Greetings,I purchased a 2006 Winnebago Outlook last May and the Onan generator said it had 118 hrs on it! Ran like a champ!The last 4 months of the year I didn't use the generator and when I tried to start it it would simply turn over but not fire. I figured gummed up carb so I took the two wing nuts off the air cleaner housing and the air filter, pulled the filter, squirted gumout and starter spray in and turned it over, still wouldn't start. Took it into the repair shop and they called today to tell me that the choke assembly was "disassembled". Since I know I didn't take it apart, and this was working fine, questions;1) Can they rattle apart?2) Could the repair shop have swapped generators on me during another service engagement in the last 4 months? Wondering how one would know since I don't see serial numbers for the generator listed in the original docs I have for the rv. Is there a way to check an internal hours meter against the gauge in the RV? Note: Generator panel was locked but I would bet those are pretty easy to pop open.Waiting to hear back if this is a warranty item.

Why don't you just tell them to reassemble the choke assembly and move on?

They did and said it was running rough and backfiring, which is not how it was 4 months ago. So they are recommending replace/rebuild carb. I just have never heard of chokes rattling loose on vehicle motors, didn't know about generators.

Back in the early 80's I had a brand new Mazda PU who's choke rattled apart after just a few hundred miles. I'd say it's possible.

1. Unlikely but possible. Perhaps you accidentally dislodged something in removing the air cleaner without realizing it (or partially dislodged it and it vibrated loose from there).2. I guess theoretically possible, but extremely unlikely in my opinion. What possible motive would a repair place have for surreptitiously replacing the generator with a similar or identical one? How long do you suspect a repair shop that did shenanigans like that would stay in business?Having a carburetor gummed up from gas sitting in it for several months is not beyond the realm of possibility. While replacement would be one way to fix that, I'd try running some cleaner (such as Seafoam) through it first to see if that gets it working well again. (Actually, I'd probably also take the carburetor apart and try cleaning it manually before buying a new one, too, but I wouldn't expect everybody to try that. I don't know how amenable these carbs are to this kind of work.)

Does that imply that reassembly fixed the issue? How much?

Sketchy issue | Good Sam Community

17 Replies

OFDPOS
Explorer
Feb 04, 2015
I know not apples to apples , but our Generac we had , on a trip it ran just fine the night we boonedocked (spelling?) ran for about 2 hours.
Didn't use it for a few days , then needed to so went start it and wouldn't stay running .Went out lifted up the cover and tried to start it with the button on the gen samething started looking and kinda moved the throttle linkage around and I guess it was the choke linkage slipped back and I tried to start it up again and ran perfect.
I had a can of WD40 and just kinda sprayed the linkage. Never had another problem with that part of it..
So maybe the choke linkage was binding or ?
pwrchrd
Explorer
Feb 04, 2015
Unless the choke assembly is kept in place by he air cleaner, I didn't loosen it.
Awaiting the repair quote.
ksg5000
Explorer
Feb 04, 2015
Does that imply that reassembly fixed the issue? How much?
DrewE
Explorer II
Feb 03, 2015
1. Unlikely but possible. Perhaps you accidentally dislodged something in removing the air cleaner without realizing it (or partially dislodged it and it vibrated loose from there).

2. I guess theoretically possible, but extremely unlikely in my opinion. What possible motive would a repair place have for surreptitiously replacing the generator with a similar or identical one? How long do you suspect a repair shop that did shenanigans like that would stay in business?

Having a carburetor gummed up from gas sitting in it for several months is not beyond the realm of possibility. While replacement would be one way to fix that, I'd try running some cleaner (such as Seafoam) through it first to see if that gets it working well again. (Actually, I'd probably also take the carburetor apart and try cleaning it manually before buying a new one, too, but I wouldn't expect everybody to try that. I don't know how amenable these carbs are to this kind of work.)
ScottG
Nomad
Feb 03, 2015
Back in the early 80's I had a brand new Mazda PU who's choke rattled apart after just a few hundred miles.
I'd say it's possible.
pwrchrd
Explorer
Feb 03, 2015
They did and said it was running rough and backfiring, which is not how it was 4 months ago. So they are recommending replace/rebuild carb. I just have never heard of chokes rattling loose on vehicle motors, didn't know about generators.
Sloop_Smitten
Explorer
Feb 03, 2015
Why don't you just tell them to reassemble the choke assembly and move on?

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Sketchy issue

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