Foretravel Owners' Forum For owners and Fans of Foretravel Motorcoaches September 21, 2025 ...

Generator starts...then stops

January 26, 2013, 07:47:09 am

I have a98 u 270 with 8 k Isuzu gen set.Started and it ran for 20 seconds and stopped.Tried again and same thing....then could not start after that.Next morning tried to start with button on gen.Started and stalled after 20 seconds.Shut off fuel to gen and loosened fuel filter.There was very little fuel in the filter.Any ideas on how to proseed?

Quote Selected

Re: Generator starts...then stops

Reply #1 – January 26, 2013, 08:54:29 am

Paul ck the inline fuel filter as it is the most over looked item in the fuel line.  It is located just before the small electric pump at the bottom front of the gen.  If original may be painted gray and hard to see but it is there.  Had same symtoms on my 99 U270 8 kw and the inline filter had never been changed. about a $5.00 item but can cause a lot of problems with fuel not reaching the engine.  DAN

Quote Selected

Re: Generator starts...then stops

Reply #2 – January 26, 2013, 09:05:20 am

The "very little fuel in the filter" suggests a leak in the hose from fuel tank to filter or a loose clamp at filter or tank-- i.e. the line is getting air in it.  A fairly common issue as fuel hose ages.

Quote Selected

Re: Generator starts...then stops

Reply #3 – January 26, 2013, 10:04:09 am

We recently experienced similar symptoms. Each time I thought I had fixed the problem, the generator would run for a while and then fail. With each "fix," I had purged air from the filters. Turns out the problem was old fuel lines.

Last week we replaced the fuel lines for the generator and the main engine. The original lines were cracked and allowing air into the fuel system. The shop foreman at FOT told me that they replacing a lot of fuel lines in coaches that were built 1995-99.

We also replaced air bags on our coach. One had started leaking and all looked pretty ragged.

Quote Selected

Re: Generator starts...then stops

Reply #4 – January 26, 2013, 03:59:52 pm

The definitive test for leaking fuel lines is to remove the fuel feed line at the generator before the little fuel pump, and connect a new fuel hose long enough to run to the bottom of a clean bottle or bucket.  Fill with diesel, run the gen and see if it keeps running.  If it does, the workaround fix is usually to splice in new hose back as far s you can get toward the tank, since the hose seems to deteriorate faster in the gen compartment.  The long-term fix is to replace the fuel lines back to the tank, as J.D. mentioned (I also just had FT replace all of ours, even though the gen was still OK after I spliced in new fuel lines about a year ago.)

If the gen still stops after 20 sec and the filter (s) are clean, then it's probably the DynaGen control module or the temperature sensor.

We have the same gen and I went through an exhaustive diagnosis on the same symptom (stopped in either 15-25 sec or 3-5 min) about 3 years ago and finally ended up with a bad DynaGen ES52 module.  Replaced it and was OK until about a year ago when the lines started leaking.

Quote Selected

Re: Generator starts...then stops

Reply #5 – January 26, 2013, 04:15:41 pm

We had same problem once and had to replace the little electric supply pump mounted in front of the generator

Quote Selected

Re: Generator starts...then stops

Reply #6 – January 26, 2013, 05:52:31 pm

Here is a picture of what the filter before the pump looks like. I had the same problem on mine and it was the filter. Napa sells them. It would be the first thing I would try.

Mark

Quote Selected

Re: Generator starts...then stops

Reply #7 – January 26, 2013, 07:27:03 pm

Similar problem on ours, and replacing fuel line solved it.

Quote Selected

Re: Generator starts...then stops

Reply #8 – January 26, 2013, 08:58:47 pm

Yes...Mine set up for 2 years before I bought it, The first time I fired the Isuzu it fired up fine and died 30 sec later.. Fix was a new fuel pump from car Quest.
2 hours later engine started surging and would die..Fix new fuel line (tank to gen set) 250 hours later, no problems.

Quote Selected

generator problem resolved

Reply #9 – January 29, 2013, 08:52:13 am

My 98 u270 generator is purring like a kitten.After examining the electrical connections and voltage and checking fuel lines for cracks I focused on the in line filter and pump.What I discovered was the pump was not producing enough psi to move the fuel properly.I purchased an electric fuel pump with in line filter for 60.00 at advanced auto and all is well.Doing oil/lube on gen engine and cummins...Pixie and I will be traveling to Brooksville Rally with Foretavel Friends this weekend and then on to FMCA Rally.Thanks Foreforum for your input on my predicament and a special shout out to Barry and Cindy...your feedback has been very beneficial on my u270.....Safe Roads.

Quote Selected