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Old 03-02-2015, 04:21 PM   #1
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Problem starting generator!

I have been having a problem starting our Onan Quiet Diesel 7500 generator lately, and when I could get it started it would run for a while and then quit!

Saturday I checked the oil and it was about 1 quart low! I added Rotella T 15W40 to get it up to the full mark. It fired right up and ran for an hour before I shut it down! Today I tried it again with the same result!

I should have checked the oil first because I have a portable generator that works the same way, if the oil is low it will not start or will shut down!
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Old 03-02-2015, 04:27 PM   #2
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was it a quart low again after such a short run time?
if so you have more serious problems arising than not starting. how many hours on the unit?
is the exhaust pipe oily or wet feeling?
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Old 03-02-2015, 04:27 PM   #3
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was it down a quart of oil like the first time?
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Old 03-02-2015, 04:29 PM   #4
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It was a quart low from the last service a year ago. It's possible they did not get the level up to where it should have been. From now on I will check it from time to time between servicing!
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Old 03-02-2015, 04:35 PM   #5
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The way I read Joe's post was that he ran the generator a second time after adding oil and all was fine. Correct me if I'm wrong Joe.
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Old 03-02-2015, 04:40 PM   #6
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Generator Problem

I had the same thing. We bought a new 2014 Jayco with an Onan 4000. Our first cross country trip, it had the same symptoms. I went to an Onan Service dept and he immediately told me that this is very common with these generators using gasoline with Ethanol. Ethanol is a big problem for all small engines that leave gas sitting for any amount of time. Even though my rig was brand new, I had not run the generator hardly at all before our trip. He immediately screwed in the needle valve and backed it out, and it ran great from then on. He told be the ethanol will form a hard schelac and clog the carbureators. I needed to add the ethanol additive if leaving for more than 4-5 weeks and should never have the problem again. Hope this helps.
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Old 03-02-2015, 05:01 PM   #7
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Well we have to support the high price of corn for the corporate farms even if it screws up our gennies
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Old 03-02-2015, 06:14 PM   #8
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Quote:
Originally Posted by edsperfect View Post
Well we have to support the high price of corn for the corporate farms even if it screws up our gennies
And right now it costs more to produce ethanol than gasoline. Now they're talking about putting ethanol in diesel fuel.
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Old 03-02-2015, 07:39 PM   #9
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I don't think that is Joe's problem, his Genset is diesel. Joe, does the light on the start button for the Genset blink a code? Mine is propane powered and 2 blinks shows low oil pressure, 3 blinks is service required and 4 blinks is over cranking, meaning that the starter is getting too hot. It sounds like you might have a fuel filter that is not flowing properly, try having the fuel filter changed and see if that helps your starting problem.
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Old 03-03-2015, 05:53 AM   #10
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I agree from what I read he doesn't have a problem he was explaining what he found for info purposes. He said after he added the oil it ran "about an hour before I shut it down". Maybe I am reading it wrong. Our 7000 gas Onan did the same thing when it got a little low on oil the first trip. It had an oil leak around a plug. The leak was fixed and we have not had a problem since but I am very aggressive about keeping the oil topped off.
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Old 03-03-2015, 06:15 AM   #11
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The way I read it

Would not run properly
Added oil
Ran properly
Shut down
now wont' start

Possible issues include just about everything that can go wrong including major engine failure (Very expensive), batteries too low to start it (Common on my gasser) easily fixed, press Emergency start/Aux Start/Boost button to bring chassis batteries in the mix or start main engine to set isolator and provide chassis battery support.

To (And this one is not cheap either) OUT OF FUEL.
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Old 03-03-2015, 06:16 AM   #12
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Sounds to me OP added a quart of oil and fixed his problem.
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Old 03-03-2015, 06:40 AM   #13
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Guess we will have to wait for OP to see what's going on.
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Old 03-03-2015, 08:22 AM   #14
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Glass half full/half empty???

As an dedicated optimist, I read the post that Joe added oil, solved the problem. Happy days...
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