New Onan generator died

[daugen]

Our 2013 Itasca Sunstar 27N comes with the 2500kw Onan gen running on gasoline. It was always hard starting, taking up to ten seconds of cranking. We were then told to hold down the stop button to prime it first. Ok..., No difference whatsoever in starting.

Then yesterday, after running for about an hour, the gen stopped.
Smell of gasoline from outside the compartment. It was late, so I waited until this morning to investigate and let it cool down.

Ok, what should I look for? 24 hours on gen. Will check all breakers first, then will see if there's a fuel filter in there. Then will try to restart. The oil is fine...

It's the smell of gasoline outside the motorhome that concerned me.
That I need to find the source or cause of for sure.

I'm not a mechanic, and the new rv is headed back to the dealer anyway, but I'd sure like to figure this out today, if that's possible.

After I check on it, I'll let you know what I find, which I expect to be nothing visible. There is a manual start on the gen right on it and that's where I'll see if she fires up.

[rgatijnet1]

As mentioned a few times, the electric fuel pump is the problem. They have had a recall on them. As the temperature increases, the fuel pump will fail. When things cool off, it is not unusual for the generator to start up, but then when temps go up again, it will quit.

[daugen]

John, good to hear. Wish they would have built it right too...
not "their" fuel pump I'm sure.

[John_S_]

i will say i f it still give s you trouble go to Cummins they will fix it right the first time.

[daugen]

The mystery remains a mystery. Coach is level and full of gas. There is no fuel filter anywhere I can find. There are no leaks anywhere I can find, nor loose fittings. No breakers of any kind tripped.

The next morning it started right up again, though it acted very strange, and would not start from the control on the unit. But when I hit the start button up in the rv, it started normally, albeit it still takes five to eight seconds of cranking to start.

the only way to really test the gen is to run it for another hour under load, but it bothers me it would just cut out for no apparent reason. Which leads me to believe that the fuel pump is very, very suspect. BTW it is a 4kw Onan, not a 2.5 as previously written.

We are off tomorrow to our first rv campground with full hookups, so we won't need the gen, but I'll test it anyway. And then the following week the rv goes back to the dealer to get suspension upgrades put on, so it looks like the gen can wait until then to get looked at, and for sure check for a recall.

thanks for all the suggestions, I really appreciate it.

[Stormdog]

The Onan on our new unit had the exact same symptoms as you describe until it just wouldn't start at all. Turned out to be the fuel pump. Newmar said Onan has had some problems with fuel pumps lately. It works fine after being replaced.

[DSDP_Don]

daugen.....As "Don Don" stated, do you have more than a third of a tank of fuel in your motor home? The gen will stop and starve for fuel at that point.

I haven't looked at a gas Onan in years and I'm guessing the new ones don't have it anymore, but just in case, my older 4K gas Onan had an altimeter lever and a winter/summer lever. The altimeter lever was suppose to be set to your estimated altitude and the other lever set to the correct season.

[Don_Don]

Do you have enough fuel in your tank? How much do you have?

[mustang652]

The Onan on my new unit failed with about 35 hours on it a couple of weeks ago. Was having the oil changed on it after the first trip at CW here in Vegas and after completion of oil change, it would not start. Mechanic said that Onan had a recall out on the fuel pump.

[daugen]

Alid, great advice, I'll follow it, many thanks. Drew
Dversta, good idea on the no spark, I agree, but due to engine
malfunction or due to a breaker or some nanny device turning it off just as designed?
Nothing like a good mystery.

[daugen]

JumboJet, thank you. I understand flooding while starting..., but after an hour of constant running? Luckily the motorhome is parked outside our house for the moment, so after breakfast I'm going to investigate. I'm a past active fireman and the smell of gasoline gives me the willies. Explosive vapors, points of ignition, all that good stuff. This is a single cylinder motor running at 3600rpm. What would make it falter and die, and then smell strongly?

I grew up on a farm and love machinery, so I've had my share of starting issues.
Engines stopping usually means something is seriously unhappy.
And if it died from a breaker clicking, and the engine kept feeding fuel as it wound down, well that would sure create a smelly exhaust.
Engines in closed compartments directly under our bed are a concern to a risk averse guy. Jumbo, I'm looking for loose connections/drips after i start it up, with the door open for lots of air in there. Really don't want a new haircut this morning.

[dverstra]

First of all, I am not a mechanic. That said, the smell of gas could just mean that you are getting too much fuel into the motor(it's flooded). Or the right amount and don't have a good spark. When it stopped, did it run real rough before or did it just quit?

[alid]

daugen wrote:
Our 2013 Itasca Sunstar 27N comes with the 2500kw Onan gen running on gasoline. It was always hard starting, taking up to ten seconds of cranking. We were then told to hold down the stop button to prime it first. Ok..., No difference whatsoever in starting.

Then yesterday, after running for about an hour, the gen stopped.
Smell of gasoline from outside the compartment. It was late, so I waited until this morning to investigate and let it cool down.

Ok, what should I look for? 24 hours on gen. Will check all breakers first, then will see if there's a fuel filter in there. Then will try to restart. The oil is fine...

It's the smell of gasoline outside the motorhome that concerned me.
That I need to find the source or cause of for sure.

I'm not a mechanic, and the new rv is headed back to the dealer anyway, but I'd sure like to figure this out today, if that's possible.

After I check on it, I'll let you know what I find, which I expect to be nothing visible. There is a manual start on the gen right on it and that's where I'll see if she fires up.

It is obvious that you have some type of fuel leak. I recently had a similar problem with my 2009 onan.
Here is how I found my fuel leak.
1. Open up the cover so you can see the generator..
2. locate the carburetor and the fuel line that runs to it.
3. if yours is like mine you have a start button located right at the generator itself.
4. hit the prime function and see if you can find the leak..
5. especially look at the fitting going to the carburetor.
(on my genny.. this fitting was a fuel filter.. Onan has replaced it with a fitting doing away with this filter.. and only has one at the fuel pump.. It is a known problem with these fuel filters leaking at the carb. that's why Onan no longer sells it.)
6. if it isn't leaking at the carb.. just follow the fuel line down to the fuel pump checking for leaks.

[JumboJet]

A flooded condition could result in gasoline smell, resulting from automatic choke sticking. A loose fuel line connection could cause the same.