1997Adventurer30WQ
Member
- Joined
- Sep 17, 2015
- Posts
- 10
I have a 1997 Winnebago Adventurer with a KY series Onan. The RV is new to me. The dealer demonstrated the all the RV systems before I took delivery, and the generator was supposed to be freshly "remanufactured." It ran fine and produced power. The motor itself is clean and the oil is perfectly clear as if the motor has no significant run time, but the housing, carburetor, and some other stuff are obviously not freshly rebuilt.
The engine runs fine while it is running. It started without issue the first time for me about 2 weeks after I took delivery and I let it run about 15 minutes, but a couple of weeks after that, it had trouble starting. The starter appeared to be bad (chattering and grinding), however the generator did start after repeated tries (and ran good producing good AC power), but it quit after running for about 15 minutes, and it surged for several seconds as if running out of fuel as it quit. I did not try to start it again because of the starter issue. Later, I discovered the "starter problem" turned out to be a disconnected ground wire from the starter solenoid. I fixed that and another disconnected ground wire, then the motor cranked and ran good for between 10 and 30 minutes before it quit without me present to know when and if it surged before stalling. It was producing good AC power for at least 10 minutes, and it was running fine without any apparent problem. I tried to start it again at about 30 minutes after the initial start-and-run, but it only cranked without starting. Again, the starter issues is fixed, and it now cranks good. There was a load of about ~900 watts on the generator when it quit.
Any idea why this would happen? I suspect that if I try tomorrow, the generator will start and run for about 15 minutes, then quit again. The fuel pump and filter are old, but how could it run so good for 10+ minutes if they were not passing enough fuel? The motorhome has more than 1/2 tank of fuel according to the gage, and I recently added about 15 gallons to the 78 gallon tank. The gage did go up a bit with the added fuel, so I think it is fairly accurate. The coach is resting level in my flat driveway.
I have taken the gas cap off a couple of times, and there was pressure in the tank that took a while to relieve. Have any of you had this pressure push fuel past a bad generator fuel pump temporarily?
My next diagnostic check will be for fuel flow at the carburetor fuel line, as soon as I get the chance.
The engine runs fine while it is running. It started without issue the first time for me about 2 weeks after I took delivery and I let it run about 15 minutes, but a couple of weeks after that, it had trouble starting. The starter appeared to be bad (chattering and grinding), however the generator did start after repeated tries (and ran good producing good AC power), but it quit after running for about 15 minutes, and it surged for several seconds as if running out of fuel as it quit. I did not try to start it again because of the starter issue. Later, I discovered the "starter problem" turned out to be a disconnected ground wire from the starter solenoid. I fixed that and another disconnected ground wire, then the motor cranked and ran good for between 10 and 30 minutes before it quit without me present to know when and if it surged before stalling. It was producing good AC power for at least 10 minutes, and it was running fine without any apparent problem. I tried to start it again at about 30 minutes after the initial start-and-run, but it only cranked without starting. Again, the starter issues is fixed, and it now cranks good. There was a load of about ~900 watts on the generator when it quit.
Any idea why this would happen? I suspect that if I try tomorrow, the generator will start and run for about 15 minutes, then quit again. The fuel pump and filter are old, but how could it run so good for 10+ minutes if they were not passing enough fuel? The motorhome has more than 1/2 tank of fuel according to the gage, and I recently added about 15 gallons to the 78 gallon tank. The gage did go up a bit with the added fuel, so I think it is fairly accurate. The coach is resting level in my flat driveway.
I have taken the gas cap off a couple of times, and there was pressure in the tank that took a while to relieve. Have any of you had this pressure push fuel past a bad generator fuel pump temporarily?
My next diagnostic check will be for fuel flow at the carburetor fuel line, as soon as I get the chance.