GenSet Remote Start Problem

[KeninAZ]

I have an older 4.0 Onan Genset.
It was fine until yesterday when it would not start from the dash button like normal.
The unit does not turn over like it should, just clicks a little.
Yet I can start it from the GenSet controls just fine.
I must assume that it's powered by the house battery and if it starts using the controls at the Genset it should start from the remote assuming the wiring is good?
Ideas?

[KeninAZ]

I went to the storage yard today to clean the plug. No change.
I noted an older style relay behind the plug and wondered about it. In the old days I remember giving them a whack while turning the key but know the house battery voltage was low I just left it alone.
I will get new batteries in the morning as I have at lease one cell dead and another going down.

[KeninAZ]

I will also clean those plugs. I saw them there and wondered about them. But with the house battery voltage so low (looks like I have one dead cell with another going bad) I will replace the batteries too.

[Matt_Colie]

If you can start it without difficulty at the panel and inside doesn't work, that is a common problem. Onan supplies both the set and the remote and they connect the two with a cheezy plug set that usually gets put where the road stiff can corrode it.

Find that connection and fix it.

Matt

[j-d]

Good start, but please get Model and Spec while you're there.

[KeninAZ]

I went over to the place I store the unit at and found that the house batteries were only at 11.85V so they need replacing anyway
I will start there.

[j-d]

YES! We really need the Model Number and Spec Code!

We had an old BFA Spec B, and it used a four (maybe six) wire plug into a connector on the control unit. That would accommodate Start/Stop and an Hour Meter. I had neither, only a momentary DPST switch (center off) that I used for Start and Stop, the spring loaded center position being Run.

And correct, it was simply a remote duplication of the Start/Stop switch on the control unit itself.

[enblethen]

What model of genset?
Some have a connector right at the unit for the remote that could be corroded or loose.
Some have a remote relay inside the control portion of the genset.
Some have a fuse for the remote. It sounds to be good but could be corroded.

[Sam_Spade]

KeninAZ wrote:
it should start from the remote assuming the wiring is good?
Ideas?

Given the symptoms, I think that would be a BAD assumption to make.
I suspect that the wiring to the remote button has a bad connection along the way somewhere....or the remote button itself is bad.

Or it is equipped with a solenoid/relay that functions ONLY for the remote start and it has gone bad.

[SCVJeff]

More than likely you have a switch or a wiring harness in trouble. Those are just remotes for the main contactor.