Onan sat 4 years

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Delfini

Member
Joined
Apr 9, 2019
Messages
20
Location
Usa
Vessel Name
Classic lady
Vessel Make
1980 Albin
I just purchased a 1980 36’ Albin. PO had survey in 2015 and survey states generator worked fine.
PO lived on board took excellent care but stated he never started gen.
So, wanting start up procedure for Genny after sitting at the dock for 4 years.
 
I'd probably turn it over by hand, change all fluid and filters, make sure all seacocks (intake and discharge, if it has a seacock) are open, all fuel valves are open, prime the fuel system, make sure nothing leaked during priming, make sure no load is on it, check the battery or use jumpers to a good one, and give it a crank or few, stopping right away if it didn't turn over (likely stuck starter, as it just turned over by hand, so I wouldn't want to burn it out trying -- I'd then disassemble it to unstuck it and try again. Others would tap with hammer).

If I wanted to get right to it, I'd check the fluids to make sure they didn't seem bad, skip turning it over by hand and changing filters and fluids, and give it a crank just to see if it turned over. But, again, I wouldn't keep cranking it as, if it isn't getting fuel or starting or turning over, etc, that'll just eat a starter.
 
Thank you.
My son met with a surveyor today and they gave it a go. It started and ran rough for a few seconds then stopped. They didn’t try again.
I’m thinking new filter and bleed.
 
How is it cooled? If it has its own sea pump I would change out the impeller before it tosses rubber down the line.. And I only say that Cuz I am currently cleaning up that same mess.

I changed filters/oil and pulled the spark plug and gave it a splash of WD-40. Let it sit overnight and turned it over by hand, re-installed the plug and fired it up. It ran great for about 10 min and started to get hot... it destroyed the old rubber impeller and tossed rubber parts down the line.
 
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