Onan Generatorrs

[KeysHauler]

Originally Posted by 24shofast

You could always have it shipped, I'm sure you would be about $2,500 or so but with the time and effort it would seem to be a wash. I paid to have mine shipped just because I didn't want to deal with driving there and back. Just an idea.

Ive thought about that. Just curious.....Does someone just hook the trailer to a truck and drive it out? Never seen a trailer on a trailer. I would be concerned about any malfunctions if they just pulled out from the west coast

[WinnieView]

Originally Posted by KeysHauler

Ive thought about that. Just curious.....Does someone just hook the trailer to a truck and drive it out? Never seen a trailer on a trailer. I would be concerned about any malfunctions if they just pulled out from the west coast

Yes, contract transport companies. Some of the same ones that are used to move them from the factories to the dealers.

[24shofast]

Originally Posted by KeysHauler

Ive thought about that. Just curious.....Does someone just hook the trailer to a truck and drive it out? Never seen a trailer on a trailer. I would be concerned about any malfunctions if they just pulled out from the west coast

You are correct, it is a full time job for most of them. They are constantly towing RV's all across the nation. I was more comfortable with them doing it than trying to navigate across the county on roads I've never traveled on or aware of common issues like wind etc.

Originally Posted by 2008Seneca

Yes, contract transport companies. Some of the same ones that are used to move them from the factories to the dealers.

If you play your cards right you often find a transport company that doesn't have a return trailer to take back to their home base and really save some money. The last time I shipped it was cheaper than me towing it in fuel in just one direction not to mention the drive out. Guess that happens when your truck burns fuel as fast as you can pump it.

[R2millers]

Originally Posted by KeysHauler

Ive thought about that. Just curious.....Does someone just hook the trailer to a truck and drive it out? Never seen a trailer on a trailer. I would be concerned about any malfunctions if they just pulled out from the west coast

Yes, most tow trucks have a gooseneck assembly for attaching 5th wheels and a regular class 4 or 5 for bumper pull units.

To load, even a smaller trailer up on a platform, would be way too high for bridge crossings, etc.

I had to have mine towed after two truck injectors went bad. The truck on one flatbed, the trailer on a conventional type. I have AAA with RV towing, they towed me 96 miles to home. My coverage was for free towing the first 100 miles. I figured out what I would have paid in fuel costs and tipped the drivers that 80 bucks.

Everyone happy.

[Oregon RR]

Install a fuel cutoff valve just before the carburetor. Run the generator dry every time before you put your rv in storage. This little trick works on most small gas motors.

No sitting fuel in the carb to gum up the fuel metering stuff.

Run a five times dose of Star Tron fuel conditioner in the gas tank and run the generator until it runs smooth.

Be Brave!

[KeysHauler]

Originally Posted by Oregon RR

Install a fuel cutoff valve just before the carburetor. Run the generator dry every time before you put your rv in storage. This little trick works on most small gas motors.

No sitting fuel in the carb to gum up the fuel metering stuff.

Run a five times dose of Star Tron fuel conditioner in the gas tank and run the generator until it runs smooth.

Be Brave!

Great idea!!

[Oregon RR]

Keys -

Thanks, but the idea came from a Cummins Onan technician. This guy didn't like the replacement only option for the gummed up Onan carbs and told me the fuel cutoff would solve the problem for peanuts. That shop gets all my future business.

RR

[AnotherMike]

Originally Posted by KeysHauler

Great idea!!

Don't bother with the fuel shutoff, just add a toggle switch to the wire feeding the electric fuel pump.... but it won't work.


Shutting off the gas would work if the bowl emptied into the jets, but it doesn't at least in my 6.5NH-3CR.
There is always gas left in the carb.

Supposedly the carb on my beast is NOT rebuildable, and the jets are high enough in the bowl that there is gas left in the bowl after it runs dry, and there are moving parts below the level of the gas. So the gas dries out and leaves the crud in the moving parts.

A motorcycle mechanic friend of mine is talking about adapting a bike carb to my Onan... we'll see.

He's also talking about adapting a electronic (pointless) ignition... we'll see.

Mike

PS - Does anybody know who exactly makes the carbs for Onan?

[Oregon RR]

AnotherMike -

The fuel cutoff switch will and does work very well for the Onan 4000 and a bunch of other Onan models. This is a $15 fix that "solves" the fuel related starting and "rpm-cycling"running problems. Cut-off the gas and add some StarTron and you are golden!

Please accept my condolences if your unit's carb is designed differently than ours. You will have to figure out your own solution to the fuel / carb problems.

Just curious, did you try to cutoff the fuel or do you "just know" it won't work?

If I could now just find a $15 fix for my fuel pump on the ATV fueling station in the toyhauler.........

[MAINE BOY]

Originally Posted by KeysHauler

Hi, I'm looking at buying an 09 Toy Hauler that seems a fair deal. Only problem Im told so far is the Onan Genset. Im told he doesn't know how many hours but that it only runs if you spray starter fluid in the carb. He says something bout a fuel pump but to me this sounds like it could just be bad gas if he didn't use Rec90(or just plain old gas).

It gets its fuel from the 36 gallon toy supply in the rear but I don't know how these Toy Haulers are plumbed for fuel. Is there a separate low pressure pick up pump for the Genset and then the carb provides further suction? Any ideas? is this a regular Onan genset issues?



thanks for any advice.

Ok here we go, I have a Cummins Oman 5500 in my 42 foot Grand Design toy hauler, bought it new, first thing that I did was changed fuel filter, nada, second changed out fuel pump, finally, last week new carburetor, now it runs like a top, keeping in mind both toy hauler manufacturer and Cummins will do nothing to help you, and this was new with less than 40 hours when my problems all started...good luck

[winniman]

Originally Posted by KeysHauler

yup, my experience has shown malfunctions of this nature are due to bad gas and gumbed up air mixture circuits and choke circuits. Won't know the model to i get there I get there but hopefully it won't be too tough. Not having times on the Hobbes meter was a little concerning.. Guess worst case its a 3k repair..right??

I replaced my 5000 watt in my old rv for a thousand bucks. I bought a good used one and swapped it out. It took about four hours work. That is in Canadian dollars I might add.

[KeysHauler]

Another thing you can do to help alleviate the carburetor issues is use REC 90 fuel. Thats is.. non ethanol fuel. Gives you more time of inactivity before things get gummed up

[AnotherMike]

Originally Posted by Oregon RR

AnotherMike -

The fuel cutoff switch will and does work very well for the Onan 4000 and a bunch of other Onan models. This is a $15 fix that "solves" the fuel related starting and "rpm-cycling"running problems. Cut-off the gas and add some StarTron and you are golden!

Please accept my condolences if your unit's carb is designed differently than ours. You will have to figure out your own solution to the fuel / carb problems.

Just curious, did you try to cutoff the fuel or do you "just know" it won't work?

If I could now just find a $15 fix for my fuel pump on the ATV fueling station in the toyhauler.........

According to the maintenance records that came with my 1985 vintage Fleetwood the Onan is on its third carburetor.
The records say that the Walbro carb was replaced at 19 hours because the old one was "plugged with gas residoo". Yes, that's the words in the logbook.

The second carb was swapped out on an unknown date and at an unknown number of hours die to "dried out gas".

I inherited the Fleetwood and the genny will not start unless you continuously spray carb cleaner down the throat... the carb is again, plugged.

Supposedly there are mechanical and moving parts in the bottom of the bowl, and when you run it dry there is still gas left in the bowl and as it dries out the gas turns to lacquer or shellac.

The Onan pert number for the carb is #146-0308. The original carburetor was made by Walbro, later ones are by Nikki (the name is cast into the side). It seems that nobody makes a rebuild kit for the carb.

One friend showed me a trick he uses... at the end of the season he opens the side door of the RV, takes the feed hose off the genny fuel pump intake and puts a short piece of hose on it, just long enough to reach the ground. That hose is dipped into a can of Coleman "Camp Fuel" (available at a lot of hardware stores and sporting goods stores" or "MSR Super Fuel" (available on Amazon). Both of those are essentially white gas (AKA pure gasoline).

He buys a new quart can of MSR every season just for the genny shutdown procedure. He changes the oil, puts the short hose on it, starts the genny using the local control panel and lets it suck the white gas until the can is empty and it shuts down. That's it.

He says he got the idea from someone he met at the annual Quartzite AZ RV get-together about a dozen years ago. Supposedly the guy that showed him the trick lets his genny suck from a can of carburetor cleaner or lacquer thinner.... he stops the genny when it changes it's sound (running on the carb cleaner or lacquer thinner has a different sound than gasoline). My friend was worried about the cleaner or thinner dissolving the seals in his carb so he uses pure gasoline...

My genset has 40.1 hours on the Hobbs meter. I shouldn't be on my third carb (soon to be the fourth) because of a bad design in the carb, or a poor shutdown procedure.

There are other RV websites that have message boards that have comment threads on older Onan generators and their carb issues. Just google that topic and you will see...

[nothermark]

Coleman fuel is straight naptha maybe with some rust inhibitors. Naptha is one of many components in gasoline.

I use Sta-bil every fall in the MH and run the generator long enough to get the mix into the genset carb. Been doing it since we got our first MH 12 or so years ago. This year I am running on two year old fuel because I ended up in the hospital last summer so we never made it out. The point is that for a few bucks and a bit of work a season those storage problems can be canceled out.