Onan problem

[David T. Richelderfer]

Even Jiffy Lube checks your air filter when giving an oil change.  They will show you the air filter and either recommend a replacement or not.  In any case, even Jiffy Lube checks the air filter and notifies you of their recommendation.  BCS needs a boot in the rear on this one.

[Dave Cunningham]

Got to the coach this morning, installed the new air filter, fired it up, and after a 2 second puff of smoke it purred like a kitten, oh by the way I got the revised bill via email from Cummins in Vancouver, the service call didn't cost $450.00 it cost $890. With tax, $2000.00 to fix a bad air filter, I am going to be making some phone calls on Monday, that's for sure.
One more problem though , as I mentioned before, after about 45 minutes to an hour, the unit still dies, checked the code this time and it was over temperature, Ed , in an earlier post you mentioned the fan belt possibly slipping, I took a quick look in there and the rad in on the bottom of the unit in the front, can't see how it could have a mechanical fan, just wondered if anyone had any ideas as to why it might be overheating. The coolant is topped right up.

Dave

[Edward Buker]

Dave,

The squirrel cage fan is on the right end of the genset and driven by a belt. The design uses the cabinet enclosure as ductwork so the fan is not near the radiator.

There is a sensor that could be giving false readings and causing shut down or it could be the belt, thermostat, or the water pump. Water pumps rarely go on these units and the thermostats are not problematic. You need to IR gun the block and radiator and use the readings that I provided to see if it is a true overheat situation. Fan bolts onto the aluminum hub in the attached photo...Photo of the  fan and one of the sensor just in case your IR gun finds that the temps are normal and you are getting an overheat shut down.  You can change the belt with the unit in place but it is not easy. The back cover bolts need an Ichabod Crane arm reach to get to them... my guess is the fan belt is stretched due to the aging of the materials.

Glad the air cleaner solved the engine issue, just one issue left to go....

Later Ed

[Dave Cunningham]

Thanks Ed, now I get it , I can see that changing the belt, must be real fun while the unit is still in the coach, I am definitely going to work through this problem myself, I can't afford any more help from Cummins. Sounds like I have a good excuse to go buy one of those cool IR guns.

Dave

[Edward Buker]

The IR guns are inexpensive and once you have good data on your unit you will know what the "normal" is when you run into issues.

You have to get the top cover off and the right end cover off to do the job. It is not very involved just time consuming due to the position of things. You may want to precheck that the tools on hand swivel and get to the bolt heads in various positions that you need to get to. I used a gearwrench on some and a rachet on others. You cannot see it in the photo but there is an alternator towards the back and that is the unit that swivels to tighten the belt. I found that I could work a clamp on things in a way to swivel the alternator incrementally, and hold it, to get the tension where I wanted it before tightening things down. That was a big help. The black crap that you see on the parts is the aged belt breaking down. I only had 180 hours or so on the generator so none of this is wear use just age.

If I had my choice I would have replaced the back top cover bolts with something that were quick release by pulling but I did not get to it...just would make that job or any generator job almost tolerable in the future.

It is too bad that the technical folks missed the obvious on your unit and still charged you a lot of money. Hope you get some satisfaction (like in the Rolling Stones song)...

Later Ed

[Dave Cunningham]

thanks for the info Ed, should be quite helpful, I will let you know how I make out

dave