I think I blew up my generator

[falconhunter]

A good strong solution of Dawn should work real well but make sure you give it plenty of time to dry out before you start it. If you have shore power and a fan then use that to circulate some air through there.

 

[Conquest aka Robert]

OK wanna hear my dumb thing?

Installing a back-up camera last week ASSUMED I had the wires hooked up correct for power NOT . Blew out the camera the leds still work but camer FRIED :. Try explaining that to the wife  I have new one now just not in a hurry to install it.

 

[Hfx_Cdn]

    Tom when you finally do get it started, the blue smoke that you'll see, will be the black cloud being passed from Bernie to you.  I'm glad that it has over a year since I passed it along, it give you a miserable feeling.

Ed

 

[AndyinLexington]

I'd just wipe up the big stuff with a rag, and fill it with oil, then fire it up.  The outside of the generator won't be harmed by having oil on it.  Or water for that matter.  Think of all the moisture that gets kicked up into that compartment when you're driving down the road . . . I wouldn't spend too much till I found out if I had a real problem.

 

[Joezeppy]

You might know this being a cat owner but litter does a great job of soaking up oil. Takes a while but leaves zero residue.

I feel like the dumbest clown in the whole world because I couldn't put an oil filter cap on properly. And there are not a wave of people coming in here saying the same thing happened to them. :-[ :-[ :-[

I once rode around on my lawn tractor for about a 1/2 hour and couldn't figure out why the smell of gas was so strong - figured I must have gotten some on my hands. Nope - forgot the cap. The fill spout is under the seat so it splashed up all under the seat and over the fenders.

Does that help?  :

 

[Water Dog]

I'm putting myself in for the dumb award.....Last night I delivered my boat to the campground that my son and his family are staying at this weekend so they could use it. While my son sat in the boat I prepped it to launch. I backed it in and he motored over to the cove next to where they were camped. I just got a call from him a few minutes ago wondering why the boat was half full of water.....I forgot the plug...! Whoops!  Hope that helps.

 

[catblaster]

Don't feel bad about the oil cap, here's my story. 72, 650 triumph Bonneville,I left the oil cap off under the seat and pumped all the oil out and onto the back of my girlfriend riding behind me. Had to push it 2 miles home. In spite of that she still married me....and divorced me.

 

[ArdraF]

Tom, if there are any air openings that you want to cover to be on the safe side before using water or anything, good ol' masking tape is wonderful.  Even duct tape, but that might leave sticky residue.  Sure do hope it starts right up and no more problem.  Cleaning up oil like that is the pits....

ArdraF

 

[wackymac]

Tom--What about using the cats to mop up the oil and then giving them a bath with Dawn.

 

[seilerbird]

I'm putting myself in for the dumb award.....Last night I delivered my boat to the campground that my son and his family are staying at this weekend so they could use it. While my son sat in the boat I prepped it to launch. I backed it in and he motored over to the cove next to where they were camped. I just got a call from him a few minutes ago wondering why the boat was half full of water.....I forgot the plug...! Whoops!  Hope that helps.

Been there, done that and got the t-shirt in 1969 with my first ski boat.

 

[mike eddleman]

Left the oil filter off a 66 mustang after a oil change. I found out that a motor will run almost a full minute before messing up the crank.  The lesson learned, When you see oil coming out shut it off before trying to find out where its coming from

 

[seilerbird]

I rebuilt and engine back in the 60s and drove it around the block before remembering I had forgot to put the oil in. But we bathed everything in STP before installing it. We added the oil and it ran fine.

 

[seilerbird]

And for those of you who want to have a good laugh at my expense here is a photo of the disaster area. The oil cap is in the bottom center of the photo. I have reinstalled it. Better late than never. It looks a lot better today than it did yesterday as the oil is dripping off. I will spray it down tonight with Dawn and water and begin the recovery.

 

[Luca1369]

Don't panic, I've seen worse!  Last year I changed my oil and I pressed the start button on the genset to get the oil to flow though the genny and the new filter.  I too had left off the filler cap.  I wound up wearing some of my oil as I was crouched next to my Onan.  Good thing I was right there though as I could stop it quickly after a couple of seconds.  I hate the taste of oil...

 

[wackymac]

Tom--I was just kidding about the cats. ;D ;D  We took our Rusty to the vet today because of some itching in his ear.  He's now at 24#. :-[ :-[

 

[seilerbird]

Tom--I was just kidding about the cats. ;D ;D  We took our Rusty to the vet today because of some itching in his ear.  He's now at 24#. :-[ :-[

Well Jane is all black so I wouldn't even notice the oil on her.

 

[Mavarick]

Really doesn't look as bad as I thought. I wouldn't set a sandwich down but have seen a lot worse in the back of a crane. You can still read all your labeling!
Evaluate the air filter to make sure it can still breathe, squeeze out what you can and soak up the rest with paper towels if it is that bad. As long as air can get through it nothing will hurt if it has oil on it (many filters still use oil bath). I would fill it with oil and see if it cranks and, hopefully starts. Let it run a few minutes to verify all is ok and shut it down for cleaning. If you clean first you and have electrical problems you will not know if the water is causing trouble and then have to wait a day for it to dry out. More wait = more worry.

 

[seilerbird]

Really doesn't look as bad as I thought. I wouldn't set a sandwich down but have seen a lot worse in the back of a crane. You can still read all your labeling!
Evaluate the air filter to make sure it can still breathe, squeeze out what you can and soak up the rest with paper towels if it is that bad. As long as air can get through it nothing will hurt if it has oil on it (many filters still use oil bath). I would fill it with oil and see if it cranks and, hopefully starts. Let it run a few minutes to verify all is ok and shut it down for cleaning. If you clean first you and have electrical problems you will not know if the water is causing trouble and then have to wait a day for it to dry out. More wait = more worry.

I did exactly as Mavarick said. The air filter was clean, it was blocked from the oil well gusher by the electrical box. So I put it back on and drained the oil. All three drops of it. Then I put three quarts in and the dipstick said full. Pushed the start button and nothing. I sprayed a little soap and water on the gen since I will be probably going deeper tomorrow.

So what is my next step?

 

[Mavarick]

Tom, I had a hunch you wouldn't have any power to it and my guess is you have a low oil psi safety tripped. I assume you don't have any manuals for it so get the model number off the tag and call the local Cummins/Onan dealer to find out how to reset. Most are open on Saturday at least until noon.
Not sure what kind of control board you have but I seem to remember on the older ones we had to disconnect the battery cables for a couple minutes, then reconnect and this (no power to control board) would allow everything to reset. We unhooked the neg, then pos, waited a few minutes and then reconnect the pos, then neg. You might give that a try and see if it cranks then. If you have two start stations I also assume you have tried both.
Thought of one last thing. Besides the usual circuit breakers on the outside for control power to the MH there is usually a small fuse inside on the control board. I can't remember what it is for specifically but you might check that also.

 

[seilerbird]

I have posted a question on an Onan forum and so far no one has an answer. The Onan 4000 manual is finally back online. In the troubleshooting section there is nothing about oil causing it not to start. I will be calling the generator repairman down in Flagstaff if I can't get an answer soon. Yep, I have tried both Stop/Start stations.