Journey with Confidence RV GPS App RV Trip Planner RV LIFE Campground Reviews RV Maintenance Take a Speed Test Free 7 Day Trial ×


Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
Old 09-03-2018, 02:53 PM   #1
Senior Member
 
papap's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2011
Location: Southwest Louisiana
Posts: 747
Gasoline 4000 Generator problem

My wife drove the camper to my brothers to spend the night. I cranked the generator that night and didn’t realize she had not fill motorhome up with gas. Well during the night the gen died. Fuel tank was down to just over a 1/4 tank. Pretty sure this is the shutoff level.

Well now I filled the motorhome full. Tried cranking gen and it floods. Tried changing the spark plug. It sparks great before screwing it in. But when you try to crank gen it back fires but will not start. Pull the plug and it’s covered with gas. Tried spraying carb cleaner in the carb. Also disconnected the fuel line and sprayed cleaner in the carb that way while drain was open on the bottom of carb. Guess if no one has a clue what else to try I’ll be looking for an Onan mechanic.
__________________
2016 Forester 3171DS
Work 28 and 28 around the world.
Camp every chance we get

papap is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-03-2018, 03:17 PM   #2
Senior Member
 
ejohnson1144's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2017
Posts: 426
Disconnect the fuel line and mix up some gas with the seafoam and run it with that fuel . should stop the float from sticking open.
And clean the jet
ejohnson1144 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-03-2018, 03:59 PM   #3
Senior Member
 
papap's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2011
Location: Southwest Louisiana
Posts: 747
Carb cleaner

Tried that with carb cleaner. Guess it would not hurt to try sea foam.
__________________
2016 Forester 3171DS
Work 28 and 28 around the world.
Camp every chance we get

papap is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-03-2018, 05:02 PM   #4
Senior Member
 
Sagecoachdriver's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2015
Location: Southern California
Posts: 2,087
I had backfiring in mine and took it in to an authorized Onan center under warranty. He checked fuel pump and pressure was too high. Replaced fuel pump and filter.
Dangerous if backfiring as it can cause air filter to catch fire if soaked with gas. Be careful gasoline can be explosive.!

Maybe clamp fuel line before filter and try starting to burn up flooding and then release clamp. I thought the float was stuck,used carb cleaner and Seafoam, but it was the fuel pump.

I would take it in to service center.
__________________
2004 Winnebago Minnie 22e(went to a nice family Oct 3, 2015)
2016 Forester 2701DS (Aug 31, 2015)
2017 Camping 12 trips 38 nights
2018 Camping 10 trips 38 nights
2019 Camping 6 trips 19 nights
2020 Camping 0 trips Cancellations 6
Sagecoachdriver is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-04-2018, 02:18 PM   #5
Senior Member
 
papap's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2011
Location: Southwest Louisiana
Posts: 747
So it’s giving a code 14. Call repair shop. Guess I’ll be getting a new carb from what I have read online.
__________________
2016 Forester 3171DS
Work 28 and 28 around the world.
Camp every chance we get

papap is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-04-2018, 03:14 PM   #6
Hank
 
Join Date: Feb 2018
Location: San Antonio
Posts: 48
On my 2016 Class A coachmen my GEN was always hard to start for the first year. Then sometimes during the second year it would not start at all. I didn't use it much but had tried to start it once a month. I had experience this problem on other gas engines and had fixed them by removing and cleaning the Carberator. So I removed the carberator on the GEN(not easy to do) and cleaned and reinstalled as I had on lawn mowers. Works like it was intended too. Primed it good and it starts right up.

Hank
Henry Barnes is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-04-2018, 07:06 PM   #7
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Mar 2014
Posts: 185
Stuck float

Old school remedy for stuck floats was to tap the carb by the float chamber.
TSman is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-04-2018, 07:07 PM   #8
Senior Member
 
ejohnson1144's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2017
Posts: 426
Quote:
Originally Posted by TSman View Post
Old school remedy for stuck floats was to tap the carb by the float chamber.
Good idea
ejohnson1144 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-05-2018, 08:40 AM   #9
Senior Member
 
Wolverine 1945's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2014
Location: SouthWest Michigan
Posts: 5,977
ONAN 4000 Carbs & Fuel Pumps seem to by quite weak !!!
We had our Carb replace last Spring and then the Fuel Pump in the Fall !!!
Was not exercising properly until last Spring,,, not sure why Pump died ???
Total around $800 + the two trips to service center,,, even though we had an appoint it took about 4 hrs to replace the Fuel Pump !!!
B S !!!
Wolverine 1945 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-05-2018, 10:37 AM   #10
Senior Member
 
papap's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2011
Location: Southwest Louisiana
Posts: 747
I took the carb off. Took it apart and sprayed it out with carb cleaner. Still the same problem. Have fire at spark plug and engine floods. Guess it’s to the shop. Hate spending money on something we hardly ever use.
__________________
2016 Forester 3171DS
Work 28 and 28 around the world.
Camp every chance we get

papap is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-05-2018, 10:40 AM   #11
Senior Member
 
papap's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2011
Location: Southwest Louisiana
Posts: 747
Thioght about ordering a new carb and changing it out my self. Only takes a few minutes to remove it. An after market one is about $150 and one from Onan is about $300.
__________________
2016 Forester 3171DS
Work 28 and 28 around the world.
Camp every chance we get

papap is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-06-2018, 06:34 AM   #12
Senior Member
 
Wolverine 1945's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2014
Location: SouthWest Michigan
Posts: 5,977
Quote:
Originally Posted by papap View Post
I took the carb off. Took it apart and sprayed it out with carb cleaner. Still the same problem. Have fire at spark plug and engine floods. Guess it’s to the shop. Hate spending money on something we hardly ever use.
From what I have been told,,, cleaning is not enough,,,
Ethanol has probably destroyed the carb ???

Wolverine 1945 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-06-2018, 07:00 AM   #13
Site Team
 
KyDan's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: Louisville, KY
Posts: 10,505
Did you look closely at the float needle valve? A tiny piece of debris sucked in as it was running out of gas could have stuck in the needle valve and holding it open enough to flood the carb.
Do you have a gas shut off? Try shutting off the gas and see if you can coax it to start.
If you don't already have an inline fuel filter and gas shut off they would be fairly easy and cheap to install.


Back in the old days it was possible for a float (plastic or brass) to leak and get gas inside it. That would mimic your symptoms. Even old school floats that were solid foam could become saturated with gas and not float...


$150 for a new carb sounds cheaper than a service call if you want to try that route.

Good luck!
__________________
Peace!
Dan & Rita D
2017 Nissan Titan 5.6L King cab 4wd
2016 Evergreen Everlite 242RBS
29' empty nest model. Blue Ox WD hitch
(1 queen bed, large main cabin and huge bathroom)
Camping days 2010-53, 2011-47, 2012-41, 2013-41, 2014-31, 2015-40, 2016-44, 2017-63, 2018-75, 2019-32, 2020-41, 2021-49, 2022-43, 2023-66
KyDan is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-06-2018, 07:14 AM   #14
Senior Member
 
Wolverine 1945's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2014
Location: SouthWest Michigan
Posts: 5,977
Quote:
Originally Posted by KyDan View Post
Did you look closely at the float needle valve? A tiny piece of debris sucked in as it was running out of gas could have stuck in the needle valve and holding it open enough to flood the carb.
Do you have a gas shut off? Try shutting off the gas and see if you can coax it to start.
If you don't already have an inline fuel filter and gas shut off they would be fairly easy and cheap to install.


Back in the old days it was possible for a float (plastic or brass) to leak and get gas inside it. That would mimic your symptoms. Even old school floats that were solid foam could become saturated with gas and not float...


$150 for a new carb sounds cheaper than a service call if you want to try that route.

Good luck!
The ONAN 4000 has an inline filter next to the fuel pump !!!

Wolverine 1945 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-10-2018, 08:02 PM   #15
Senior Member
 
papap's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2011
Location: Southwest Louisiana
Posts: 747
Generator back running. Onan machanic found the clip holding intake valve had come off. He figures it was not put on right from factory. $100 and he changed the oil for me.
__________________
2016 Forester 3171DS
Work 28 and 28 around the world.
Camp every chance we get

papap is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-11-2018, 11:50 AM   #16
Site Team
 
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: Southwest Alabama
Posts: 9,850
Thanks for coming back and letting us know what the problem was.

It was a funny coincidence that it decided to quit just when you were at 1/4 tank of fuel!
__________________
Salem 29RKSS Pushing a GMC Sierra 2500HD!
Gotta go campin!
Bama Rambler is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-11-2018, 12:07 PM   #17
Member
 
Join Date: Jul 2018
Posts: 93
Quote:
Originally Posted by Wolverine 1945 View Post
From what I have been told,,, cleaning is not enough,,,

Ethanol has probably destroyed the carb ???





True dat...
xd40c is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-11-2018, 12:40 PM   #18
Senior Member
 
papap's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2011
Location: Southwest Louisiana
Posts: 747
Yes

Quote:
Originally Posted by Bama Rambler View Post
Thanks for coming back and letting us know what the problem was.

It was a funny coincidence that it decided to quit just when you were at 1/4 tank of fuel!
The tank was at 3/8. But no clue. He put the clip back in place and it cranks right up and runs fine.
__________________
2016 Forester 3171DS
Work 28 and 28 around the world.
Camp every chance we get

papap is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-11-2018, 03:55 PM   #19
Chief tinkerer
 
Gidyupgo's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2015
Location: Texan, transplanted to Midwest Georgia
Posts: 816
. .
__________________
Gary

2017 SunSeeker 3010DS
Gidyupgo is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-11-2018, 04:08 PM   #20
Chief tinkerer
 
Gidyupgo's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2015
Location: Texan, transplanted to Midwest Georgia
Posts: 816
Quote:
Originally Posted by Gidyupgo View Post
............ hmm. Anyway, hunnerd bucks to get it up and running sounds like a deal, whatever was done.
Intake valve clip?Click image for larger version

Name:	clip_image002_thumb.jpeg
Views:	80
Size:	15.3 KB
ID:	186164
__________________
Gary

2017 SunSeeker 3010DS
Gidyupgo is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Tags
forester, gas, generator

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are Off
Pingbacks are Off
Refbacks are Off


» Featured Campgrounds

Reviews provided by

Disclaimer:

This website is not affiliated with or endorsed by Forest River, Inc. or any of its affiliates. This is an independent, unofficial site.



All times are GMT -5. The time now is 02:38 AM.