Onan 4000 wiring issue 2000 Minnie Winnie WF430V

[ctrain22]

Hello all. Newbie here.

I Just purchased a used 2000 Winnie WF430V. I have two issues I could use help with.
1. The generator will not start. It cranks but no start. While poking around, I found a wire broken that goes to the fuel cut off solenoid. Seems it goes to a block of wires behind the carb. Hopefully, I will post a picture and someone can let me know what wires go where.



2. The 12V system doesn't work unless the rig is plugged in to 110V. None of the lights will work. maybe has something to do with the genreator problem?

Seems there was a family of rodents have a good time in there. The rig was sitting for a couple of years.

Thanks.

[Morich]

This may be a tough one for several reasons?
One is that Winnebago gives us good support online for the things they build but NOT much on the things they buy from others and install. That includes the generator where we get info up to the point where the Winnebago wiring meets the generator wiring.
This will be on the 12Volt DC here:
https://www.winnebago.com/Files/File...ram/Wiring.htm

On sheet 1 ,where 1 and C would cross, we find a drawing of the plug where the Winn meet the generator wiring. The colors don't match what I see, so this may not be the correct plug, wires may have been changed or info not totally correct?

In your picture, I don't see a wire loose but it looks more like they chewed through and left gaps in several wires, all small gauge, white?


That brings the question if this is the same plug but different colors or a different plug?
I'm guessing this IS NOT the correct plug as shown but it might be possible to sort by checking continuity from here back to the Winnebago plug if you are able to spot another set of plugs?
Click this snip to get a better view or go direct to the drawing for the big picture?



But IF this is the correct plug where Winn meet genset wiring, there should be ID labels on the smaller wires!
Example!

If you are able to find the wire ID by digging back further on the wires, then you can find which goes where using this "decoder" chart:
https://www.winnebago.com/Files/File...ical_guide.pdf

This may be where we have to go to the generator builders for info on their wiring!

But it should not be the cause of the lights, etc. in the RV not working!
Their should be 12VDC coach batteries that would power the inside RV things like lights, vents and water pump, so pretty much a separate question to sort.

Same batteries for cranking the generator but not the same wiring in most cases.

Looking at the second question, if the lights work when the RV is plugged in, that says power is getting from the post to the cord and all the way to the converter which makes the 12VDC to charge the batteries and run those items. Breakers, converter, etc. are all okay.
But if it all stops working when you unplug, it really says there is a problem with the batteries not being good enough to charge and store that charge OR
The wiring from those batteries is corroded or bad.
My first guess would be the batteries are bad unless you know different?
One way to check is test the voltage on the post at the batteries. That should be near 12.7 for a fully charged good set of batteries.
Then when you plug in and the converter starts working the voltage may jump up to about 13 in many cases as the converter tries to recharge them.

Idea is that you want to see the charge is getting to the batteries and they are expected to hold that charge for hours as you use that charge.
If the charge is getting to the batteries why is it not there for use after shutting down the converter?
Bad batteries won't hold a change, or bad wiring from the batteries to where it is needed?
Do a bit of checking and we can go more into how the power gets from batteries to other things to use it but I'm leaning toward bad batteries or connections right there?

[ctrain22]

I did replace both house batteries as I thought that might be the issue. When I had them checked, one was bad and the other so-so. So I just replaced them both. That got the generator to crank but no lights.

[ctrain22]

You can see the wire going to the fuel cut off on the bottom right corner of the picture. Or at least a part of it I agree. The mice has a delicious meal.

[Morich]

Biology is not my big thing but one of the things I learned is rodents have teeth that grow during their whole lifetime and they have to chew to both keep the teeth sharp but also to keep them worn down.
If a squirrel is set up in a lab situation where they can't chew, their teeth grow so long that they die because they can't open their mouth!
Gross looking devils at that point!

So they didn't want to eat your wires! Just chew them enough to ruin your day?

[ctrain22]

Correction. The piece of wire that goes to the fuel cut off solenoid is on the left side of the picture.

[Morich]

But does that one wire matter if there are 3-5 more that are cut open?
I don't know generators well enough to know what wires those would be. There should be a set of wires where Winnebago adds their wires to meet the connections of the generator that the builder installed. do these white wires go into that connection and does it look like one side of a set of plugs?
That white plug almost looks like it would match for the 8 pin connector shown on the drawings, but possibly we are looking at the generator side of the plug set and the other side is the Winnebago wires where we could find the ID labels?
Is this part we see, the back side of this drawing?



That might let us match wire ID but the wire colors don't match what the drawings show, so this may be something in the middle of the genset wires. To get that info we would need to get info on the specific brand and model of generator you have. Possibly it can be found online or maybe not.
Many builders in the automotive field, like Ford, GM, etc. are very slow to let much info loose on how they do things.
One of the thing I like about Winnebago is that do do so much to help us sort the problems. Not perfect and I could fault them all day but they are far better than others I've tried!

[ctrain22]

I don't know if the one wire would do anything. Just thought if someone knew witch of the wires would go to the fuel shut off, I would try to see if it makes a difference.

I'm going to bring it to a local repair place and let a professional sort it out.

Thanks all for your input.

[ldfeat]

Not sure about the wiring issue, exce0t if the fuel solenoid doesn't get 12 volts during start cycle, it won't run.

On your house lights-wont-work unless plugged in to shore power; it sounds like your batteries are dead. Larry, 2013 Reyo P

[ldfeat]

Not sure about the wiring issue, except if the fuel solenoid doesn't get 12 volts during start cycle, it won't run.

On your house lights-wont-work unless plugged in to shore power; it sounds like your batteries are dead. Larry, 2013 Reyo P

[Morich]

On the RV lights, etc issue, there is an easy way to get more info without doing much looking or testing.
If the RV engine is started, there is a mode solenoid which connects the coach batteries and chassis battery together automatically.
We can use that as a simple "test" to tell us if the coach batteries are simply dead or is there is a wiring or battery disconnect problem.
Click this snip of the section involved. I took it from this drawing if you want the more complete picture.
https://www.winnebago.com/Files/File...000/133209.pdf

In this drawing we have the chassis battery as marked in green, goes to the mode solenoid. When the RV engine starts the solenoid contacts close and connect the chassis (green) to the coach (red).

If we want to know if it is a problem of dead coach batteries, we can start the engine to connect them together!! If things work when we add the chassis and alternator to the coach, we can say the coach batteries are not providing power.

But if the RV things still don't work, we have to look at things like the battery disconnect switch or relay not working to close the path for power from either battery to get through the relay to the coach breakers as the blue line shows.
The disconnect relay "latches" in the last position we had it and will not move if we don't have coach battery power to move it. That means we have to get good coach batteries and THEN try the switch to move the relay.
Good battery first, push the disconnect switch second because if we do it the other way, nothing happens!
We may THINK we turned the power on but nothing happened if we don't have the battery first!

[powercat_ras]

So far as a Onan 4000 series generator goes, the external low voltage wiring connections come from a 8 pin connector of which 6 pins are used. There's a cable run from there goes to the remote control panel. The generator will work without anything connected to this connector using the start switch right on the generator.

The only other external DC connections are the large battery power and ground cables.

I'm pretty sure all the wire you posted pictures are internal ONAN wiring. You might luck out and find someone who posted an Onan 4000 Factory Service Manual that would help you figure out what those wires were and which were with so you could repair / replace them.

[ctrain22]

Does anyone have, or can get a picture of the plug with all the wires connected? If I could see where each wire is supposed to go I think I can fix it. The wiring diagrams are a little to hard for me to read. A better visual of the connector would be much better.

[powercat_ras]

I found a Onan 4000 service manual online. Here's the link: https://manuals.heartlandowners.org/...20Spec%20K.pdf

I don't know if this is the right one. But there is a wiring harness diagram in the appendix that may be helpful to you. Good luck.

[ctrain22]

Looking at the label with the serial number and emission info, it states that it meets exhaust regulations for the 2018 model year.

Do you think that this generator was a replacement and is a 2018 model, not a 2000?

[Morich]

No, I would say the specs are from 2018 and then may not change for any number of years after.
Like on cars, the engine emissions may be set and go for years without update, so the note is just to give service folks an idea of what set of rules to expect.

[wahoonc]

It is a 2018 generator. Serial number indicates a build date of 7/18.

Aaron