I decided to replace all fuel lines on my 99 U320 because I had a leak in the generator lines and the other lines had cracks at the connections. So the first job was to remove the tank covers to do further inspection and start the job. This was a lot more work than I anticipated as the cover will not fit past the bottom moldings without removing it, as well as the adhesive they used to hold the cover in place would not let go. The passenger side came off with some persuasion but the drivers side was damaged in the process.
Steps to Removing Cover
•Remove bottom molding of bay opening by removing 6 screws from the top and 6 screws from the bottom of the molding. Remove the bottom door catches and pull the molding outward.
•Remove the fill neck cover by removing the 6 screws. Note the short screws go on the bottom so they do not puncture the tank.
•Remove the tank cover by removing the 3 screws along the side and pulling the cover outward. Depending on the brand of adhesive they used will depend how difficult this will be.
•The tank on the U320 is very tight with no extra room. It looks like pulling this tank is going to be very difficult.
It will be a while until I am ready to put the covers back on but am thinking of using velcro to reinstall them or just polish the rank and leave them odd. Any suggestions.
Thanks
My 97 has no covers. Wonder why yours has them? Less condensation from the better tank insulation? Or just beauty?
I believe they put the covers on the U320 to make it look a little cleaner and blend with the rest of coach. I like the tanks without covers and believe it may dissipate hear better without them.
Interesting.
Mine only has a cover on the street side where it shares a bay with the house batteries. I assumed the cover was to prevent possibility of diesel fumes building in the battery bay. On the curb side where it shares a bay with the propane tank, there is no cover nor does it look like there has ever been a cover from the lack of adhesive.
Don't know if this is of any help. It shows replacing the generator line on a Foretravel.
Foretravel generator (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DaFPB1O36N4#)
Keith
Thanks for the video suggestion. I looked at it and it has some good suggestions but is different because the 99 U320 has the generator in the front and the supply line for the generator is in the center of the tank. The only way to get at these center connections in the U320 is to either pull the tank or cut a hole in the floor. Each model is a little different and I believe the U320 is harder to work with because of the extra large tank and the Aqua Hot. Attached is a PDF file showing my fuel fitting layout and what connects to each.
jarrett - nice pdf - ^.^d
Ditto on our 1997 U295.
FOT replaced the fuel lines. They pulled the tank most of the way out on the driver side to replace all the fittings.
My 2003 U295 has the covers on both sides. Must have become standard by then.
My 2001 U270 has tank covers on both sides. ditto on the adhesive, its hard to remove the cover, however it can be done without removing the lower moulding. After the cover is removed, increase the cutout before reinstalling. It makes it easy-er to reinstall.
Al
My 99 U295 has covers on both sides, I'm sure fuel line replacement is in my neer future.
Thanks for the information and suggestions. I plan to remove the tank today, once this is done there is no moving the motor home until the job is finished. I will put it on ramps and insert the safety bars as it will not be moving for at least a week. My philosophy when taking on a new job is: SAFETY, TAKE YOUR TIME, THINK IT THROUGH, DOCUMENT!!
I highly (HIGHLY!) recommend tying the new hoses to the old hoses for pulling through the front and rear bulkheads. These areas are a pain to try to push new hose through and there isn't any room available, on my coach at least, to do anything but reuse the spot where the original fuel line went through. This is a 2 person job for all hose pulls.
A short piece of 1/2" PEX tubing fits inside the 5/8" supply lines as a sort of inside coupling and just duct tape the exterior and we just duct taped up the 3/8" return line really well, though I'm sure you could make a little nipple for it too.
I also removed my propane tank for the install since it was not fun/comfortable climbing on top of it. Just 4 bolts on the underside of the coach hold it in place and it isn't too heavy if you are below a half tank.
I did this about 6 months ago so feel free to contact me.
Jason and Robert,
Love to see photos of those tanks coming out.
jor
I did a very brief rundown here-
Old Fuel Lines (http://www.foreforums.com/index.php?topic=16988.msg149842#msg149842)
I'll see if I have any pictures of the tank but I didn't fully remove it. I didn't take off the lower lip like Jason did as the tank was fairly light once the fuel was removed. You will have to remove the driver's side panel that has the left door lift strut on it to allow the tank to slide past that corner though.
As noted in my other write up, there is a drain on the bottom of the tank that will require the tank to be lifted a bit to clear the connection and will prevent you from just being able to push the tank straight out. Not tough to do if the tank is empty but could be a problem if there is any fuel still in the tank.
Since this old thread had the most useful info for my application, I'm attaching some info for individual fuel line lengths for our 2000 U320 4010 and some tips, learned from trial and error, that worked for me. YMMV
Thanks to those who contributed to this thread ...it helped me a bunch.
Our tanks were covered on our '98 U320 and of course our 2000 U320. Thanks for posting those photos and documenting this tedious job!