Gen still won't start! Help!

[Beards79]

Alright here's the run down, I posted briefly about this under my other post but now I'm going to make it its own in hopes of getting some answers.

Bought RV (2017 sunseeker 2300) at the first on the month brand new and have taken several short trips trying to get everything broke in and all the bugs worked out before we head to Tennessee on the 24th and up until last weekend everything was perfect then on Sunday on our way to dump the holding tanks from our trip to the ozarks Friday and Saturday we made a short stop at the hardware store and I fired the gen up to keep the dog cool while we went in, came back out about 15-20 mins later and as we approached the RV the gen started running rough and died... I shut everything off and tried to restart and it would fire run for a min or less and die and the code it through was 16 I think.
The next day I took it back up to the dealer and right before I left to go up there I tried it one last time and it did the same thing.. Start, run for a min or less and die but that time it tossed out code 36..

So here is what I know.. Upon start up in the hardware store parking lot the oil in the gen was full, the gas in RV was above 1/2 tank, nothing was turned on on start up and after it started I waited 3-4 mins before I turned the ac on. Nothing else in the coach appliance wise was running other than the ac.. fridge, micro, nothing plugged in except for the dyson vac that came with the unit (rechargeable) no tvs nothing just the ac.

The whole time we have owned it (a whopping 3 weeks now) the gen has ran perfect including the night before this all happened it had run for about 6 hrs straight running the ac and various other appliances without issue and now at 19.8 hrs she is dead! Lol

So Monday the dealer fixed all the little stuff that needed fixed but they don't work on generators (go figure) so they made a appt for ours at the cummins/onan shop in Bloomington il and drove it down there but the shop is so backed up they can't get to it till the 23rd just one day shy of when we are suppose to leave for Tennessee, so after begging the shop to squeeze me in early which they could not we went and pick it up so I could try and figure something out and fix it myself before the 23rd but if I have to I'll drop it back off up there and hope they can get it going before the evening of the 24th!

Here's is what I've found since I've had it home: first off it won't even start now it just turns over and I don't believe it is getting any spark now so I'm not sure what the dealer did to it but I can tell they had the door open on it and atleast looked at it and now the only code that it has is the over crank code. I changed the oil in it today, checked the fuel pump and its pumping fine, checked or looked for all the fuses and breakers I could find, took the air filter out and hit it with a shot of starting fluid just to see if it would fire on that and it did not so that's why I'm guessing there is no spark... So what do I check now??? Is there any fuses or breakers that I'm missing or maybe something in the auto transfer switch?

I'm pretty mechanical and do all my own work and I'm sure cummins can get it going but that is really cutting it close with us on time and I would just atleast like to be able to tell them what is wrong with it instead of them have to try and figure it out and waste that much more time, if it were something easy I would just repair it and then work with them to atleast pay for the part and to me it seems like it's got to be sensor or other electrical component like a stuck oil sensor or something.. I've checked all the electrical connections I can see and all seem good so will someone please tell me it's something completely simple I'm overlooking and make me feel like an idiot!

[Beards79]

Gen is a RV qg4000 cummins onan by the way.

[ilmor]

Originally Posted by Beards79

Gen is a RV qg4000 cummins onan by the way.

Have you tried all this, including shooting an email to them?

Technical or Service Related Questions


In the United States and Canada, call 1-800-888-6626, and follow the prompts to be automatically connected to the nearest Cummins and Cummins Onan sales/service center.


All other questions can be directed to ask.powergen@cummins.com (link sends e-mail).




Have you tried removing the spark plug to see if it is sparking?

Have you verified that that fuel is flowing past the fuel filter (I think there is one).

I had an issue once with a small motor...wouldn't start for anything. I ended up disassembling the carburetor. I found what appeared to be like a little stone clogging a jet. Cleaned, replaced and reassembled and the motor fired right up.

If your generator is cranking then a breaker is not the issue. Its getting power.

Are you flooding it constantly by trying so much?

Just trying to think of stuff to help!

[Beards79]

Originally Posted by ilmor

Have you tried all this, including shooting an email to them?

Technical or Service Related Questions


In the United States and Canada, call 1-800-888-6626, and follow the prompts to be automatically connected to the nearest Cummins and Cummins Onan sales/service center.


All other questions can be directed to ask.powergen@cummins.com (link sends e-mail).




Have you tried removing the spark plug to see if it is sparking?

Have you verified that that fuel is flowing past the fuel filter (I think there is one).

I had an issue once with a small motor...wouldn't start for anything. I ended up disassembling the carburetor. I found what appeared to be like a little stone clogging a jet. Cleaned, replaced and reassembled and the motor fired right up.

If your generator is cranking then a breaker is not the issue. Its getting power.

Are you flooding it constantly by trying so much?

Just trying to think of stuff to help!

Thanks! Yes I sent an email as soon as I found out they couldn't get it in till the 23rd which is coming up on a week ago tomorrow asking for suggestions and help and I haven't heard anything back yet.. I didn't pull the plug but plan on doing so today and seeing if it is by chance fouled out due to, like you said, flooding by over cranking which I'm sure the dealer did and yes there is a fuel filter. The filter is located just inside the gen set cabinet on the lower left hand side and it screws into the back of the fuel pump and its a joy to get to by the way. Lol.

In order to change the filter you have to take out the control board and all the other wires that you see to the left of the engine when you take the door off and unbolt the fuel pump and take the fuel lines off and the you can pull it and the pump out as one. I picked a filter up at cummins when I picked the motorhome up thinking that could be the problem (just for future reference for anyone wanting to know the filter was $9.00) but I did not change it yet because I know it's getting fuel, I pulled the fuel line off the carb and pushed the prime side of the switch and the fuel pump kicked on and pump plenty of fuel next I hit the crank side of the switch and same thing fuel pump kicked on and plenty of fuel was coming out.

After all this I hooked fuel line back up and took the air filter off and hit it with a shot of starting fluid and nothing, it didn't even try to run which if it had spark it should've at least tried to start on that stuf. Hopefully today when I pull the plug I will find that it is so fuel soaked that it is fouled out! Fingers crossed and thanks for the suggestions. It just so frustrating you buy something new and this happens especially right before we are suppose to leave on a trip, I'm gonna call the cummins service center in St. Louis on Monday and see when they can get me in if this spark plug thing doesn't work! Lol

[Garrette]

Are you running a Chevy chassis? I do not know if fords are like this but the fuel supply to the generator is actually tapped onto the internal fuel chassis fuel pump. A faulty chassis fuel pump could cause low supply to the generator. Been meaning on investigating this.
Fire up the coach and see if the genny will run.
Other than that, I had to have the generator fuel pump replaced in the first 20hours of operation. I Located an rv collision center that took care of it including the warranty with Onan.
There is a main house 30amp breaker located on the genny but I doubt it would stop the genny from running. Let us know.


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[RamblerGuy]

The Ford chassis has a pickup tube for the generator that is mounted in the same package as the chassis fuel pump but is separate from the pump. The generator pulls gasoline from the tank through this tube completely independent from the chassis fuel pump.

[stervin]

are you running on propane or diesel
If propane maybe I can help as I had the same issue.

[skylilymd]

If you have already checked the fuel line and you sprayed carb clean in while cranking and it will not even try to fire - then it is either spark or compression. Just pull the front spark plug wire off and put a screwdriver in it and put it right next to ground and see if it sparks (ideally just use a spark tester if you have one) - if it is working then test the compression of that cylinder pull that spark plug out and put a compression gauge on it - I just had this happened to mine I think what happened was a valve got stuck because of bad gas or something and it made the pushrod unseat from its little mounting area in the rocker arm - it is actually a pretty easy fix all I did was pull the little valve cover off and I could see right away that the pushrod was not in the right spot I put it back on and put a new gasket on the valve cover and it fired right up and work fine - I actually do not think this is your issue though because you did not say that it was backfiring at all - is it doing anything at all when you crank it as far as firing ?

[Beards79]

Originally Posted by stervin

are you running on propane or diesel
If propane maybe I can help as I had the same issue.

Neither, I'm a gasser..

[Beards79]

Originally Posted by skylilymd

If you have already checked the fuel line and you sprayed carb clean in while cranking and it will not even try to fire - then it is either spark or compression. Just pull the front spark plug wire off and put a screwdriver in it and put it right next to ground and see if it sparks (ideally just use a spark tester if you have one) - if it is working then test the compression of that cylinder pull that spark plug out and put a compression gauge on it - I just had this happened to mine I think what happened was a valve got stuck because of bad gas or something and it made the pushrod unseat from its little mounting area in the rocker arm - it is actually a pretty easy fix all I did was pull the little valve cover off and I could see right away that the pushrod was not in the right spot I put it back on and put a new gasket on the valve cover and it fired right up and work fine - I actually do not think this is your issue though because you did not say that it was backfiring at all - is it doing anything at all when you crank it as far as firing ?

So I pulled the plug this morning and it was beyond fouled so I just replaced it but I did check for spark before reinstalling the the plug and there is possitively no spark! I did not check the compression but by ear it sounds like it is fine and it only has 19.8 hrs so I hope it's fine but at this point nothing would surprise me and also no there was no backfiring or anything like that... Like I mentioned before it ran perfect for the first 19.7 hrs and then all at once after running for about 15mins it starting running rough for about 30 seconds and then died, it would restart but only run for about 1min and die just like you hit the off switch!

I didn't mess with it after because it was already going back to the dealer for some minor repairs so I just added the gen to the list but little did I know the dealer is worthless when it comes to gens and repairs for that matter but they did mess with it because I could tell the cover had been taken off and they couldn't manage to put it back on right.. They took the RV to the cummins service center but they can't get it in till the 23rd and now the gen won't do a thing other than crank, it's like there is a safety switch or something preventing it from firing.

Really annoyed at this point and I can't even see the coil to test it and about the only thing that I can easily get to is the start relay...

[mark239]

Does your gen have low oil shutoff? could be it is shorted out it will kill spark to protect engine.

[Beards79]

Yes it does and that's a very good possibility but I can't see or get to it without pulling the gen so beings it's under warranty that will be on them!

[gizmo98]

I have seen a post like this Gen 36 fault overheat your dealer and onan generator guy wont be able to fix because when they go to test it no problem and may bill you overheat not covered under warranty.
write to the company they may have a mod for air vent to the generator to help with cooling. if the temperature outside is really hot the generator may be overheating another problem was vapour lock

[Still Kickin]

Originally Posted by mark239

Does your gen have low oil shutoff? could be it is shorted out it will kill spark to protect engine.

I concur. It's either that or your coil setup is bad. Definitely cummins warranty issue. Do post back when you find out what STB.

[Beards79]

Originally Posted by Still Kickin

I concur. It's either that or your coil setup is bad. Definitely cummins warranty issue. Do post back when you find out what STB.

Hopefully I'll find out tomorrow because I just called the Cummins service center in St. Louis and they can get it In tomorrow!

[gizmo98]

Onan 4000 watt generator vent mod
Vent Cover PN: 70A08495A
Vent Shroud PN: 70A08493A

[Beards79]

Originally Posted by gizmo98

I have seen a post like this Gen 36 fault overheat your dealer and onan generator guy wont be able to fix because when they go to test it no problem and may bill you overheat not covered under warranty.
write to the company they may have a mod for air vent to the generator to help with cooling. if the temperature outside is really hot the generator may be overheating another problem was vapour lock

It def didn't over heat it is a spark issue that much I know. It won't even try and start now and has now spark or power to the spark plug. As luck would have it the service center in St. Louis can get me in tomorrow so I don't have to wait till the 23rd and can finally get the thing fixed! Very curious as to what it is!

[Beards79]

Originally Posted by gizmo98

Onan 4000 watt generator vent mod
Vent Cover PN: 70A08495A
Vent Shroud PN: 70A08493A

Thanks if it turns out that I have that problem in the future I'll keep this in mind!

[OldCoot]

I'm sure you know the spark plug has to be grounded to the engine to show a spark when you have it out. You can also check the spark by removing the plug from the wire and baring the metal connection and holding it about a 1/4" from the engine block.

[Beards79]

Originally Posted by OldCoot

I'm sure you know the spark plug has to be grounded to the engine to show a spark when you have it out. You can also check the spark by removing the plug from the wire and baring the metal connection and holding it about a 1/4" from the engine block.

Yes sir I do. You can also have the wife hold it to the block and have her grab the metal part of the plug as she does and watch her jump! She didn't jump. No spark. Lol