I recently purchased an 81 Brougham motor home, 460 V8, on an E350 chassis that we are restoring. It has dual tanks and I am experiencing problems with the engine starting and running for 2-3 minutes then dying. This occurs when either tank is selected. After reading through some of the previous posts I am thinking it is probably a fuel pump issue. Are there 3 pumps? One on each tank and one on the frame rail? Since it occurs with either tank selected, I am assuming that it is most likely the pump on the frame. Do you have to drop a tank to replace the pick-up pump?

 

i believe a selector valve routes fuel from the chosen tank to one fuel pump.

 

If it is any help,
I'm pretty sure the in tank fuel pumps were used only on fuel injected vehicles. There were in tank electric fuel pumps with larger displacement engines, but I believe they were the 477 cid and 534 engines. I also seem to recall a Carter brand fuel pump did a better job of supplying the amount of fuel needed for those years and that 460 engine.

 

So then there is only a single pump for this vehicle? Can you give me an approximate location of the pump? Also, does this vehicle have an inline type fuel filter or is it the small one that fit right into the carb?

 

If I remember correctly the fuel pump is mechanical and is operated by a lobe on the camshaft. The pumps were mounted on the engine block at the front side of the engine.
If you don't see it there, look for the fuel line that comes to the fuel filter at the carburetor.
There are always exceptions when it comes to RV's . I would not rule out a possible electric fuel pump mounted in the engine compartment. The key is to trace the line from the carb back to the fuel pump. That should make things easier.