons.  We had made the same trip the last two years and did not run out of fuel when we stopped at the same two cities.

We had some pretty bad winds this year along with running the generator quite a bit which used more fuel.

[bcaddel]

Belfert
It sounds like you have it under control, but just in case you need assistance in the morning we are just 30 miles down the road at the Petro truck stop in Reno, Nevada. My brother runs the shop and I oversee the casino, motel and restaurant.

I was driving back from Salt Lake about 3 weeks ago in our MC7 and pulled in at the TA in Mill City with less than 10 gallons, good thing we weren't having the winds you have had the last few days or I wouldn't have made it.

Stop by and have a cup of coffee if you have time.

Bob Caddel

[Busted Knuckle]

Well Brian this don't help your situation, but just last week @ our bus rally a large group of us took "Dino" (the '97 Dina on lease to us) over to a buddy that builds custom hot rods and fabrication for me to check out his latest projects. We got there before he did and I noticed that the fuel gauge was dangerously low. So I decided to stick it and see what we had. I found a piece of scrap metal and stuck the tank, it only had 2"-2.5" showing so we shut it off to be safe. After we left his place we headed to town for fuel, stopping @ Hardee's on the way (again shutting it off!). When I fueled it it held 129 gallons! You make me proud to know I fueled within a gallon of having busnuts push a bus! ......... And yes guys you know I would! After all....... I have made little league ball players push one B4! see BCM September '09 page 24 if you don't believe me! LOL!
 BK  

[RJ]

Bel -

Just a little FYI - most charter companies encourage their drivers to fuel at the 500 mile mark.  Eliminates potential embarrassment, etc.

Another good rule of thumb is to consider 80% of capacity as usable to prevent running out.  For your 150 gallon tank, that would be 120 usable.  For lots of genset usage, you might consider 75% as your safety margin.

FWIW & HTH. . .

[belfert]

Belfert
It sounds like you have it under control, but just in case you need assistance in the morning we are just 30 miles down the road at the Petro truck stop in Reno, Nevada. My brother runs the shop and I oversee the casino, motel and restaurant.

We ran out of fuel on Thursday morning at 4:30 am so we've long had it fixed.  We were back on the road within 60 minutes.

[TomC]

Personally-I like to use 500 miles as the refill point-then you'll be sure not to ever run out of fuel-even in a head wind.  Good Luck, TomC

[Tenor]

Belfert,
Don't forget that as you went up the driveway, you probably sloshed the fuel away from the pick up line.

Glenn

[LarryN 4106]

I use 700 miles on my 4106. I have no guage.

Also, depending on where we stop, it may take 10 minutes to get the last 20 gallons in, if the fuel is foaming and shutting off the nozzle. I stand there and do it, though, just a very slight pressure on the trigger. Other places allow an almost completely full experience automatically. Those places have been rare for me.

[Len Silva]

The nice thing about a long trip is that you can plan your fuel stops within a hundred miles or so.  You can get online and find the best fuel prices close to where you need to fill up.  Sometimes stopping just before or just after a state line can make a lot of difference.

[boogiethecat]

I once stopped overnight at that Fernley walmart... the next day I thought my black tank had failed somehow- the bus smelled like...well...crap...

After an hour of taking things apart looking for the leak or broken pipe, my girlfriend pointed out that we were parked directly over a sewer cap! Turns out at that particular walmart, the easiest place  for an RV to park has about 5 of those caps sprinkled about the parking lot!  hee hee oh well... watch where you set her down for the night!!!

[Hartley]

I stop at 300 miles no matter what I think I have. Or that's the plan anyway.

200 if I am running the super duty although 320 is about the range down to 1/4 tank.

I have found times that for some unusual reason I have had to miss a fuel stop so my 300 rule comes in handy. I can go 540 miles before I start to panic... I base mine on 5.5 mpg with 100 gallons usable with the balance of 40 gallons to run-out mode.

My bus doesn't pick up well below 25 gallons so I just don't go there.

Dave...

[gus]

After three years of ownership it is obvious to me that my 140 gl tank won't take more than 100 gl unless I want to wait a long time.

The angle the bus is parked makes a huge difference in how much fuel will go into the tank.

[Ed Hackenbruch]

i usually figure on fueling at 700-800 miles.  I am usually around 7 mpg and the most i have pumped is 110 gallons. I will stop and top off before going thru a state with high prices.