generac starting than stalling??

[Dave1956]

greetings:

My generac diesel generator will start right up run for 2-3 minutes and then stall out as if it was low on fuel. It repeated this exact process three times today and never stayed on. I had plenty of diesel in the rv and I recently had the generator serviced (all filters, oil, new breaker etc.) It has operated fine after servicing on an earlier trip. Any ideas??

Thanks,

Dave

[SteveLevin]

Others may have more specific advice, but the first thing I'd check are fuses (especially if you have any that have a "screw in" type cap). Stuff like that that gets loose will not be obvious but cause that exact behaviour (at least, it has happened to me in my gas generac and the first time it happened to me I spent 3 hours trying to track things down!)

Steve

[floridaflash]

My generac gas generator was doing the same thing... lots of head scratching later, it turned out to be a kink in the gas pickup inside the gas tank! Worked perfectly after removing the kink.
David

[PandK]

I would check the over temp shutdown. If you lost the fan belt it takes only a few minutes for the generator to overheat. Found out the hard way and the belt is a bear to replace.

[Dave1956]

couple of follow up questions...

How hard is it to check the diesel hose and is there just one fan belt? I had the belt changed about 15 hours ago, and the generator is putting out power. I wonder if the same belt drives everything??

Thanks,

Dave

[PandK]

I have the Generac 75D. There are two belts, one drives the generator the other drives the water pump and cooling fan. The generator drive belt is on the passenger side the fan belt is on the driver side. I have replaced both belts and it took about two days not full time, not a fun job. This was without removing the generator from the coach.

[UFO Pilot]

Friends of ours just had the same type of problem with their diesel generator. It turned out to be a corroded sensor, cost them $1300 to have it replaced. Most of the cost was labor to remove and reinstall the generator.

[srydve]

I have a very similar, perhaps the same, problem with the same generator, any chance we can find out which sensor was bad? Thanks, Dave

[UFO Pilot]

I believe it was the high temp sensor. I will try and find out for sure and post here.

[UFO Pilot]

This is what my friend just sent me:

It was the sensor going to the thermostat. They had to pull the entire generator out to replace the sensor & thermostat. They called it "corrosion", so the extended warranty would not cover it. $1300

[srydve]

Thanks for the info.

[PandK]

You may already have seen this but it just in case.

[Dave1956]

Based on what is being stated here, I am curious if my "dealer" extended warranty would try the same stunt?? It might be worth my using a private shop to diagnose the issue first, so I can get competative bids.

[srydve]

I believe I have solved my problem and it is the thermo-switch ( temp sensor). After getting my rebuilt started installed I was able to get back to trouble shooting. Mine was intermitant sometimes running for only a few seconds, other times going for 3 or 4 minutes and occasionally long enough to make toast and coffee in the morning. It did seem to be getting worse. I took the front and top panels off the gen set and was easily able to unplug the sensor ( it is normally open). I started it twice with the sensor unplugged and both times it ran for over 20 minutes without dying. I don't believe it will be necesary to take the gen set out to replace, I will have to thread it in blind but there is quite a bit of space so I think it's doable. I'll know better when I take the old unit out, but I have to wait for it to completely cool before I try. The bad news is the cheapest replacement sensor is over a $100. Thanks again to Wayne for letting us know about this problem.