anyone lowered the entire onan generator?

[eddiel]

May have to drop the generator down as opposed to just tilting the front. This is to get to the starter. Has anyone done this? How hard was it?

[cmeadows]

I replaced a starter in our Onan generator without dropping the whole unit. I used a floor jack and got the front of the unit down close to the floor, then used a 5' long piece of 1" pipe to lever the unit up enough to free the floor jack. I let the unit rest on the 1" pipe on the floor. When I dropped the front of the generator using the hinge, I didn't have to disconnect the wiring to the coach. If you need more space to work, you could drive the left side of the coach up on a couple inches worth of leveling blocks. The job is not fun but it is doable. I used 3/8" drive sockets and extensions to reach the starter bolts.

The starter has 2 bolts. The nuts that hold the bolts are held in two recessed hex cavities on the block of the generator--you don't need a wrench on the back of the starter to hold the nuts. The nuts are loose in the hex cavities and will fall out if you don't prevent that by holding a finger over the nut when you start the bolts as you install the new starter.

I used an aftermarket starter from eBay to fit our Onan BGE 4000:

New 12V 16 Tooth PMDD Starter Motor for Onan Engines BGE BGD NHDL Tractor Mower
http://www.ebay.com/itm/New-12V-16-Toot ... OC:US:3160

I first had to replace some other parts that were causing the generator not to start. While you are in there, you might want to inspect the insulation on the red wire coming off of the coil. Mine had shorted through the insulation causing the ignition module to fail. I used an OEM Onan ignition module to replace the bad one.

The aftermarket starter has worked fine for 2 years.

[eddiel]

Thanks, that's what i needed to hear. I take it the unit would rotate so you could get to the starter but would still not hit on the lower fiberglass of the coach opening. do you think if the left side of truck was raised 3 inches-like on a couple of 2x12's you could leave unit on the jack and still get to starter? thanks a bunch-also i take it no shims are needed for the starter?

[cmeadows]

Yes, if you raise the left side of the coach 3" then you should be able to leave the generator on the lowered floor jack and still have room to get to the starter. The generator will rotate down and clear the fiberglass body of the coach.

The starter is on the lower portion of the generator on the inside nearest the driveshaft. The bolts come out of the starter toward the rear of the coach. No shims were required for my starter.

These starters have plastic brush holders that melt when the starter gets hot. This is probably the main reason why the starting instructions say to crank for no more than 15 seconds and then wait a minute or longer before trying again. The starter needs to dissipate the heat to prevent the brush holders from melting. I repaired the original starter and re-installed it. Then I ordered a new starter and replaced the original a couple months later. We've had no problems with it since.

[eddiel]

Thanks for the help. Replaced the starter after dropping the gen. as you described. Not alot of fun but as you said doable. Thanks again ,Ed