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Old 09-24-2017, 09:20 PM   #1
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Brand: Thor Motor Coach
Model: ACE 30.3 Sold
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ACE Onan generator shut off with error 36

ACE 30.3 and Onan 55 gas generator.

I've been running the generator the last two days during our driving course. When we pulled into a gas station to fill up, I shut it down.

After a short drive back to the parking lot where we were training, I fired the generator back up. I was going to let it run for 30 seconds or so to stabilize before turning on AC and after 15-20 seconds it shut down with error 36.

I googled, read it was often a fuel issue, possibly air in the line, so I went ahead and tried priming and restarting. It started up and ran for about two hours with no problem, but between leaving that parking lot with it and the AC running fine to when I got to the RV park 20 minutes away, it shut down again with error 36 (pretty sure it was 36 and not 35).

Any thoughts?

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Old 09-24-2017, 10:20 PM   #2
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Sometimes and engine sitting in an enclosed environment will sort of "heat-soak" itself (Actually the thermostat is the culprit), and cause trouble until it full cools down.
We've seen that on Can Am Spyders for years.
Let things get some air on them, and it all goes back to normal quickly!
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Old 09-25-2017, 12:07 AM   #3
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How hot was it outside on that driving course? Sounds like your generator is sucking too hot air.
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Old 09-25-2017, 12:15 AM   #4
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Originally Posted by Tfryman View Post
How hot was it outside on that driving course? Sounds like your generator is sucking too hot air.
91* give or take.

When I shut it off at the gas station, I was right at or under 1/4 tank, so I figured that first start/stop might have been from that. That was after we had done about a 30 minute stint on the interstate, after a few hours practicing turns and stuff in the parking lot.

Then, after I reprimed it and it started it up, it ran for about 90 minutes while my wife was doing very slow driving around the parking lot, and then about 20 minute wrap up at the end sitting there. I then headed back to the RV park and when I got there it was off (I didn't hear it shut off, but it was on when I left the high school parking lot).

So, my dilemma, do I head back to Arkansas in the morning as planned, or go back to MHSRV and have them check it. If it is something other than overheating, is it a "Thor/dealer" issue or one that I would bring to Onan dealer in Little Rock.

By the way, I did check the oil and it's fine, about 3/4 up the hashmarks between low and high.

I didn't mention in my original post, but this is a brand new coach that I just picked up on Wednesday.
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Old 09-26-2017, 01:11 PM   #5
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I went by the dealer before the 7 hour drive home. He started it up, let it run for a while, then put it under the load of both AC's, it handled them fine. Let it run for 20 minutes or so and then killed the AC to make sure it handled coming off the load fine.

No issues. He felt the fuel pump, saying if they were going bad, they typically heated up fairly quickly.

So, not a thorough tear down, but he felt that it was a fuel issue. It occurred right after filling up at a Vallero. He said that Dallas has had a shortage of gas from Harvey and they were getting gas from all over the place and have had issues.

He said the Onan's have tiny jets that can easily get clogged, when the V10 would have no problem. He put in some fuel injector cleaner. As I was anxious to get on the road, I didn't want to hang around longer, so said I would go to an Onan dealer if it acted up again.

I ran it from that point until I got home 7 hours later, and then ran it another few hours while I was showing my sister and brother in law (full timers) to keep the AC running. Never a blip. I also shut it down and restarted when getting gas.

So, at this point, I'm chalking it up to bad gas.

He suggested putting in C foam or Lucas cleaner/gas additive every few tanks of gas. Also encouraged me (as did the PDI tech) to run generator at minimum monthly and if I'm going to go more than a month between using it, add gas stabilizer.
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Old 09-26-2017, 01:44 PM   #6
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At least you've got a direction in which to go with this...
Good luck! I hope that history doesn't repeat itself!
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Old 09-26-2017, 01:49 PM   #7
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Originally Posted by Bob Denman View Post
At least you've got a direction in which to go with this...
Good luck! I hope that history doesn't repeat itself!
Yea, I'm really hoping it was bad gas, rather than heat issues (which I know have plagued some ACE's) or others.

I'm going to change the oil this week, as I'm now just past the break in period, and other than those two hiccups, it's run good and for extended periods.
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Old 09-26-2017, 01:53 PM   #8
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Quote:
Originally Posted by tnedator View Post
...
He suggested putting in C foam or Lucas cleaner/gas additive every few tanks of gas. Also encouraged me (as did the PDI tech) to run generator at minimum monthly and if I'm going to go more than a month between using it, add gas stabilizer.
Here is the Sea Foam they suggested:
https://www.amazon.com/Sea-Foam-SF-1...dp/B0002JN2EU/
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Old 09-26-2017, 02:01 PM   #9
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We had the same error yesterday after running the generator for 3 days off and on at a football tailgate. We took the RV to dump tanks and load up on fresh water, LP and gas and when we stopped the generator wouldn't run with an error code of 36 (undetermined error.) Since it was 91 degrees out and roads were very hot, we figured it was a temperature thing. So we let the genny cool for about 45 minutes and it started up and has been running since with no issues.
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