Was in process of moving my '85 Barth 6-8 miles from my "parking place" to a State Park I stay at a great deal of time. Anyway, I drove approx. 1/2 mile and the engine cuts off. Less than 20-30 seconds it cranked back up. I drove about another 1/2 mile and it did the same thing. Continued doing this 4-5 times and then had it towed about another 1/2 mile to get off the highway. A mechanic friend came and helped me get it going about an hour later. Had to jump start but after going through this same ordeal 2-3 more times, I made it to the campground. Any ideas what could cause this problem---hasn't been solved since mechanic is tied up on other work for the next week or so. Not an emergency since I am staying at this park for a few months. BUT sure would like some input. Thanks

Try it again with the gas cap off.

Do you have an electric fuel pump?

Is there spark when it refuses to start?

The ignition switch could be acting up. Is there 12 volts at the distributor right after it stops?

Can you charge the starting battery with the genset? The genset can power a charger connected to the cranking battery. If you have a good charger/converter, you can either hold the parallel switch or make a short cable to connect the start and coach batteries for charging.

Sounds more like a gas filter problem to me. 1. Inline canister, 2.In tank sock, which I don't know anything about, and 3, the stone in the intake of the quadrajet. From your description, an inline can sounds most likely.

When it happened to my '85 454 it was a wire to the fuel pump that was right before the tank.

You can stay at a State Park for a few months ???

Yes, you can stay for a few months in a State Park in Mississippi.

how much fuel was in the tank? do you smell gas? have you looked at the hoses to the fuel pump & tank & back? We had run tank down to almost empty which had some corrosion in the bottom. We found trash in the filter at the carb. It ended up getting in to carb in the end & we did a rebuild of carb. Also dropped tanks & had treated & recoated, reinstalled tanks. It could be many things. I'd start with what you can see. Go spend some time under the coach following hoses to & from gas tanks. Check filters etc.
Tere

The fact you had to jump start is obviously electrical.

The state park isn't close to East Tennessee is it

State law is for one month, BUT since this is a small park and few guest, they are not very strict on staying over one month. After 2-3 months you have to move.--------I am at Holmes County State Park, Durant, Ms. It is located just off I-55. Approx 60 miles north of Jackson, MS and about 150 miles south of Memphis Tn----Thanks very much for the input> I will for sure let everyone know when I get the problem solved. I means when I get my mechanic to check out the different recommendations, since I am not much of a mechanic and with back and hip problems can't get under the MH like I once could.

Years ago, my rough running/stalling 454 issue was solved by replacing the ignition module in the HEI. If not fuel related, recommend that as
option. (Be sure to use the heat-sink grease that
comes with it.)

quote:

Originally posted by Jim and Tere:


The fact you had to jump start is obviously electrical.

Could also mean the battery got run down low from cranking.

Years ago I had a '72 Nova with a 350 v-8 . It started doing exactly as you described. It would run for a while then cut off. It would crank back up OK, idle ok, but as soon as you got back up to about 35 mph it would die. Turned out to be trash on the fuel filter sock inside the tank, and some had gotten in the fuel lines. After cleaning out the lines and filters, it ran perfect. It was getting enough fuel through the filter to run the engine for a few seconds, but as soon as the fuel in the line was used up , the engine would starve.

This is also a symptom of an overheating ignition coil or capacitor.

But I'd suspect the fuel system first, and would include the fuel pump in the diagnosis. GM mechanical pumps don't last much past 50K miles. They will pump enough fuel at idle, but consumption outruns the diminished capacity at road speeds.

Haven't solved the problem yet, because my mechanic that I depend on has not been able to spend the time to check things out. He has found that the fuel pump out side the tank is not working as best he can determine but the MH will run. Not going to try to drive any where until he can really check things out. Holding off on putting fresh gas in until he can determine if it will be necessary to drop the tank. Anyway, I'm sorry for not giving an update any sooner, but this is what has been determined so far. I'll try to do better and keep a better update. Thanks for the info all of which is going to be checked out when he(mech) has the time to check everything out.

Oh well, Finally got the problem solved on my Barth. My pal had to drop the fuel tank and found a crimped hose---result of a problem 2-3 years ago when the tank had to be dropped. Anyway, I guess it could be considered a small problem but no doubt was very frustrating to me. THATS the good news. NOW the BAD-----I'm going to sell my Barth which I have had for almost 11 years. I am moving to Dallas on May 1st. During the time I have owned it I have only made one trip---I guess 10 years ago to Talladega. Since that time I have driven it short distances to keep the motor and trans working. For the past 8 years I have lived in my Barth full time. No doubt I would like to sell it to someone that would continue to enjoy it like I have. I will be taking some pictures in the next few days and will post when I have the time(packing to move is a pain in the butt at least). If anyone would like to make suggestions or would be interested, please call me at 662-229-7083. Thanks and look forward to continuing checking out the BARTHMOBILE.COM.

I had the same problem in a car once and it was water in gas tank. Just poured a pint of rubbing alcohol in the tank and solved the problem.