Fun with gas..

[Ken and Cindy Haney]

No pictures but had a ton o fun with gas today. Got the beasty running enough to get to the gas station 3 blocks away. Filled up and when I was getting back in to drive home I see a stream of gas pouring out of 3 places. So, not sure what to do I jumped in and drove home with fingers crossed that none was on th exhaust. Made it home, leapt out, ok wallered, and looked under and......nothing. ??? What? So I got the jack and had my son crawl under to see what he could see and he found the gas line for the generator had cracks in it. I guess when I filled it, it was enough to overflow and what leaked plus what I burned driving was jus enough to get the fuel level below the hose. After a trip to the parts store and $52 for a measly 12 ft of gas line, since when did a rubber tube get so expensive, we replaced the gas line. I now know why the generator wasn't getting gas. So with all hopes I tried to start the genny and of course it won't start. Seems to run while I hold the start button but dies when I release it. I'll look at it tomorrow. Looks like it is either a relay or the oils pressure switch. Anyway, luckily no explosions.

[Daniel Long]

Ah, the struggles of old rubber bits on an RV! My advice is to get under there, check out any old rubber lines and connections and just replace them. Yes, fuel hoses have gotten more expensive but not as much as an RV fire on the side of the road. With the gen set (ONAN?) you want to start cleaning ALL the connectors, replace the fuel filter and get the ignition/ run fuses set. I wound up replacing both fuses and have ordered the start/run switch on the gen set as it keeps shorting out. I had the same start but won't run condition and it was making sure the filter was new along with checking all the connections.

Best of luck to you!

[Ken and Cindy Haney]

Hi Daniel. Thanks for the help. Yea it is an Onan. Lots of fun troubleshooting. It ended up being a bad connection on the oil pressure switch to relay spade lug. Also had a bad one on the start/stop button. It wouldn't stop until I cleaned that up. In the process off getting to the connections I had both fuse holders crumble. But I did get it to run and after changing the air filter and letting the new gas with sea foam in it, it smoothed out and ran nice. Now I don't trust any of the connections so I think I will build a new harness for it.

[Daniel Long]

Ken and Cindy,

Yep on the crumbling fuse holders!! Wow, how they become brittle after 30 years....I also noticed that the remote harness for the drivers genset display was "spliced" as well. Guess I have a few more things to update as do you.

[Ken and Cindy Haney]

Oh yea, I had planned on replacing everything rubber but the fuel line escaped my thoughts. I plan on rebuilding the carb this week if the kit arrives from Holley tomorrow like the tracking info says. Then the tune up, trans filter and fluid change, oil change, anti-freeze and hoses, belts, and vacuum lines. Anything else I should just change on the motor? EGR?