Community Forums

Oldman5145 · 07-22-2017, 07:12 PM

Anyone having problems with a newer Onan gas 5500 watt generator? Random shut down for no apparent reason. May work fine one day and the next day will run 15 or 20 minutes.

opeggysue · 07-22-2017, 09:11 PM

Our generator is working good so far, knock on wood.

triplewide · 07-23-2017, 01:12 AM

The two most common generator shut down issues I have seen reported are due to overheating or fuel starvation.

The 4K Onan has more of the heating issues for various reasons.

The 5.5K Onan is most often a fuel issue and of the fuel issues, the fuel pump is the most common culprit.

When the gen stalls if you can loosen the drain nut on the carb and check for fuel present. If no fuel, then that is probably fuel filter or fuel pump.or fuel line.

If your gas tank is at or below 1/4 tank the gen will suck air instead of gas also.

This thread is fairly short and may help:

http://www.irv2.com/forums/f258/gene...ue-349929.html

Good luck, hope you solve it.

TheTravler · 08-05-2017, 08:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Oldman5145

Anyone having problems with a newer Onan gas 5500 watt generator? Random shut down for no apparent reason. May work fine one day and the next day will run 15 or 20 minutes.

Yes, my 2017 Hurricane generator is doing this also. We drove about 3.5 hours when the temp was around 95 the other day with the gen running the whole time and no problems. Five days later we returned with the temp about 97 and it shut down after about 1.5 hours. I left it off for about 30min and then started it and it ran for about 1.5 hours and shut down. I tried to start it again after a couple of min, and it started but only ran for a couple of min.

I have it at CW to fix problems. They said they will be taking to the Onan shop across the road to look at the generator. I did not try to read the codes, I left it for the Onan guys to take are of. I'll post the outcome once they check it out.

Oldman5145 · 08-09-2017, 05:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheTravler

Yes, my 2017 Hurricane generator is doing this also. We drove about 3.5 hours when the temp was around 95 the other day with the gen running the whole time and no problems. Five days later we returned with the temp about 97 and it shut down after about 1.5 hours. I left it off for about 30min and then started it and it ran for about 1.5 hours and shut down. I tried to start it again after a couple of min, and it started but only ran for a couple of min.

I have it at CW to fix problems. They said they will be taking to the Onan shop across the road to look at the generator. I did not try to read the codes, I left it for the Onan guys to take are of. I'll post the outcome once they check it out.

TheTravler, best wishes to you! Mine did not seem to care what the temperature was. It would run one day and not the very next. It could be 35 or 95, so you just noticed it more without the roof a/c's at 95 degrees.

I picked up my coach this past Monday evening, after closing, for the third time. They decided to replace the carburetor this time, under warranty. (Second trip it had a bad fuel pump. First trip cost me $625 because they looked so long trying to make it shut down, so that meant I bought bad gas.) When I opened the door my inverter was beeping at me, showing an error code. I turned it off at the door and went in and started the generator. For the hour and a half trip it ran like a top. I parked and went through my normal shut down and storage procedure. Without shore or gen power nothing electrical, 12 or 120 volt was working. It was acting like the storage switch was off and you could not turn it on. It was dark with no lights so I closed the door and came inside. The next day I went out and could turn the storage switch on and the lights and other items came on. sI then went to the compartment that the inverter is mounted in opened the door and guess what I smelled? That wonderful aroma of fried electronics...I pushed the reset button went back to the door and turned it on. It read 12.8 volts on the batteries and then the E05 (overload or short) code.

I now have an appointment with my dealer next week to see about replacing the inverter. Of coarse, Onan says that they could not have caused this. Cummins Atlantic LLC cost me $625 plus a 150 mile trip for my first visit and on the third visit it seems to have cost and inverter. I am seeing a visit to small claims court in my near future. I try not to say never, but I never plan to buy another Onan gas generator!

Sorry for the rant, they are polite, but I have NOTHING GOOD TO SAY ABOUT CUMMINS/ONAN SERVICE!

Terminex · 08-18-2017, 01:27 PM

I just typed this up about 5 min ago for another thread.

I have found the oil level dipstick attached to the oil cap to be worthless on my QG5500.

Anytime My Genny stops, it is the error 36.

every time if I add oil, it works flawlessly for several months until it has burned a little more oil.

Mine finds oil REALLY tasty as I seem to burn enough to get the error 36 every few months.

when this happened the first time, i went through the trouble of cleaning the carb, air filter, and fuel filter. I checked all the wiring connections & tried running off fuel from a gas can, bypassing the main fuel line. Still had the problem. Then I did an oil change on it. When I over filled the oil accidentally (because the RV was on a slight angle when i did the oil change) the Genny worked perfectly for several months.

When it happened again, I checked the carb, connections again. no change until i added more oil, then it worked perfectly.

For me the easiest way to see it happening is when it shuts down while turning or going over a bump at an angle. this is lowering the oil level just enough that it is tripping the sensor that thinks the oil level is too low.

soo, again, for me the number 1 culprit for error 36 each time has been oil level.

hope it is just as simple / easy for you.

cheers

TheTravler · 08-20-2017, 04:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Terminex

I just typed this up about 5 min ago for another thread.

I have found the oil level dipstick attached to the oil cap to be worthless on my QG5500.

Anytime My Genny stops, it is the error 36.

every time if I add oil, it works flawlessly for several months until it has burned a little more oil.

Mine finds oil REALLY tasty as I seem to burn enough to get the error 36 every few months.

when this happened the first time, i went through the trouble of cleaning the carb, air filter, and fuel filter. I checked all the wiring connections & tried running off fuel from a gas can, bypassing the main fuel line. Still had the problem. Then I did an oil change on it. When I over filled the oil accidentally (because the RV was on a slight angle when i did the oil change) the Genny worked perfectly for several months.

When it happened again, I checked the carb, connections again. no change until i added more oil, then it worked perfectly.

For me the easiest way to see it happening is when it shuts down while turning or going over a bump at an angle. this is lowering the oil level just enough that it is tripping the sensor that thinks the oil level is too low.

soo, again, for me the number 1 culprit for error 36 each time has been oil level.

hope it is just as simple / easy for you.

cheers

Hey Terminex,

About how many hours of generator run time did you have between times you had to add oil? I have a feeling I've had the exact same issue. Mine has only about 35 hours or so on it and the oil was already low.

Thanks.