Generator investment
New to camper van rving, bought a 25 year old coachman can with a 20 yr old Onan microlite 2800, van in great shape with only 60k miles,bought last November, used generator afew times over winter,ran ...
Forum Discussion
Three things are required for it to run. Compression, fuel and ignition. Fuel problems for small engines are VERY common. Before I would pull it out I would do some basic troubleshooting to have some idea if it's fuel or ignition. As Sam said, it could be as simple as low oil level or a bad oil pressure sensor. I helped one person on here fix his TC generac when it was simply a poor connection at his circuit board.
While being very careful, you can use troubleshooting tricks such as giving it a shot of fuel or even propane to see if it will attempt to run. Simple spark plug ignition testers will tell you if you are losing spark. Ignition problems can also be in the circuits which shut down the ignition during overheat or low oil. If you are going to spend the money at a repair facility be sure they have a good reputation or find a qualified small engine guy with a conscience.
I recently bought a Honda parts bike. It's in rough shape but bleeding a little propane to it and kicking it over and hearing it rev up and die told me it had decent compression and that the ignition/cdi unit were working enough for it to try to run. It didn't prove the overall wear on the engine but it didn't billow smoke from having a scored cylinder bore. On to the trashed out carb and fuel tank.
While being very careful, you can use troubleshooting tricks such as giving it a shot of fuel or even propane to see if it will attempt to run. Simple spark plug ignition testers will tell you if you are losing spark. Ignition problems can also be in the circuits which shut down the ignition during overheat or low oil. If you are going to spend the money at a repair facility be sure they have a good reputation or find a qualified small engine guy with a conscience.
I recently bought a Honda parts bike. It's in rough shape but bleeding a little propane to it and kicking it over and hearing it rev up and die told me it had decent compression and that the ignition/cdi unit were working enough for it to try to run. It didn't prove the overall wear on the engine but it didn't billow smoke from having a scored cylinder bore. On to the trashed out carb and fuel tank.
