Generator Overheating......17.5kw Kubota....2004 Featherlite

[MWSHAWJR]

Having to park my bus without electrical hookups while storing it. Been depending on Generator Auto Start to keep batteries charged and running one or 2 ACs to prevent delamination of my cabinets. Generator will crank and run for about 10 minutes with 1 or 2 ACs running but then starts heating up and will shut down automatically. I have checked coolant levels in radiator and reserve tank, checked air filter, replaced fuel filter and none of that helps. Would appreciate any advice on a possible solution. I am in a semi remote area of Montana without service guys so I'm trying to do it on my on but temps in the low 90s are making me anxious. Generator has only about 1400 hours and a "service" was done a few months ago. Appreciate any help. Thank you, Mike shaw

[rfoster]

Check if your cooling fan at radiator is performing. Not knowing specifics on Featherlite - is it an electric powered fan? Is your fan belt tight enough, does it power the water pump on the gen set engine. Do you have an infared thermometer? Scan the radiator with it to see if you are getting circulation of coolant through the radiator. Could be a faulty thermostat.

Good luck -

[dale farley]

Mike,

Look at this thread. I was having the exact problem, and mine ended up being a bad belt on my fan as Roger mentioned above. http://forum.prevostownersgroup.com/showthread.php?7967-Generator&highlight=generator

[georgiapeachinc]

I came across this old thread when looking at generators over heating. We had the same issue last year and it popped up again this year. I have a Powertech unit. We initially replaced all the hoses, water pump, (it did not need a new pump but due to the age we replaced it) drive belt and the thermostat. Engine continued to over heat. Powertech said the main problem with a remote radiator is air blockage. The remedy was to disconnect the hose at the thermostat housing place a rag around the end of a garden hose to create a reasonable seal, put it in the housing and have someone turn on the water until all the air blows out and it is solid coolant coming out of the disconnected hose. Reconnect everything and all would be good. The addition of some fresh water would not effect the coolant to water ratio. It worked! Another call to Powertech about the same issue and they advised the air purge.
I asked why this happens and was told it is an idiosyncrasy of these systems.
We repeated the process and all is well again.

[Dthomas9572]

Hello,

It is not a good idea to use the auto start on your generator that will immediately put a full load . If you read your manual it says let the generator run for a few minutes with no Load and then add load slowly.

My practice is to pre heat generator for 30 seconds (which is probably 15 seconds too long). Then start generator and let is run for 3 to 5 minutes then load it one AC at at time waiting 10 seconds or so before adding another.

I am on my 14th RV with the last two being Prevost XL coaches. I learned very early what kills generators is a full load on start up. I realize the auto start feature, goes through the basics of pre heat then it runs for a bit before locking on the the inverters, but I really don't think that is adequate to going from Zero to 100 with AC's kicking on.

My Powertech failed last year, a few months after I purchased the coach. It is a 1998 XL Featherlight with low hours on the gen set, BUT I had no idea how it was treated for 22 years before my purchase.

With the new Head I started from scratch babying the new head. I know it will give me years and at least 20K hours our use.

Aslo putting a full load on Inverters can be a issue to them.

Thanks
David Thomas
1998 Featherlight XL