Winnebago Aspect/Cummins 4kw generator

John Canfield said:

Consider it an expensive lesson to regularly exercise the generator,

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The cost of expensive lessons is growing,

Tree Branches $350.00
Carburetor $786.00
wife's opinion...PRICELESS!

Precisely. Exercise is critical for any motor to continue to function as designed. And run it long enough to warm it up completely. 30 minutes for a gasser, 60 for a diesel. Its cheap insurance.

Yup - use it or lose it.  When we had the sailboats, we would run them at the dock every couple of weeks with the transmission in forward to put a load on the engine.

SargeW said:

Precisely. Exercise is critical for any motor to continue to function as designed. And run it long enough to warm it up completely. 30 minutes for a gasser, 60 for a diesel. Its cheap insurance.

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you could be correct although I have never experienced a failure or a problem(personally) in any unit  be it car,truck,motorcycle 4 wheeler, lawn mower, diesel pusher, 8K onan, mustang GT,800RMK snowmobile,10 Suzuki outboard,V6 chevy vortec boat etc etc just because I never ran them.Put in a fuel stabilizer and I guarantee a year later they will ALL start and run perfectly.T o be correct if your in cold wet area starting running any of this stuff for 30 minutes will do more damage than just letting them sit till warm dry weather is upon them
that's why I believe there is more to this onan story.I think the problem existed before the Op bought this unit

buchanan said:

I think the problem existed before the Op bought this unit

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The fact is the generator was running, and then it wasn't in a two-week period between starts. It has been pretty hot here about so it is possible, although a bit improbable. If it is my fault for non-use then so be it, lesson learned. I'm going to write a couple of letters to Winnebago, Cummins/Onan, and my dealership that I have a decades long history with. Maybe I can get a hefty discount if nothing else. 

John, 

As far as exercising your genset  ... take a look at your generator owner's manual ... pg 12 on mine, a 5.5 KW gas Onan, says:

"Exercise the genset at least 1  hour each month if use is infrequent.  Run the genset at approximately 1/2 rated power.  See Loading the Genset (page 9).  A single exercise period is better than several shorter periods."

It goes on to say exercising a genset drives off moisture, re-lubricates the engine, replaces stale fuel in fuel lines and carburetor and removes oxides from electrical contacts and generator slip rings.

Running both AC's will (per their chart) provide a load of about 1400-2000 watts on each of the two generator outputs, as one of
my AC's (front I think) runs off a seperate 20A breaker on the genset.

Our first MH, 1999 Coachmen Mirada, only had something like 49 hours on the genset when we got it used.  While it started and ran when I looked at it, when I went to pick it up it would not start.  Former owner spent about $400 for carb repair/replacement.

Current Southwind was also like 96 hours when we got it and I was by then aware of potential problem and accepted that ... and it has worked out with no problems ... now 1100 hours or so.  I do try to run it monthly, but don't always get to it on time, but do exercise it for 1-2 hours ... so far so good.

Kept telling my brother he needed to run his ... think he does better about that now that he has a new carburetor.  ;D

My experience for what it's worth ... check out your genset manual and verify what it says.

Howard

Did you get the old carb? If not you should get it. They should have shown you if it was as fouled as they said. Get the old carb, remove the bowl, get some carb cleaner in a pressurized can and clean out all the small passages. I used carb cleaner from Walmart works good. There is no reason that carb couldn't be cleaned up and used. Water does as much damage as letting gas sit in them, maybe more. Doubt if that was your problem being it was as new as it was.

Oscar Mike said:

The fact is the generator was running, and then it wasn't in a two-week period between starts. It has been pretty hot here about so it is possible, although a bit improbable. If it is my fault for non-use then so be it, lesson learned. I'm going to write a couple of letters to Winnebago, Cummins/Onan, and my dealership that I have a decades long history with. Maybe I can get a hefty discount if nothing else.

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warm weather for 2 weeks does not have a thing to do with what your saying the onan repair guys told you. I simply do not believe the story they gave you
I understand you know nothing and were at their mercey and iam not blaming you for what happened .I think your writing a scathing letter to your dealer and winnebago is a the proper direction to follow. Not sure onan has any share in the blame here? who diagnosed the carb deal and who replaced it and who actually billed you? Was this deal at least billed to u at the actual dealers cost?

It sounds like Onan-Cummins didn't actually examine the generator, they only confirmed that a varnished carburetor wouldn't be warranted. If so have you had it replaced? If not have Onan-Cummins examine it.

^^ Good point ^^

We're leaving in a few days for our summer journey to Oregon, so yes the work has been done. I have the old carburetor that I am going to take to the Cummins Generator shop for an evaluation. Our company has a relationship with Rocky Mountain Cummins so they are going to look at the carburetor gratis and tell me the truth. If my dealer has screwed me, I have Cliff Findlay's direct line. Cliff is a straight up businessman who will look at my purchasing record at his dealerships and I am sure I will get the benefit of the doubt if there is any.

If Rocky Mountain Cummins says it's my fault...then so be it, I'll take my medicine like a big boy and move on.

John Hilley said:

It sounds like Onan-Cummins didn't actually examine the generator, they only confirmed that a varnished carburetor wouldn't be warranted. If so have you had it replaced? If not have Onan-Cummins examine it.

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He clearly posted here that its done and it was around 780$

Something I do on carbs that act up is get some starter fluid, spray a VERY SMALL amount in the intake. If it starts, do it again till it runs better as the new gas can clean it out. If you have a friend who is a meck, you can run the gen from the can of starter fluid for a long time which may remove the problem Gas is a VERY good cleaner.  I say make sure he Knows what he is doing so he does not spray to much in. If it does not try to start at all then the problem IS NOT the carb! Unless the float is stuck then you will smell gas coming out the exhaust. A good idea is to also have a garden hose near as this may be your first time using starter fluid. Art

That's a good trick Art.  I have a Gravely commercial mower with a two cylinder Kohler engine, I've used starting fluid to get it started for years and years since it will frequently sit for a few months between uses.

Yesterday I received a call from the Cummins Generator Shop and was told that the carburetor could have been cleaned, but at the end of the day the carburetor was gummed up. My dealership took the low road, in that they gave me the most expensive option available. I've written a letter to the dealer Cliff Findlay, his GM, and to the Service Manager. I don't think that this is a Winnebago Warranty issue, it is a dealership integrity issue.

The absolute bottom line in this issue is that I failed to keep the generator properly maintained by running the generator under load on a periodic yet regular basis. Lesson learned...

Oscar Mike said:

..My dealership took the low road, in that they gave me the most expensive option available...

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I would never do business with them again.  Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me.

Please take the time to document your dealer experience in the Service and Repair Reviews section of the forum.

John Canfield said:

I would never do business with them again.  Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me.

Please take the time to document your dealer experience in the Service and Repair Reviews section of the forum.

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As soon as this all plays out I will give a thorough review. I need to have them address the letters that I wrote, and let's see if they stand up to the plate or slither away. 

Oscar Mike said:

Yesterday I received a call from the Cummins Generator Shop and was told that the carburetor could have been cleaned, but at the end of the day the carburetor was gummed up. My dealership took the low road, in that they gave me the most expensive option available. I've written a letter to the dealer Cliff Findlay, his GM, and to the Service Manager. I don't think that this is a Winnebago Warranty issue, it is a dealership integrity issue.

The absolute bottom line in this issue is that I failed to keep the generator properly maintained by running the generator under load on a periodic yet regular basis. Lesson learned...

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not really. I have seen generaters sit two years and the carb never varnished up to the point it would not run and the under load part would have ZERO bearing on the carb gumming up. U can the shaft and you caught them .