onan generator

[geirws]

I have a 4kw onan bf series generator. It started to run rough and slowed down. I shut it down. Now it won't start. When I try to start it the solenoid just clicks. Does anyone have any Ideas. Also does anyone know the torque for the head bolts.

[overlander63]

Is there any oil in the engine? Can you turn it over by hand?

[Excella CM]

Sounds like you ran out of ignition/starting power.

[Mike Leary]

In mine, the battery for the Onan is way forward and the heavy cable finally gave up; replaced it (not cheap cable), problem solved.

[geirws]

thanks guys. I think the relay burnt out. I'm going to take it to a mechanic and make sure.

[Dr.Theopolis]

Hi Irwin, I have an Onan BF also. I just bought the RV and am working on getting things working. My generator hasn't started yet but that isn't surprising since it hasn't been running for years. While playing around with it, I took off the cylinder head and there was a lot of really thick build-up of gunk on everything including the valve seats. So I cleaned it but there is another cylinder on the far side. Do you know how I could access it without removing the generator from the RV?

You can verify if your starting solenoid is working by using a voltmeter. Another thing to keep in mind is that if your battery is going bad or just not charged, then there might not be enough juice to turn the generator when starting.