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Old 11-07-2018, 12:57 PM   #2
jimcox
New Member
 
Join Date: Nov 2017
Location: Jamesville
Posts: 9
Default Generator

Hello Big Shasta.

I saw that no one with a Generac has responded so I will give you my recent experience.

I have a 2007 Yellowstone 8386. It has an ONAN 7500 quiet diesel. The generator would run for about 10 minutes and then quit. The code I was getting from the generator was that it was too hot. This was either the temp sensor, broken fan belt or bad water pump. The shop I have my rig maintained by is more than happy to do this work but I had just spent a lot of money fixing the air brakes and a bent drag link so I decided to do it myself.

Like you I searched for info on my generator and for anyone that has taken one out. I found 2; one had the slide in front and the other on the Winnebago forum was like ours. He was able to remove the front face of his rig to pull the generator out but he did talk about lifting it up. I looked inside the front of my rig, saw that everything was covered with spray foam so I decided I would lift mine up. The only manual I had for my generator was the User's Guide that comes with the rig so I found a manual online with all the part #'s.

Tools:
1 ton hydraulic transmission jack
2 12 ton jack stands
4 1 ton jack stands
creeper
several 12"x12" 2x6's to stack under the levelers

Following the directions in the manual:
1. Disconnected the negative feed at the battery.
2. Lifted the Rig using the front levelers just enough for me to slide under comfortably. Put 12 ton jack stands in place.
3. Put something under the rig to protect your driveway from spills.
4. Remove battery cables from the generator. Tape them off to avoid a short.
5. Disconnect the fuel lines. If you have two. like I do, pinch both of them off before removing them. Remove the fuel in first. There will be some dripping so have something to catch it.
6. Disconnect high voltage and control lines.

Assuming that is all there is attached on yours, you are now ready to remove it.

My generator is sitting on a square frame which is attached to the chassis with 4 bolts. I am assuming Gulf Stream did them all the same way. My transmission jack is 12"x12" so I built a jig out of 2'x6' the same size as the bottom of my generator to avoid tipping when rolling it out.

I rolled the jack and jig under the generator and lifted it to just put some pressure on it. I removed the 4 bolts and lowered the generator as low as the jack would go. The jig I made added 13" to the height of my generator so I needed to lift the front 36". Using the front levelers, the jack stands and the 2x6's, i got the height I needed and rolled the generator out. I rolled it into the garage and rested the frame on 4 jack stands. This gave me plenty of room to work on it. I removed the cover and found that the belt had shredded. Another interesting thing I found was that the engine was made by Kubota.

Like you, I replaced everything on your list except the water pump. It spun free and had no play. I also replaced the thermostat, the thermal sensor and the oil pressure sensor. I put the covers back on and put it back in the unit. I ran it under full load for two hours a day for the next few days and had no issues.

I was able to purchase all OEM parts from vendors on eBay. They had the best prices.

The only downside is I had no way to test it before installing it so I prayed a lot.

I actually enjoyed this so I would do it again if I had to. Hopefully not.

Hope this helps.
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