8KW Onan Quiet Diesel

[Bruce Harris]

The CC is equipped with an 8K Onan (I know its 1/2 the size of the Bus Genset or less) that has 1100 hours on it, was working nicely until the other day. I started it up as usual, no issues at all, it was running for about 2 minutes no load then it simply stopped. I tried to restart it, no joy. I checked the fault code and got a code 36 which is fuel related, lack there of. I went back to the manuals and and looked up the fuel supply lines, found which one was supply and which was the return (PS> Fuel supply is from the main fuel tank, I also had nearly a full tank, not a pickup issue) . I filled a small fuel can with diesel bought 2 lines that would fit the Onan intake and return lines and primed the lines and started the engine after a little bit of effort, works great. So I decided to place a hand pump on the main supply and return lines to see if I could get fuel out and back, no issues at all with the Supply line, but I seam to be getting some type of white foamy fuel running back out of the return lines??? had enough spares to practically rebuild it, so I changed the oil, the oil filter, fuel filter and air cleaner checked the coolant and generally looked around. I am suspecting the "Return Line" cannot see any wear on it, must be something lodged inside gummed up or an opening to the atmosphere somewhere on the return line?? I am heading up to Holland Mi next week for a bunch of service work, upgrades etc and have rigged up a fuel tank in the next bay that will supply and return fuel for about 12 hours of run time, a quick fix for now. Any thoughts, what am I missing (not a mechanic) here is there something simple?

[Jerry Winchester]

How old are the lines?

[BoaterAl]

Bruce, for whatever reason CC decided to save money on cheap fuel line hose. They purchased a lot of it and your CC is in that group of problems. The problem is the hose gets small cracks and sucks air and enough to shut down the gen. Bottom line for reliable operation is replacement of all the hose to gen. Some owners have run new hose leaving the old just because it was not really easy to remove and replace. Hose is available at NAPA for the correct replacement and workable with diesel.
You are correct when looking at this hose, it appears just fine. That is what has CC owners to look elsewhere, but the problem is the hose.
AL

[Bruce Harris]

Thanks Al. I was thinking along those lines, but was unaware of the issue with the lines across the entire product line. The problem now is that I need to become inspector gadget with extension arms to get back to the supply and return no easy access.