Onan Generator

[Todd757]

I have a Onan 8000 gen. Ran it all weekend while camping. This morning at 0530 it shut down. All I can find on the control panel is it says service due. Would it just shut down because of that? Checked oil and coolant, and both were good to go.

Help????

Thanks Todd.

[Mile_High]

bobkatmsu wrote:

Todd757 wrote:
Oil and coolant were both good to go

coolant?

The 8K and a lot of the other diesels are water cooled. Just learned that the other day. Also the 8K is variable throttle based on load, whereas the 10 and 12K are fixed throttle.

[Passin_Thru]

After seeing the car with radar run over the mother and baby carriage rather than hit the car, I'm not so sure. Anyway, mine just indicate service but it's a2007 7000.

[Todd757]

Just in case it was an overheat

[bobkatmsu]

Todd757 wrote:
Oil and coolant were both good to go

coolant?

[bounder39zman]

does the control panel say "service due" or "service required?"
whenever this generator shuts off, and you did not push switch to
initiate shutdown, the light in switch will blink a code; 1-hi temp,
2-low oil press., 3-everything else . this is first level code, you have to push switch to "stop" and release it while it is displaying 3 blink code, and the contol will give 2nd level, 2 digit fault code, identifying which system on genset has the problem. your operators manual should have this procedure in it, and a list of fault codes and
a description of what they mean. The factory service manual is much more detailed in diagnosing and repairing the codes.

[Todd757]

Oil and coolant were both good to go

[dougrainer]

mc.cc wrote:
I was parked on an angle one night and mine shut down. It thought I was low on oil. I leveled it up and did not have that problem again.

It probably was slightly low on oil and the angle caused the oil level to allow a small hiccup in the oil pressure which caused a Low Oil pressure shut down. Same thing happens when in transit and the oil is slightly low---you make a hard turn or stop and the Genset shuts down due to the oil in the crankcase shifting causing a momentary loss of oil pressure. Doug

[dougrainer]

They do NOT shut down due to "service due". When they have a fault and DO shut down, that Service due indicator is given. It is telling you, that odds are there is a part that has either failed or is intermittent and find out what caused the shut down. BUT, as I stated, the Gensets will NOT shut down if regular maintenance is due or required. Doug

[mc_cc]

I was parked on an angle one night and mine shut down. It thought I was low on oil. I leveled it up and did not have that problem again.

[mc_cc]

Are you sure you just did not run low on oil? It will shut down if the oil gets too low. That is weird that it shuts down just for a "service due" warning. I would hate that.

[crasster]

Ugg, I'm starting to like them better before they were so computerized. It can mean several things, it may have just crossed an hour barrier and need an oil change.

[Mile_High]

Kayteg1 wrote:
In digital era you can program the computers to whatever you want.
True is that lot of owners ignore just warning
"service due in XX hr"
"service due in X hr"
"service past due"
so what is better idea to bring their attention than stop the generator from running?

Ya, maybe they should do that to your car! :S

I'm all for keeping things in my control

[Kayteg1]

In digital era you can program the computers to whatever you want.
True is that lot of owners ignore just warning
"service due in XX hr"
"service due in X hr"
"service past due"
so what is better idea to bring their attention than stop the generator from running?

[hipower]

That's interesting. I don't know of my 2003 vintage Onan 8KW diesel genset having somewhere to display codes like that.

Regardless I change the oil and filter every year, or at 100 hours, whichever comes first. The annual usually comes first and coincides with the need for an annual oil change on the Cummins also. Generally 6-8,000 miles but sometimes as much as 10K per year. Oil analysis shows this to be a good practice and could be extended if desired.