Onan Generator Problem

[McKenzie]

Anyone know how to get to carb on generator to remove and rebuild?

Or a good/honest/reasonable generator repair service in Phoenix or Tucson
area?

Sorry if this went to wrong place I can't find where to start a new thread

[creativepart]

I moved this out of the thread about a water leak for you.

To start a new thread - just go to the proper forum link. click on https://www.winnieowners.com/forums/ which is actually the home page, and choose the forum topic that fits your question. In this case that was the Electrical | Charging, Solar and Electronics forum.

When you click on the forum name you want to start a new thread in just click the "New Thread" button in the upper left hand corner of the page and an Editor will open up for you to compose your new thread.

You should not use the "Quick Reply" editing box in an existing thread to ask a new question unless your question is EXACTLY the same as the existing thread's topic.

And, without complete info of your RV no one can help you. We need your Year, Model and Floorplan info.

Most of us put this info in our Signature in our profile so it is displayed in every post. Here's how to do that.

[Mtn Charlie]

Are you sure it is a carburetor problem? Onan generators are notorious for having faulty fuel pumps. So much so that some people carry a spare and one owner said that he automatically replaces the fuel pump, everytime he changes the fuel filter.

[DesertRatt]

Here's what I did. The two carb bolts run through the air filter housing. VERY hard to get at. So, I sawed the front half of the air filter plastic housing off. Even the job is done I just duck tape this access flap back on. Works fine and makes the replacement an easy job.

As to replacements- BEWARE OF COUNTERFEITS! Many of the ones offered on Ebay are a knockoff that is ALMOST like the OEM part, but they don't work. Leaks and such. I located a guy on Ebay who rebuilds the original carbs. His carb is around $125. New from Onan is closer to $350 and hard to get.

[DavidM]

This is how to fix your carb for less than $10, not $350 or even $125. The problem with most carbs today on small engines (bigger ones have EFI which mostly eliminates the problem) is that water in the air gets absorbed by the gasohol sitting in the carb, reacts to form a varnish and plugs the small orifices.

So remove the carb from the generator, disassemble as far as you can but be sure to separate the carb bottom bowl from the body, and put it in a can of carburetor cleaner which you can buy at an auto parts store, overnight. Then drain, dry and reassemble and install the carb.

I have used this process with Honda generators, outboards, lawn mowers, motorcycles, etc. and it worked on all of them.

Then drain the gas from the carb if it is going to sit for more than a few months. That eliminates 90% of the problems.

FWIW Onan has a new 2,800 watt RV generator that uses EFI which largely eliminates this problem and is based on inverter technology like the Honda generator which makes it much quieter. They seem to be slow moving this technology to larger generators, but they will over time.

David

[DesertRatt]

I found the Onan to be so noisy, smelly, hard to work on and untrustworthy that I bought a portable Honda. The Honda is simply superb for our use. Starts EVERY TIME, and is whisper quiet. We don't need A/C on the jenny, so the Honda is quite sufficient.

[TravatoJohn]

If you don’t mind the drive the Cummins dealer in Alb, New Mexico has an excellent mechanic that only works on generators. Lots of experience. His name is Ken. Call for appt. though. Travato John.

[powercat_ras]

Cummins Onan themselves does not sell carb rebuild parts or kits, they only sell total replacements. This is due to how they decided to comply with the State of California CARB emissions requirements.

So, you are looking at a replacement if you go to a Onan dealer, with a minimum cost of around $ 600 or more depending on their labor rate. So taking the existing one off and sending to the Ebay guy or doing the soak in cleaner yourself would be a cheaper but work for you. You might be able to get a mobile RV tech to take it off and clean / get ready to send off the Ebay guy, and then put back on later, for you if you are stationary for a while.

Good luck.

[DesertRatt]

Originally Posted by powercat_ras

Cummins Onan themselves does not sell carb rebuild parts or kits, they only sell total replacements. This is due to how they decided to comply with the State of California CARB emissions requirements.

So, you are looking at a replacement if you go to a Onan dealer, with a minimum cost of around $ 600 or more depending on their labor rate. So taking the existing one off and sending to the Ebay guy or doing the soak in cleaner yourself would be a cheaper but work for you. You might be able to get a mobile RV tech to take it off and clean / get ready to send off the Ebay guy, and then put back on later, for you if you are stationary for a while.

Good luck.

To be clear, the guy i found on Enay sends you the rebuilt one right away, and then credits you $$ if you send him your old one after replacing.

[RoadsaParks]

There’s a great carb replacement video on YouTube. I bought a new carb on Amazon and replaced it myself! Pretty easy!

[AlB]

I had the carb on my Onan generator rebuilt by a friend that REALLY knows what he is doing. It still wouldn't work. I paid an RV mobile repair service to replace it and he said he's been doing this over 25 years and has never seen a rebuilt Onan carb work, ever. Bite the bullet and pay to have it replaced. Make sure you start it and run it with a load for 2 or 3 hours every month and then drain the gas from the carb.

2016 Winnebago Minnie Winnie 31K w/2018 Rubicon toad.

Originally Posted by McKenzie

Anyone know how to get to carb on generator to remove and rebuild?

Or a good/honest/reasonable generator repair service in Phoenix or Tucson
area?

Sorry if this went to wrong place I can't find where to start a new thread

[AlB]

Been there, done that....still won't work on the Onan generator we have. It should, it works with everything else.

[NeilV]

Be aware that many times its not the carb that fails but the laminated 2 part intake manifold which has its seal between the 2 halves fail after a back fire event. Ethanol will make them prone to having a back fire event so even after you remove and clean the carburetor or replace it with a new one you may still need to remove the intake manifold to reseal the 2 halves together or replace the manifold with a new one.

If you take your time there is no need to cut anything apart in order to remove the carburetor as it all does come out though you do have to work it gently in order to position things correctly for that to happen.

Note that some of the newer formulations of carburetor dip tank cleaning solutions can be highly corrosive and will eat away the aluminum of the carburetor casting if left in for more than a few hours even when they claim to be non-corrosive. Many require the parts be washed in warm soap water and dried with warm/hot air immediately after removing them from the carburetor cleaning solution. Left overnight or not washed in soapy water immediately afterwards and you may find some ports now too large in diameter to hold/seal the press fit parts that go into them.

[McKenzie]

Repaired engine of generator to run Runs great BUT however we are now not getting 100 volts in the coach ( not generator output) Did we forget something?

[creativepart]

Originally Posted by McKenzie

Repaired engine of generator to run Runs great BUT however we are now not getting 100 volts in the coach ( not generator output) Did we forget something?

Likely, the circuit breaker on the Generator. Just check that and I'll bet it was turned off for working on it and not turned back on.

[McKenzie]

It was the circuit breaker off and now everything works YEAH! RV is completely repaired thanks to all your suggestions everyone

Happy New Year and Happy RVing