NAMVET77 Posted January 21 Share Posted January 21 I have a 04 Camelot 38 ' PST (original owner) and the generator wouldn't start (fault code 3, needs service). Gen has 347 hours on it. I serviced the gen (oil change, oil, air and fuel filter). Before I serviced the gen it would not start (did not turn over). The light on the switch both inside and outside flashed 3 times then repeated. The service was due anyway. It had been 6 or 7 weeks since I had started it and was going to exercise it. It ran fine after we returned home from our summer trip. I have a full tank of fuel, oil is just under the full mark and the coolant is full. I'm not sure if any of the items (oil level, fuel level and coolant level) would stop the gen from just turning over. I have checked the voltage at the rear of the gen and have 13.8VDC. With the covers off I measure the same at the starter solenoid. The 3 fuses (2 15amp and 1 25 amp) under the external start panel are good (checked with a meter not just a visual). Chased the ground wire attached to the gen back to the frame and it is good (clean and tight). Not sure if there is a way to check the solenoid. The old school way to start a car if the solenoid was bad was to take a screwdriver and short out 2 poles and it would start or at least turn the engine over. There are only 2 poles on the solenoid and they are positive and negative so that won't work. Any suggestions to what I might try to get the darn thing to turn over and hopefully start would really be appreciated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Cherry Posted January 22 Share Posted January 22 1 hour ago, NAMVET77 said: I have a 04 Camelot 38 ' PST (original owner) and the generator wouldn't start (fault code 3, needs service). Gen has 347 hours on it. I serviced the gen (oil change, oil, air and fuel filter). Before I serviced the gen it would not start (did not turn over). The light on the switch both inside and outside flashed 3 times then repeated. The service was due anyway. It had been 6 or 7 weeks since I had started it and was going to exercise it. It ran fine after we returned home from our summer trip. I have a full tank of fuel, oil is just under the full mark and the coolant is full. I'm not sure if any of the items (oil level, fuel level and coolant level) would stop the gen from just turning over. I have checked the voltage at the rear of the gen and have 13.8VDC. With the covers off I measure the same at the starter solenoid. The 3 fuses (2 15amp and 1 25 amp) under the external start panel are good (checked with a meter not just a visual). Chased the ground wire attached to the gen back to the frame and it is good (clean and tight). Not sure if there is a way to check the solenoid. The old school way to start a car if the solenoid was bad was to take a screwdriver and short out 2 poles and it would start or at least turn the engine over. There are only 2 poles on the solenoid and they are positive and negative so that won't work. Any suggestions to what I might try to get the darn thing to turn over and hopefully start would really be appreciated. Yes…a service fault Three blinks indicates a service fault. Press Stop once to cause the two-digit, second-level fault code to blink. (Pressing Stop again will stop the blinking.) First up, yes….OLD #CHOOL is good…but you need to understand and read the manual and the troubleshooting guides and such before you start “using old school” on it. Here is a video. All the code means…..you gotta problem!….but you need to know the sub codes. Next up…..read. Be aware…..this is a different critter. It is a NEGATIVE start circuit. All the wiring from the various start switches inside the MH or from the AUTO GEN START circuit is based on completing a ground….so, the old auto trick might cause problems or damage. IF I UNDERSTAND…. You have voltage to the two “battery terminals” on the rear of the genny. That is great…..but, you have NOT verified that there is enough “juice” or current to actually turn over the starter. Good you pulled the panel. Now. I had a similar issue. I went OLD SCHOOL. I KNEW my house batteries were in great shape. NO START. I bypassed the troubleshooting…. I put s pair of Jumper Cables on the rear terminals from my TOAD. Started the TOAD UP. Hit the front start switch. VAROOM…started instantly. Now, did I have a code? Maybe. But I decided to test the batteries. It was NOT the house batteries. I used a VOM….bingo…. The House Battery Ground was “partially open”. As in, the battery ground cable looked GREAT on the ground stud behind the battery box. I did it NON Conventionally. I checked the resistance from the House ground to a REAL Ground. Hmmm…4 ohms? Then did the chassis….ZERO Ohms. What was happening was that every time I opened or closed the battery tray (pulled in or out), I had different readings on the House….but a solid ZERO Ohms on the Chassis. I finished my trip. Loosened the House Ground stud nut….rotated the terminal and burnished or polished the mating surfaces. That was in 2015….45K miles later…..no issue. My advice….if you can jump off and it starts and runs great…..nothing inside is wrong. So, I would start there. NOW, had I had a clamp on AMMETER and a helper, the correct way is to measure BOTH the Voltage and the Amperage. In my case, I would have seen a big voltage drop and very low current….as in, the batteries looked weak…but In actuality, it was a high resistance open connection. Same symptom as yours…started great…..then stopped one day. The high resistance connection finally caught up with me…. If it doesn’t start with jumper cables….then follow the book and get the sub code and start to troubleshoot. The manual is easy and clear,.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NAMVET77 Posted January 22 Author Share Posted January 22 Thanks Tom. I'll try to jump start it to see what happens but first I'll have to get the better half to help while I read the voltage while she tries to start the gen. The batteries are only 6 months old (4 Trojan batteries) and should be good but I'll have to check anyway. I also have a clamp on meter and I'll have that on too. She won't be happy cuz it hasn't been above 30 degrees for several days. The MH is in a garage and the temp is around 40 inside. I keep the MH plugged in all the time. Just tryin to get the darn thing to work. More to follow. Don Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr4Film Posted January 22 Share Posted January 22 Don, are you holding the start position of the switch (top) long enough in this cold weather? The colder it is outside the longer you may have to hold it down to get the engine to turn over. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Cherry Posted January 22 Share Posted January 22 37 minutes ago, Dr4Film said: Don, are you holding the start position of the switch (top) long enough in this cold weather? The colder it is outside the longer you may have to hold it down to get the engine to turn over. Richard has a good point. BUT….if you are getting the dreaded “3 digit code”, then you have to do the next step. Here is a link to the codes. https://manuals.heartlandowners.org/manuals/Electrical/Generator/Onan 5500/Onan Troubleshooting Codes.pdf BUT….if you read, it is “daunting”. BUT, one of the codes is a LOW OR NO Battery fault. Mine had that, as I explained. My logic is simle first….put jumper cables ON, it don’t crank…..then start reading and following the troubleshooting. It CRANKS…. Clean all the terminals….that includes the front ground to the Chassis and the rear House (or Chassis). BTW….this is common. You MIGHT loosen the two rear terminals. Rotate sideways a few times. BE AWARE…..these are copper or bronze studs. If you torque them like steel, you will break one. A very astute member who is an expert inadvertently did that….so be aware … Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NAMVET77 Posted January 24 Author Share Posted January 24 Generator Update. Thanks for all the inputs. After reading all the comments I looked closer for the error codes. After the 3 digit code I pushed the switch again and got a code 19 (governor issue). Nothing very specific. After looking into governor problems I took a resistance reding on the two wire lugs on the governor and the readings were within parameters. I had already cleaned all the terminal connections I could find on the generator and chassis. After doing all this the generator now starts. I let it run for about 10 minutes and everything was running good so I put a load on it. It ran for 15 minutes and shut down. Wasn't real happy about that. After waiting a couple minutes I started it up again, waited a few minutes and loaded it up again with the same results. I have the top, right side and rear panel off and I'm hoping that it wasn't getting proper cooling since everything was open. There were no error codes. I have the fan belt off and a couple hoses off so I can't do any more troubleshooting until I get the parts back so I can run it again. Hopefully once it is all closed up it works as it should. I have done a complete service on it. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ivan K Posted January 24 Share Posted January 24 Since you have no codes, could the AGS be shutting it down if you have it configured? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill R Posted January 24 Share Posted January 24 4 hours ago, NAMVET77 said: I have the top, right side and rear panel off and I'm hoping that it wasn't getting proper cooling since everything was open. Had a similar experience where I did some service on the generator, fired it up, ran a bit and then shut down. Realized that with the cover off the fan air was not being forced through the radiator. Put cover on and all was good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Cherry Posted January 25 Share Posted January 25 6 hours ago, NAMVET77 said: Generator Update. Thanks for all the inputs. After reading all the comments I looked closer for the error codes. After the 3 digit code I pushed the switch again and got a code 19 (governor issue). Nothing very specific. After looking into governor problems I took a resistance reding on the two wire lugs on the governor and the readings were within parameters. I had already cleaned all the terminal connections I could find on the generator and chassis. After doing all this the generator now starts. I let it run for about 10 minutes and everything was running good so I put a load on it. It ran for 15 minutes and shut down. Wasn't real happy about that. After waiting a couple minutes I started it up again, waited a few minutes and loaded it up again with the same results. I have the top, right side and rear panel off and I'm hoping that it wasn't getting proper cooling since everything was open. There were no error codes. I have the fan belt off and a couple hoses off so I can't do any more troubleshooting until I get the parts back so I can run it again. Hopefully once it is all closed up it works as it should. I have done a complete service on it. Assume your PM incudes the Thermostat and gasket and a new heat sensor. That and the drive/fan belt was the list of parts most experienced owners always carried. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NAMVET77 Posted January 25 Author Share Posted January 25 No to the thermostat and gasket. I just replaced the sensor 2 years ago. Guess I need to get the part numbers for the thermostat and gasket. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NAMVET77 Posted February 5 Author Share Posted February 5 Just an update on my generator issue. I have been waiting for a belt for a week. Supposed to be here tomorrow. As soon as it gets here I will install it and put the panels back on and run it . The last time I ran it, it ran for 15 minutes and stopped. Since I had the side, back and top panels off I'm thinking it got to hot with all the panels off (air not properly circulating). At least is was starting. That was the original problem, not starting. Once they are all back on I'm hoping my issue with shutting down goes away. At least it did start. More to follow. Don Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Solution NAMVET77 Posted February 6 Author Solution Share Posted February 6 First I want to thank everyone for your input. Now I know a little more than I did before working on the generator. I received the new belt today and installed it right away. Checked everything real close then started it up. It started right away. Let it run for 15 minutes then put a good load on it and ran the genny for a half hour. It ran flawlessly. No error codes. So on to the next project (rebuild the air valves). Thanks everyone. Don 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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