Onan repair
 

I took my 4000 onan micro quiet in for repair. $900 to diag and replace fuel pump, Does that sound resonable. Generator was shutting down after running for 5 to 10 minutes. generator is in a small c class rv.

Re: Onan repair
 

There had to be more to it than just replacing the fuel pump!!

I just did that repair a couple weeks ago and the bill was less than a third of what you paid.
I can change the pump on most M-H's with Onan 4KY's without removing the generator.....

Onan fuel pump failures are very common....

Re: Onan repair
 

Thanks Rich . I have not got it back yet, as they had to order the pump. Is there a flat rate time or industry standard for that repair. Again thanks for the reply.

Re: Onan repair
 

Your biggest issue is that there are very few places that work on generators.
There is no industry standard on this type of work.

RV places if they do work on them are generally very high priced and likely to "sell you a bill of goods" is how I would put it.....

We get cutomers all the time that show us bills from RV facilities and they are usually very high.

Onan is owned by Cummins.....and some places that are listed as doing Onan repairs are primarily big truck engine repair facilities....

You are probably being charged a lot of diagnosis time. Maybe they spent half a day trying to decide what was wrong with it.

I work on them all the time and often let one run outside for hours waiting for it to fail so I can test it after it fails.

We don't charge hours and hours of labor for something like this.

I also do repairs based on my experience with these machines and fuel pump failure is high on the list.....

Re: Onan repair
 

I have the same problem with my Onan 4000 Microlite. I replaced the carburator about three years ago and that fixed it, but now it is back doing the same thing. It runs for five to ten minutes then shuts down and wont restart. I disconnected the fuel line, and when I crank it, plenty of fuel pumps out. I tried cleaning and blowing out all the passages of the carb, but still has the problem. I am thinking of buy another carb. If your generator gets fixed please post what they did to fix it. Thanks

Re: Onan repair
 

Most later 4KY's have the coil mounted under the blower/flywheel.
The coil wire is part of the coil and it is a magneto type ignition.
The coil wire is at a very sharp angle as it routes to the spark plug.
The vibration of the engine and the bad angle of the wire often causes the wire to fail. It is a carbon core type wire and you lose spark as the unit gets hot......
Possibly your problem....

Fuel pumps are a piston design and even though you see fuel coming out cold.....it could still be your issue. If it was never changed and the unit has some hours on it.....it may be your problem....

The solinoid on the carbs fuel bowl energizes with the pump and allows fuel to flow. If has a ground wire and a B+. They don't fail often but do get stuck from a unit that sat with fuel in it....

Re: Onan repair
 

I had an issue with my RV Onan generator shutting off a few years ago .......Matt Schurman is the go to guy.....D1 super gas racer....brought the RV to his company in northern NJ ...( mind you I live on Long Island and RV repair places here are crooks) and he found it was a coolant sensor.....did a complete tune up on it which included removing this monster from the truck to get to the sensor for $700....was totally happy with Matt and his work....great guy to do business with.

Re: Onan repair
 

Joe that was a difficult job as I recall....getting the generator out and back in was no bargain....

We have had others just as bad........

Front mounted diesels.....no slide and have to remove the front of the M-H to get the generator out....

Matt and I have worked together for 20 years now.....


Rich

Re: Onan repair
 

Rich I didn't know you worked with Matt......knew it had to be difficult considering the circumstances.....you "guys" did a great job !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Re: Onan repair
 

Joe I am the guy Matt says infected him with drag racing...

He usually says that after losing in the first round somewhere....LOL

Re: Onan repair
 

That is interesting about the coil wire. I had pulled the spark plug out , then reattached the spark plug wire, and I cranked it over. Thought the spark was a bit weak, might be the problem . Can you change the coil without removing the generator from the motorhome ? Thanks for the tip !

Re: Onan repair
 

I learned everything I know about any and all Onan generators the HARD WAY.....and trust me the coil wire issue was one that beat me up before I found it....

The first time I found one of those I had the generator in and out twice in one day and worked on it all day while the owner waited.....and it was very hot out that day......The owner was traveling around the USA and living in the M-H......A Florida retiree....

No you can't change the coil without removing the generator from the M-H if it has that type coil....

The older ones had a little blue coil mounted to the left of the spark plug and it could be replaced but never goes bad...

The newer style units mount the coil under the blower/flywheel
The unit has to be diassembled just to get at the coil. The coil wire is integral to the coil and can't be changed seperately......It fractures at the sharp bend it has to make as it heads toward the spark plug....

It will show you a weak spark and once the unit starts it gets worse.....and usually will not stay running......

Re: Onan repair
 

Hi Rich

Hopefully ,last question. Installed the new Microquite and everything is dandy. Was going to put a new Hour meter in the dash and when I went to order one on the intranet I noticed they come 2 ways. 120 volt or 12. What is it.?( Its round)

Re: Onan repair
 

Jeff all the ones we install are 12 volt.
They make a combination panel.....Start stop switch with hour meter and a wiring harness.
The remote start/stop wiring connector is wired to operate the H-M....
The meter is marked for polarity and the switches come with a wiring diagram and it is color coded....

Anything 120 volt would need to be wired to the generators output.
I have never even seen one of those.....and we have never installed one...

Re: Onan repair
 

Sorry i have not been on here in along time. Update on my on my onan repair. They bypassed the circuit board when it shut down and put voltage to the fuel pump.(no pressure). Replaced fuel pump and filter (had to re@re gen from RV). Works great.

Re: Onan repair
 

I removed the generator, swapped out the ignition/coil wire assembly, re-installed, and I now have a great running generator. Thanks for the help !

Re: Onan repair
 

Happy to help and glad you were able to fix your generator.

That coil wire issue is a bad one and I am sure causes a lot of grief.

As I mentioned it was a tough one to find the first time I had one fail like that.