Onan MicroQuiet 4000 generator

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ccdhowell

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A couple weeks ago I bought a new 33' toy hauler for my family; a nice one I might add. We, all five of us, ride our own 4wheelers and this was the biggest one I could find, it's huge, and a real "cadillac" of a trailer I might add. Anyway it came with an Onan MicroQuiet 4000 generator and I don't know a thing about it. Anyone know what engine is in it? It says Onan on the valve cover, it is a single cylinder small engine. I went camping and riding this past weekend and the generator ran for 26 hours straight...I'm at my first service interval after only one weekend. I can hardly think of a more demanding life for a small engine: sit for weeks on end, start with the push of a button and run for 24 to 36 hours, or more, straight in a cramped compartment in the toy hauler with little air flow, then ride home and repeat.

I was thinking the Amsoil 4stroke 30 weight oil (ASE I think) would be ideal for such rigorous duty. The manual says 30HD, 15w40, 10w30, or 10w40 so I'm thinking pretty much anything, but I've heard such good feedbackk on the ASE that I'm wanting to try it. Wonder if it will hold up for summer use down here in Louisiana?

Impressions on generator and oil are requested. Thanks, Chris
 
The engine is actually made by Onan. An excellent engine BTW. For a time, they made engines for all outdoor power equipment, but they got totally away from that some years ago and just do motor/gensets now. Cummins now owns Onan. You should be able to find info on your specific engine here: http://www.cumminsonan.com/

Joel
 
Originally Posted By: JTK
Cummins now owns Onan.


That figures...
LOL.gif
 
That expalins why I've never seen a small engine that looked quite like this one, it is a bit odd looking, almost bare.

I don't get the rub with Cummins; please explain, I thought Cummins was a good engine supplier.
 
Originally Posted By: moribundman
Originally Posted By: JTK
Cummins now owns Onan.


That figures...
LOL.gif



Does that make them Onanists?
 
Originally Posted By: ccdhowell
That expalins why I've never seen a small engine that looked quite like this one, it is a bit odd looking, almost bare.

I don't get the rub with Cummins; please explain, I thought Cummins was a good engine supplier.


It's a Biblical reference if I understand correctly. Google onanism...
 
Well I had that same generator in a new 02 30ft Winnebago mtrhme I bought back then. We were racing go-karts all over Texas at the time and I used the heck out of that thing. Owned it two years and put over 1500 hours on it!
shocked2.gif
The manual recommended Onan straight 30w dino oil but I always used Mobil 1 10w30 in it and never had any issues at all. I changed it about every 100 hrs if recall. Be VERY careful about the dipstick though. I checked the level by un-screwing it and wiping off then just seating it in the hole, not screwing it all the way in, as my Honda bikes called for also. I was running it too full on oil and had to replace the carb as a result. You are supposed to screw the dipstick all the way in to check level. Good luck and sorry for the long post!
blush.gif
 
About 20 years ago I did a lot of extended test work on remote job sights in places like the Mojave Desert. It had a 2 cylinder Onan that ran at 1800 RPM. It was lot more tolerable that the conventional 3600 RPM units.
 
Originally Posted By: SAJEFFC
Well I had that same generator in a new 02 30ft Winnebago mtrhme I bought back then. We were racing go-karts all over Texas at the time and I used the heck out of that thing. Owned it two years and put over 1500 hours on it!
shocked2.gif
The manual recommended Onan straight 30w dino oil but I always used Mobil 1 10w30 in it and never had any issues at all. I changed it about every 100 hrs if recall. Be VERY careful about the dipstick though. I checked the level by un-screwing it and wiping off then just seating it in the hole, not screwing it all the way in, as my Honda bikes called for also. I was running it too full on oil and had to replace the carb as a result. You are supposed to screw the dipstick all the way in to check level. Good luck and sorry for the long post!
blush.gif



Long quotes are good, tells a story. I'll be using mine mostly in Texas too, my family races ATVs. I'm wanting to run Amsoil ASE 30wt, it'll probably work at least as well at the M1 you used. I haven't taken a good look at the engine yet, does it have an oil filter? Thanks
 
Originally Posted By: XS650
About 20 years ago I did a lot of extended test work on remote job sights in places like the Mojave Desert. It had a 2 cylinder Onan that ran at 1800 RPM. It was lot more tolerable that the conventional 3600 RPM units.


I haven't even thought about the rpms this thing runs. It is a single cylinder, so I'd guess 3600, and from hearing it for 26 hours straight I'd also guess 3600. Half that would be nice.

Gotta hand it to Onan though, very little noise and zero felt vibration inside the toy hauler.
 
I run the Amsoil small engine formula sae 30 in my garden tractors.
They get used alot and I'm very satisfied with the oil. It stands up to the heat in an air cooled engine.
BTW your engine was designed to run at 3600 RPM, if you ran it to slow it would over heat. The flywheel has fan blades on it and the engine needs to run at the proper Rpm to blow enough air through the cooling fins.
Run good oil, change it at regular intervals, and that ONAN will last for years!
 
Originally Posted By: ccdhowell
Originally Posted By: SAJEFFC
Well I had that same generator in a new 02 30ft Winnebago mtrhme I bought back then. We were racing go-karts all over Texas at the time and I used the heck out of that thing. Owned it two years and put over 1500 hours on it!
shocked2.gif
The manual recommended Onan straight 30w dino oil but I always used Mobil 1 10w30 in it and never had any issues at all. I changed it about every 100 hrs if recall. Be VERY careful about the dipstick though. I checked the level by un-screwing it and wiping off then just seating it in the hole, not screwing it all the way in, as my Honda bikes called for also. I was running it too full on oil and had to replace the carb as a result. You are supposed to screw the dipstick all the way in to check level. Good luck and sorry for the long post!
blush.gif



Long quotes are good, tells a story. I'll be using mine mostly in Texas too, my family races ATVs. I'm wanting to run Amsoil ASE 30wt, it'll probably work at least as well at the M1 you used. I haven't taken a good look at the engine yet, does it have an oil filter? Thanks
No oil filter, at least mine didn't. Seems to me it only held 1 to 1.5 qts of oil also. Thats not a lot of oil for the work it does so thats why I stuck with synthetic in it. Read somewhere that Onan says normal rebuild time is 5000 to 7500 hours so they do last awhile!
 
I know some of the older John Deere garden tractors had 2 cyl Onans
and they would run well past 2000 hours with fair maintenance.
It sounds like you are someone who takes very good care of things, between that and using the Amsoil, that engine should outlast the camper!
 
Originally Posted By: cronk
I know some of the older John Deere garden tractors had 2 cyl Onans
and they would run well past 2000 hours with fair maintenance.


They sure did. Cub Cadet, Case/Ingersoll and others also used the horizontally opposed flat head Onans. The only OHV single cyl Onan I've ever seen used, were on mid-late 1990's Cub Cadet 2K series garden tractors. Those old flat head twins were SO expensive to rebuild or replace, most owners would swap them out with Kohler or Honda V-twin bolt on kits.

Joel
 
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