onan repair bill question

I was pulling Generac couple of times and using camper jacks, it is easy to drop it on pallet, or I do have some plastic "milk crates".
Than you lift the camper on jacks and pull the generator aside.
Getting to side mounted plugs can give you more headaches.
Those things are pretty light. I can carry one quite easy. .. once I grab it to avoid slipping fingers on oil grime.

Kayteg1 wrote:
I would assume this it the generator that needs to be pulled out for troubleshooting.
With shops charging $150/hr doesn't take much to make it $600.
.....

I think you hit the nail on the head. I had to take my Onan 2500 in for service a couple years ago. It was only $350 or 400 to solve the issue. But I did pull it out of the camper first. That was an easy hour on each end. If I had brought them the camper and had them remove it, I can see this becoming a $600 labor bill.

The reason I took it to Onan for service rather than tackling it myself....it is a real PITA to remove & install. Literally remove the door frame as it will not fit through the compartment door. As I do not have any sort of bench setup to test it with, every adjustment would be a re-install to test, and re-remove to adjust some more. In my case, to me, it was worth the money to have them fix it proper.

HTH
-Eric

Joe, that was an awesome how to, thanks for sharing.

Artum Snowbird wrote:
My 4000 Microquiet started when we bought it in December, then would not start when we went away in January, not even turn over.

I asked around and my neighbor had a motorcycle jack. The hardest part by far was disconnecting the A/C wires and pulling them back to the generator.

But I had it out of it's location in about two hours, cleaned it all up, tightened up the loose connection on the starter, and it all worked fine after that,

Putting it back in was a bit trickier but using the motorcycle jack plus my 2 ton floor jack to raise one corner just a bit lined up the holes and all was good. The units are not really heavy, just a bit awkward.

I don't mean to take the post over but yep! I agree the install was the trickiest part.

My 4000 Microquiet started when we bought it in December, then would not start when we went away in January, not even turn over.

I asked around and my neighbor had a motorcycle jack. The hardest part by far was disconnecting the A/C wires and pulling them back to the generator.

But I had it out of it's location in about two hours, cleaned it all up, tightened up the loose connection on the starter, and it all worked fine after that,

Putting it back in was a bit trickier but using the motorcycle jack plus my 2 ton floor jack to raise one corner just a bit lined up the holes and all was good. The units are not really heavy, just a bit awkward.

My 2500 would not start and the Onan repair service (2 of them) could not even diagnose correctly a simple problem... there service is very poor always check the simple problems first fuel delivery air filter and plig..... the pros are to good for that

Dave

notsobigjoe wrote:
Do not have it fixed! They are very easy to fix. I have posted on several occasions, maybe not on hear but elsewhere about my experiences with the onan truck camper generator. First and foremost they have two problems that are common.
1, clean out the 02 exhaust hose that comes off the back of the diaphram. This is where the 02 is separated from the LP gas. If this is clogged it will take forever to start and will run like ****. If it takes forever to start and runs like **** this is whats wrong with it. The clog may go as far back as the fitting itself. Do this first!!!!!! DO NOT!! REPEAT!! DO NOT BLOW THIS LINE OUT WITH AIR!!!! YOU WILL CREATE PROBLEM #2. Remove this line and then blow it out.
2, the other common problem with these units is a blown baffle.
I will try to include some picks of the job I did.Of course the bad thing is your going to have to take the unit out and that's a biggy.

This is the adjustment screw for the baffle. It is not adjustable on my unit but may be on yours. The 02 exhaust hose comes out the other side of this baffle.

Unfortunately you'll have to drop the unit.

Here is the adjustment screw from the top.

This is the 02 exhaust hose that needs to be cleaned. Take it off and blow it out. I also had another problem. My baffle was busted.
You have to take the regulator off, take it apart and this is what you'll find.

A blown baffle.
I have many other pics as well as the contact info I used for ordering parts off the web if your interested. When I started this job I was thinking the same as you, get rid of it. Did some investigating and was able to fix it for about 200 bucks. Good luck sir.

AWESOME! That's a great report. Thank you for detailing the repair while doing the work.
I've both added this post to my bookmarks and printed it to a PDF file for my manuals library.

Several years ago I bought my Toy Hauler with a non working Onan generator. I knew nothing about generators but had done some repairs on small lawnmower type engines. I called the Onan repair facility and they wanted some crazy amount I think $500 minimum. I watched a lot of videos and did a lot of online reading and was able to fix it myself. I did buy my parts from Onan the people in the parts department were very helpful. After all that I added a fuel shut off and inline fuel filter(gas not propane) I also made sure I ran it every once in a while after to keep it running.

If you want another shop opinion try Channelview RV Supply. I-10 east near Beltway 8. Authorized Onan service. Family owned and operated for at least 30 years.

Do not have it fixed! They are very easy to fix. I have posted on several occasions, maybe not on hear but elsewhere about my experiences with the onan truck camper generator. First and foremost they have two problems that are common.
1, clean out the 02 exhaust hose that comes off the back of the diaphram. This is where the 02 is separated from the LP gas. If this is clogged it will take forever to start and will run like ****. If it takes forever to start and runs like **** this is whats wrong with it. The clog may go as far back as the fitting itself. Do this first!!!!!! DO NOT!! REPEAT!! DO NOT BLOW THIS LINE OUT WITH AIR!!!! YOU WILL CREATE PROBLEM #2. Remove this line and then blow it out.
2, the other common problem with these units is a blown baffle.
I will try to include some picks of the job I did.Of course the bad thing is your going to have to take the unit out and that's a biggy.

This is the adjustment screw for the baffle. It is not adjustable on my unit but may be on yours. The 02 exhaust hose comes out the other side of this baffle.

Unfortunately you'll have to drop the unit.

Here is the adjustment screw from the top.

This is the 02 exhaust hose that needs to be cleaned. Take it off and blow it out. I also had another problem. My baffle was busted.
You have to take the regulator off, take it apart and this is what you'll find.

A blown baffle.
I have many other pics as well as the contact info I used for ordering parts off the web if your interested. When I started this job I was thinking the same as you, get rid of it. Did some investigating and was able to fix it for about 200 bucks. Good luck sir.