Onan generator

Probably not.
A really good new generator costs a LOT more than most repairs.

What exactly says "take it to the shop" ??

What is it doing......or not doing ?

Impossible to guess without more information.

Mine had two shop visits; one for a new carb and one for a new fuel pump.
IIRC, each of those visits cost about $250.....and that added up to less than half the cost of a new one.

What is the year and model of your onan and what problems are you having with it?

it is in a 2006 coachmen motorhome, has 71 hours on it Onan 4000 model 4KYFA26100K. last couple of times out the generator will run for like 10 or 20 minutes then die. the fault code is 41. right now there is only 1/4 of a tank in the coach so I need to fill it up just to rule that out.

could be a fuel pump, and who knows what else.

Rouski wrote:
it is in a 2006 coachmen motorhome, has 71 hours on it Onan 4000 model 4KYFA26100K.

And that is the root cause of your problem. That is less than 7 hours per year. According to Onan, the generator should be run 2 hours monthly at 50% load. Your generator should have 264 hours on it just for exercising it.

DownTheAvenue wrote:

Rouski wrote:
it is in a 2006 coachmen motorhome, has 71 hours on it Onan 4000 model 4KYFA26100K.

And that is the root cause of your problem. That is less than 7 hours per year. According to Onan, the generator should be run 2 hours monthly at 50% load. Your generator should have 264 hours on it just for exercising it.

My first thought too.

HOWEVER.....when the carb gums up from non-use it usually causes different symptoms, like won't start or hard to start or won't come up to speed.

If it really runs OK and holds a load for 10 to 15 minutes, that probably rules out the carb as the primary problem.......and likely puts you back to the fuel pump. They are a well known weak point. Mine had similar symptoms when it failed.

It would be a good idea to put a healthy dose of a good carb cleaner in the gas too, just as routine maintenance.

2006 coachmen motorhome, has 71 hours , you don't need a new generator , you didn't use the one you have , so why buy a new one.

Just a suggestion, if filling the fuel tank doesn't solve the problem, you can rule out the pump by pressing the stop start switch to STOP/START switch to stop with your hand on the pump you can feel the pump trying to prime the engine.

Other than that start with the Trouble shooting suggestions in your manual and you'll probably find that everyone who suggests you should exercise it more often is correct and your fuel system if fouled from lack of use.

And should you need to have someone else do the work, it's about $125.00/ hour labor here in L.A.

Quote " right now there is only 1/4 of a tank in the coach so I need to fill it up just to rule that out".
That could very well be your problem, The generator fuel pickup is usually at the 1/4 mark to prevent using all the fuel in your tank, so you will be able to drive.
Its probably just starting to suck air in and then starving the generator. Try more gas first, cheapest option.

Ken

You are going to find, fill tank. Problem solved. I will invoice you later.