Don't forget the pm on the generator

Mikeso · 01-30-2008, 01:04 PM

The DH and I were out recently, dry camping, when the generator quit. I restarted it but it promptly shut itself off again flashing an 'over temp' code. I did the usual probing around, oil, coolant level, etc. Did not find anything out of the ordinary. I am very religious about changing the oil and filter every 150 to 160hrs so am thinking 'what the heck?'. Took the MH to an authorized Onan repair facility and when I told him what happened he said 'It must be this one sensor that fails every so often' and asked if I had an extended warranty? I did not think that should be necessary since the factory warranty is for 3 yrs or 2000hrs. After all, I only had 1300hrs on. He said that the factory warranty would not cover that particular sensor after 2 yrs. Well luckily I have an extended warranty and said 'let's do it'. Once he dropped the generator to replace the what he thought was a bad sensor, he found that the belt to the waterpump had shredded. He said that I really should have had it replaced at 1000hrs. Luckily he was going to replace the sensor anyways and the warranty covered everything except the price of the belt and of course the deductable.
Moral of the story is that, like it or not, every 1000hrs you have to drop $300 to $400 to have the belt replaced. The broken belt certainly ended our weekend in a hurry, don't let it happen to you.

p.s. It sure would have been nice if the genny was a little more user serviceable.....

Mikeso · 01-30-2008, 01:04 PM

The DH and I were out recently, dry camping, when the generator quit. I restarted it but it promptly shut itself off again flashing an 'over temp' code. I did the usual probing around, oil, coolant level, etc. Did not find anything out of the ordinary. I am very religious about changing the oil and filter every 150 to 160hrs so am thinking 'what the heck?'. Took the MH to an authorized Onan repair facility and when I told him what happened he said 'It must be this one sensor that fails every so often' and asked if I had an extended warranty? I did not think that should be necessary since the factory warranty is for 3 yrs or 2000hrs. After all, I only had 1300hrs on. He said that the factory warranty would not cover that particular sensor after 2 yrs. Well luckily I have an extended warranty and said 'let's do it'. Once he dropped the generator to replace the what he thought was a bad sensor, he found that the belt to the waterpump had shredded. He said that I really should have had it replaced at 1000hrs. Luckily he was going to replace the sensor anyways and the warranty covered everything except the price of the belt and of course the deductable.
Moral of the story is that, like it or not, every 1000hrs you have to drop $300 to $400 to have the belt replaced. The broken belt certainly ended our weekend in a hurry, don't let it happen to you.

p.s. It sure would have been nice if the genny was a little more user serviceable.....

SteveG · 01-30-2008, 06:04 PM

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">It sure would have been nice if the genny was a little more user serviceable </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Mikeso brings up a good point. I looked at my Onan Periodic Maintenace manual and it recommends an interval of 1,000 hours or 5 years with a foot note saying the work "Must be performed by a qualified mechanic (authorized Onan dealer)." Since I will approach the five year interval in December 2008 it sounds like I may need to consider having this work done. Has anyone tackled this belt replacement?

Mikeso · 01-30-2008, 06:47 PM

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by SteveG:
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">It sure would have been nice if the genny was a little more user serviceable </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Mikeso brings up a good point. I looked at my Onan Periodic Maintenace manual and it recommends an interval of 1,000 hours or 5 years with a foot note saying the work "Must be performed by a qualified mechanic (authorized Onan dealer)." Since I will approach the five year interval in December 2008 it sounds like I may need to consider having this work done. Has anyone tackled this belt replacement? </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Steve,
What the Onan dealer told me was that to get to the belt, the unit has to be dropped from the MH. To do that they put the MH on a lift and then come up under the generator with a fork lift. It would have been nice if the Winnie would have given a little more fore thought on what should be fairly minor maintenance.
Mike

SteveG · 01-31-2008, 04:19 PM

Mike, doesn't sound like I'll be doing any shade tree wrench turning: missing the lift and the forklift. Did they clean it up while it was out? I wonder if there is anything else that should be done to it while it's on their work bench?

Looks like I'll have to find an Onan dealer.

smlranger · 01-31-2008, 04:34 PM

Just wondering....if you could jack up the front of the motorhome enough (using blocks placed under your leveling jacks) for the generator to clear the rig, and use a motorcycle jack/lift to lower the Onan???

If so, shadetree guy could do the job.

David K · 01-31-2008, 05:37 PM

Don't know if this will work or not but, in my case the drive that my MH is located on by my house still has the curb at the street (that is 8" or so of height). I can use your idea of using the jacks to raise the front end (I have blocks made with plywood and RR ties cut to size). Hummmmmmmm will have to do some measuring to see how much clearance is needed to clear.