Buying 85 IDI ATS turbo motorhome!

Cubey

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I decided to sink the money into a new "proper" fuel tank selector valve. I found a $12 off coupon code for AutoZone, so I got their complete kit (valve, pigtail, and switch) all for $70.02 with tax and free shipping. It has a lifetime warranty, so I can get a replacement at no cost from any autozone store.

https://www.autozone.com/fuel-deliv...ast-fuel-tank-selector-valve-fsv2k/518461_0_0

It means I can go 200 miles between fill-ups (more if I use the 5gallon can) which means I can save as much as 30 cents a gallon sometimes. (~$4 per 13 gallons) That thing is gonna pay for itself fast. I won't have to mess with waiting for the little transfer pump to move the fuel and guessing how much has transfered. I can flip the switch and be on the other tank instantly.

I plan to finally do some *serious* traveling again this summer (first time in 3 years) so I need to save every cent on fuel I can, at ~7.9mpg (towing a small enclosed cargo trailer). Also gonna try to stick to going ~55mph when possible to help squeeze every mpg I can out of this RV too.
 
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gnathv

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Did you read the 2 reviews listed with the link you posted? One says he bought it and it won’t work for diesel.
 

Cubey

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That sounds like a pretty good price to me.

Yep, they are $80 from O'Reilly and they usually expect you to spend $100+ for any kind of online-only discount. I could have gotten a kit from RockAuto for less, but there's basically no good way to claim warranty on ones from there... much like Amazon, ebay, etc.

I plan to do at least a 3,500 mile loop this summer (starting from SW AZ and returning here late Nov or so) over 8 months (Apr-Nov) if not as much as 5,000 miles even. 5k miles at 7.9mpg = 633 gallons. if I save an average of 10 cents per gallon overall thanks to the valve, that comes out to $63.30, so yeah it'll pay for itself this year. Adds convenience too.

Did you read the 2 reviews listed with the link you posted? One says he bought it and it won’t work for diesel.

Yes, I did. People are silly. Maybe the instructions don't specifically say for use with diesel, so they take that to mean "don't use with diesel or you'll bring about doomsday!".

Most negative reviews for these type of valves are from people who bought the wrong thing (needed the newer style like 87+ F-series got), they don't realize you need to get a kit if you don't have different pigtail connector (they complain that it won't fit their factory connector), or don't know how to wire in the connector in a kit (so they complain that you have to pay someone to figure out the wiring, but you can find it out online for free).. and they blame the products with a 1 star review because it's somehow the product's fault for them being inept at working on their trucks.

These valves are basically mechanical in nature as far as the valve itself; an electric motor just turns the mechanism is all. So unless the diesel being used is harsher on the o-rings than ethanol blended gasoline, it'll be fine.

The Holley Red fuel pump I run (as do others) doesn't say it's for diesel, but it works fine and people report that Holley pumps last forever on IDIs.

Take note of the yes/no responses to "is this review helpful?" to that person who complained that won't work with diesel... 8 yes/7 no. (1 "no" is me). So roughly half of people know that's complete nonsense.
 
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Cubey

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@Cubey Since you are going to do some serious miles this summer, take a read through of this link:
https://www.tsdlogistics.com/services/fuel-program/

You can basically you can piggy back off a fleet account, and get a deeper fuel discount when you get diesel at truck stop, and use the truckers fuel island.

Yep, I'm already in that program! It's useful sometimes, other times not. Depends on the area. Down here in Yuma AZ it's not, but up around Kingman AZ it is. Same thing in Texas. I found it useful in E TX but not W TX. The downside is you have to use the truck lanes. My RV has the bigger fuel neck so semi nozzles fit (my F250 isn't so fortunate) but at some stations it's hard to fill. Course I've had that problem with auto sized nozzles too at some stations. One in TX took me about 20 minutes to fuel up because of how foamy the fuel was as it came out of the nozzle.

Sounds like you have it handled.

I highly suspect ONE company is making those valves under all brands. A lot of aftermarket auto parts are like that now since most everything is made in China. They can sell it to half a dozen comapnies who each resell it for their own mark-up price under their own brands, so only one company has to make it but half a dozen companies get to sell it.

I spotted a Black+Decker branded evaporative cooler also being sold under the unknown brand name of "Keystone". RCA hasn't existed as an actual company making things since 1987, since they basically went bankrupt. It's nothing but a trademark... just a name slapped onto cheap products and marketed to old people on the concept of brand recognition alone, because they think back to when RCA made radios, TVs, and VCRs and think "oh, RCA makes good things, I'll buy this!" Polaroid is the same way. That's why there's cheapo tablets under RCA and Polaroid brands.

With that in mind as being highly probable, the installation instructions for the Pollak branded valve specifically says it works with gasoline and diesel: http://products.pollakaftermarket.com/Asset/42-159 IS_41-revdd.pdf
 
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IDIBRONCO

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I could have gotten a kit from RockAuto for less, but there's basically no good way to claim warranty on ones from there
Boy you're not kidding about that. I remember the good old days when you could call Rock Auto and actually talk to a real person. I sure do miss those days.:(
 

Cubey

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Boy you're not kidding about that. I remember the good old days when you could call Rock Auto and actually talk to a real person. I sure do miss those days.:(

Yep. Back around 2012'ish. Moog totally changed the look and design of the idler arms for old Dodge vans and at first I thought they sent me something that was put in the wrong box. I called RockAuto and set them photos. They sent me another and it was the same weird way. I called again and they sent a third one. Also the same. In the end, they had sent me 3 of these weird looking ones (2 extras at their complete expense!). I didn't like the look, they were bent looking and weren't as thick as the old design, so I didn't want them and they paid return shipping on all 3 and refunded me once they got them back. As I recall, I accidentally ordered 1 instead of 2 so I ordered a second one separately which is how I ended up in that situation. The first was from RockAuto, so I guess their stock supply ran out of the old ones. I think I ended up buying the second one at full retail price from O'Reilly since the one they had was the old design, which matched the old ones being replaced.

But more to my point about warranty..... I'm not sure if RockAuto is who you'd go through for lifetime warranty on a part. I think that ends up falling upon the buyer to contact the company who's brand is on it. The way auto parts stores do it, I think the store makes the warranty claim for the customers basically by just replacing it for the customer, then gets reimbursed by the company for the part. That's like if you buy something at Walmart with a lifetime warranty, Walmart isn't gonna give you another one for free 3 years later. They'll tell you contact the company who made it. I made a warranty claim on a Samsung MicroSD card that went read-only within the warranty period. They even paid shipping on both the returned card (yep, I had to send it in. had nothing on it that I cared about if anyone else saw) and the replacement, which was a new sealed one in the retail packaging. So yeah, Samsung honors their warranty. It was mildly hard to get ahold of the correct contact info for filing the claim though.
 

Cubey

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@Cubey what are fuel prices there here in mt they jumped .40 cents in 2 days I'm sure glad allthe Biden supporters still have their bumper stickers and yard signs so I know where to siphon fuel lol

Did you vote Bush in 2004? If so, did I have the right to siphon your fuel in summer 2008 when prices went insane to $4-5/gal? Fair's fair, right? :rolleyes: No, of course not.


That had to do with artificially inflated prices due to market manipulation of oil "futures" by the way, not so much the Bush administration. Except that they did nothing to stop it. (Kind of like a few other major things they did nothing to prevent despite repeatedly being warned...)

There were lawsuits about it years later, under the Obama admin:
https://www.reuters.com/article/cft...s-for-2008-manipulation-idUKN2427371220110524

Ever heard of "divide and conquer"? That's what the supposed two party system is doing in the US. Spoiler alert: it's actually one party rule, in terms of policy. That's why nothing REALLY changes much, no matter who has the title of "President".

So, keep that in mind before you make lame "jokes" about commiting crimes against your fellow countrymen who voted differently from you. I doubt you would like to have crimes committed against you for whoever you voted for. Same goes for people who voted Biden. And no, I didn't vote for him in the primary or general. Nor for Trump. They're both equally repulsive, as far as I'm concerned. I'll just leave it at that. And notice I said the politicians are repulsive, not their constituency.
 
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Oledirtypearl86

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@Cubey I was just kidding I wouldnt siphon fuel from anyone ivhad it happen to me and had my slip tank drained of diesel that being said fuel prices are headed back up around here just wondering if it was else where
 

gnathv

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In N Alabama it has gone from $2.35 to $2.59 in a couple of weeks, gas is only a dime less than diesel in most places.
 

IDIBRONCO

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It is around me too. The prices vary so much from town to town, I don't pay a lot of attention. I kind of do the same thing when I fill up too. I need it so I just pay for it. The good news is that it's almost motorcycle weather around here.
 

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