Replacing or Repairing a 2004 BT Touring RV Generac Generator

[wulrich99]

I have a 2004 BT Touring RV, which includes a Generac generator. This season, the generator is not performing reliably. Sometimes it works...

I am looking for advice on replacing this generator, and wonder whether you may have some advice for me on what kind to get, whether there are used ones out there, etc.

Thanks for you advice,
Bill

 

[Chuck v]

What makes you believe that a replacement is needed rather than a repair/servicing to get your current generator back to trusted reliability??

What are the symptoms/conditions under which you find any issues?? How many hours are on the Generac?

 

[Chuck v]

This troubleshooting guide may be of help:

The full manufacturer's manual is attached below.

Chuck

 

[wulrich99]

What makes you believe that a replacement is needed rather than a repair/servicing to get your current generator back to trusted reliability??

What are the symptoms/conditions under which you find any issues?? How many hours are on the Generac?

There are 810 hours on the generator. It produces power right after starting, but seldom keeps the production up long enough for the house switch to accept it and provide power to the outlets. It is 22 years old, so I don't know how much more to expect from it, and definitely need a reliable generator for our summer trip. We are going to replace the AVR next.

Any other advice?

 

[Chuck v]

It appears that this model is still available, so replacing your current generator with an identical model will be the most straightforward choice in terms of installation simplicity. It is your task to determine if a full cost replacement is the proper alternative to servicing the original. 800 hours is not excessive, but if it never got regular maintenance there may be several concurrent issues to address...

 

[L Spillman]

I had the same problem with my water cooled 7500 Diesel Generac generator. It is most likely the high temp switch or the low oil pressure switch. Mine was the high temp switch. There is a thread on this problem. Is yours a gas or diesel unit, water or air cooled?

 

[L Spillman]

This is the post from SI on the Generac Generator running problem.

"
It is most likely that it's your Water Temperature Switch cutout, and if it's not, it is the Oil Pressure switch cutout.

To verify that it is one of the two (and not your control board or something more sinister like broken wiring), you can do the following.

Locate the terminal board. It's under the maintenance plate (beneath the control panel). Lift the lead off of terminal #12 (should be the last terminal on the right) on the upper side of the terminal board.

This terminal is the one that the two cutout switches are tied to. If either of them is engaged it sends a 12 volt signal to the control board to stop the generator.

By lifting this lead (and making sure it doesn't contact anything else (I'd suggest taping the end with electrical tape). It creates an open and takes those two sensors out of the circuit.

Now start the generator and see if it runs. If it does (which I suspect it will) you then know that one of those sensors is permanently closed which is constantly supplying the cutout command.

Neither of these sensors is easy to get to, because they are both located on the back side of the generator. You can get to the Water temperature switch (not without significant work) by removing the front, top and back side panels and reaching over and down following the wire that goes to the sensor and disconnecting the inline connector (it's on a pigtail leading down to the sensor). Once removed, with terminal 12 re-installed, start the generator and see if it runs. If so, you've identified the sensor as bad. If not, it's your oil pressure sensor switch and that's a whole level of difficulty higher.

The oil pressure switch is located in such a way that the only way to replace it is by jacking the generator up, removing the cross braces and lowering it to the ground, removing the back panel and locating the sensor. Probably a bit much unless you are very mechanically inclined." The temp switch, part 0D2791, is not cheap at about 310 bucks from Gensysparts but a ton and a half less than a new generator. On my generator I was able to just remove the back (not an easy task) to replace the temp cut out switch.

 

[wulrich99]

I have replaced the AVR, and let me tell you, that was a ticklish maneuver getting all those connections made, but it did the job. Thanks for your advice. Much cheaper than replacing the whole unit.

Thanks

 

[RVIsFun3700]

I have a 2004 BT Touring RV, which includes a Generac generator. This season, the generator is not performing reliably. Sometimes it works...

I am looking for advice on replacing this generator, and wonder whether you may have some advice for me on what kind to get, whether there are used ones out there, etc.

Thanks for you advice,
Bill

Our generator would not run on our 2024 Conquest 6250. We probably never ran it enough or under any load. Took us forever to find a place that would even look at a generator in a camper. $1200 later and it was working but last time we tried to run it for 45 min it died at 5 min. Will try again. But the guy mentioned that they are coming out with a new type of generator that will be much more quiet, I forget what he said. But I was kinda mad he didnt mention sooner, I would have put that $1200 towards a replacement instead.

 

[Gulf Santa]

I replace mine that ran fine but leaked oil with a RVMP brand generator. It is much quieter and has less vibration than the Generac mine came with. I am very pleased with the RVMP.