Onan Generator Life

majordad wrote:

tropical36 wrote:

bigred1cav wrote:
Why will my diesel onan not start seems no battery energy going to it. Does not crank. Would low oil in gen engine cause this?

You should probably start a new thread, as this could get involved, but simply first, you need to first establish that you're getting at least 12vdc to the genset.
On the bottom, at the back there should be two terminals, pos and neg, with some fat cables attached to it for providing starter power.
And no, low oil will only shut it down pretty quick, or not allow it to start. Yours doesn't even turn over, so........

I learned that you have to hold the start button for at least 30 seconds the first time to heat glow plugs to start

tropical36 wrote:

bigred1cav wrote:
Why will my diesel onan not start seems no battery energy going to it. Does not crank. Would low oil in gen engine cause this?

You should probably start a new thread, as this could get involved, but simply first, you need to first establish that you're getting at least 12vdc to the genset.
On the bottom, at the back there should be two terminals, pos and neg, with some fat cables attached to it for providing starter power.
And no, low oil will only shut it down pretty quick, or not allow it to start. Yours doesn't even turn over, so........

bigred1cav wrote:
Why will my diesel onan not start seems no battery energy going to it. Does not crank. Would low oil in gen engine cause this?

tropical36 wrote:

FloridaRosebud wrote:
OK, maybe a silly question - but - I've got a 2006 National SeaBreeze LX with a 5500 Onan. It has about 490 hours on it. I've owned the MH for about 6 months, and I find I'm using the genny even when I'm traveling here in FL because the dash AC just is not enough (we have 2 dogs traveling with us as well) so I run 1 roof unit. So the question - how long, with normal maintenance (I just changed the oil and filter yesterday) should I expect the genny to last? Is 2000 hours reasonable? Maybe more? I realize a generator can have an issue at any time, but we run it at least twice per month for a minimum of a few hours each time, so it does not sit very long. Thoughts anyone?

Al

When talking ONAN, one must first distinguish between gasoline and diesel, with the latter going as much as 30K hours and gasoline probably only a fraction of that, like maybe 3K hours, tops.

FloridaRosebud wrote:
OK, maybe a silly question - but - I've got a 2006 National SeaBreeze LX with a 5500 Onan. It has about 490 hours on it. I've owned the MH for about 6 months, and I find I'm using the genny even when I'm traveling here in FL because the dash AC just is not enough (we have 2 dogs traveling with us as well) so I run 1 roof unit. So the question - how long, with normal maintenance (I just changed the oil and filter yesterday) should I expect the genny to last? Is 2000 hours reasonable? Maybe more? I realize a generator can have an issue at any time, but we run it at least twice per month for a minimum of a few hours each time, so it does not sit very long. Thoughts anyone?

Al

FloridaRosebud wrote:

kmb1966 wrote:

Dutch_12078 wrote:

kmb1966 wrote:
My Onan Gold Marquis 7000 was serviced perfectly every time on schedule mostly by Onan dealers (oil, filter, airfilter, fuel filter, adjustments, exercised every 2 weeks for 30 minutes). Yet constantly had problems with it. New heads, broken rocker arms, intake manifold, carbuerator problems, fuel pump problems. Finally gave up at 750 hours and bought a new one. Wasn't gonna put another $1500 into that serial number. Replaced it with Onan 5500 hoping to have better success this one. perhaps just a lemon.

Was your Marquis Gold a newer HGJ 2880 RPM series, or the older NHM 1800 RPM series. The lower RPM NHM's have generally been pretty bullet proof...

Motorhome was a 2001, so I'm not for sure. I think my serial number started with HGJ. It didn't start with NHM.

Mine is a Marquis Gold 5500 HGJ but is 3600 rpm. 2005 build.

Al

kmb1966 wrote:

Dutch_12078 wrote:

kmb1966 wrote:
My Onan Gold Marquis 7000 was serviced perfectly every time on schedule mostly by Onan dealers (oil, filter, airfilter, fuel filter, adjustments, exercised every 2 weeks for 30 minutes). Yet constantly had problems with it. New heads, broken rocker arms, intake manifold, carbuerator problems, fuel pump problems. Finally gave up at 750 hours and bought a new one. Wasn't gonna put another $1500 into that serial number. Replaced it with Onan 5500 hoping to have better success this one. perhaps just a lemon.

Was your Marquis Gold a newer HGJ 2880 RPM series, or the older NHM 1800 RPM series. The lower RPM NHM's have generally been pretty bullet proof...

Motorhome was a 2001, so I'm not for sure. I think my serial number started with HGJ. It didn't start with NHM.

Dutch_12078 wrote:

kmb1966 wrote:
My Onan Gold Marquis 7000 was serviced perfectly every time on schedule mostly by Onan dealers (oil, filter, airfilter, fuel filter, adjustments, exercised every 2 weeks for 30 minutes). Yet constantly had problems with it. New heads, broken rocker arms, intake manifold, carbuerator problems, fuel pump problems. Finally gave up at 750 hours and bought a new one. Wasn't gonna put another $1500 into that serial number. Replaced it with Onan 5500 hoping to have better success this one. perhaps just a lemon.

Was your Marquis Gold a newer HGJ 2880 RPM series, or the older NHM 1800 RPM series. The lower RPM NHM's have generally been pretty bullet proof...