New to me, Onan 16!

[AHS 1,440]

The Onan 16, it wasn’t the only things that I got! There were running boards, the shifter plate, and a rear seat pan….ALL going to the junk yard!! The motor is the main thing… did it come from a 416? I haven’t head of a 516? How reliable were these motors? I’m going to assume that they didn’t have the same wiring as the 416 Kohler magnums hooking up to the tractor? I’m more of a Kohler fan (8hp -14hp), but I guess 1 Onan won’t hurt!!😀💪

[Tuneup 1,433]

Congrats! When they are properly tuned and attended to, they're bullet-proof. Mine is high hours and a joy to use, now that the carb is sorted. Yes, mine is on a 516H and it's an early production in that there is no oil filter. Love it as much as the K series littering the shed on other Wheel Horsies.

[WheelHorse520H 708]

The Onan P216, 18, and 20 are almost indestructible. If you keep up with maintenance and keep it tuned it will run forever. Good score!

[Maxwell-8 4,277]

2 hours ago, AHS said:

Kohler fan (8hp -14hp)

K341 or M16? 

 

Great score! I prefer a Onan over the KT's.

Any idea of the weight?

[AHS 1,440]

2 hours ago, Maxwell-8 said:

K341 or M16? 

 

Great score! I prefer a Onan over the KT's.

Any idea of the weight?

I have 1 K14, 1 K8, 2 M14 and 1 12 command.

[kpinnc 12,085]

Pure opinion here, not fact.

 

Onan P216 is probably the best of the Onans that WH used. More often than any of the others, the 16 seems to have less issues. 

 

And now a fact:

 

Most of the internals are interchangable from the 16, 18, and 20. Very little difference in these engines.

[WheelHorse520H 708]

9 minutes ago, kpinnc said:

And now a fact:

 

Most of the internals are interchangable from the 16, 18, and 20. Very little difference in these engines.

The little changes are mentioned in the beginning of the 500 series manual from 1988.

[AHS 1,440]

Good to know! I have the oil filter on the Onan, when did it come out? The mid 90’s?

 

refer to the picture.. where the wires are cut, they go to the tractor end of it, right? 

[WheelHorse520H 708]

14 minutes ago, AHS said:

Good to know! I have the oil filter on the Onan, when did it come out? The mid 90’s?

 

refer to the picture.. where the wires are cut, they go to the tractor end of it, right? 

Not sure about the oil filter on the P216, my P220 from 1988 has the oil filter. I remember the owners manual saying only certain 500 series tractors had the oil filter though.
 

Yes, on the side of the air filter with the Toro logo is the voltage regulator. That is above the cylinder that is closest to the seat when mounted on the tractor. So if it were on a tractor the front of the tractor would be on the left of the photo.In this photo you can see the chaff screen is on the left of the tractor from the seat.

[AHS 1,440]

I mean, I’ll have to find a tractor (Onan powered) that is missing a motor!!😎👍. The 518 and the 520s would work, wiring wise though? I would think.

[WheelHorse520H 708]

Just now, AHS said:

I mean, I’ll have to find a tractor (Onan powered) that is missing a motor!!😎👍. The 518 and the 520s would work, wiring wise though? I would think.

I am sure with some retro-fitting it could work, the 520 has more lights and gauges than the 518 or 516. This is a good illustration of the differences with the lights and gauges…also from the 500 series manual.

[lynnmor 7,307]

3 minutes ago, AHS said:

I mean, I’ll have to find a tractor (Onan powered) that is missing a motor!!😎👍. The 518 and the 520s would work, wiring wise though? I would think.

There were some slight differences in the wiring connector between models, wire colors change and some have tachometers.

[AHS 1,440]

Ok, I used to have a 520, it was a brute on power… but the gauges didn’t work, and it was severely tired.

[kpinnc 12,085]

So far as getting it to run- 12v to the coil and it will run like any other older tractor. Be sure to utilize the oil pressure switch. If the pressure drops, the coil is automatically de-energized. 

 

If you need to set it up as it was new, the electrical demystification guide has excellent wiring scematics.

[Horse Newbie 7,074]

5 hours ago, kpinnc said:

Be sure to utilize the oil pressure switch. If the pressure drops, the coil is automatically de-energized. 

 

What years do this ?

[kpinnc 12,085]

13 minutes ago, Horse Newbie said:

What years do this ?

 

I may have let my old brain get me into trouble there. Vanguards use a magneto ignition and the oil pressure switch is normally closed between ground and the coils. When pressure drops below a certain level, the ignition is grounded. The switch looks just like the sensor on an Onan, but I can't be certain it does the same thing. When I think about it, the Onan may only activate the oil pressure LED. 

 

Anybody care to square me away here? I only have two working Onans, and one has no safeties at all. 

[lynnmor 7,307]

6 hours ago, kpinnc said:

Be sure to utilize the oil pressure switch. If the pressure drops, the coil is automatically de-energized. 

 

 

Not true, the oil pressure switch only turns off the oil pressure light and turns on the hour meter.

 

[AHS 1,440]

5 hours ago, Horse Newbie said:

What years do this ?

I have no idea! On YouTube, on the 4 or 516 snowblowing, man those engines really have some torque! On the long shute, and shorter shute!! 😎💪💪

[kpinnc 12,085]

6 hours ago, lynnmor said:

Not true, the oil pressure switch only turns off the oil pressure light and turns on the hour meter.

 

Yep, I typed that with my Vanguards on my brain. Thanks for the correction!

 

7 hours ago, kpinnc said:

When I think about it, the Onan may only activate the oil pressure LED.

Edited December 6, 2021 by kpinnc

[Handy Don 12,235]

Yep, the wiring/lighting expects you, the owner operator, to react correctly to the warning light. When the "Low Oil" light comes on, it's giving you a strong hint.

You are free to consider the light a distraction and ignore it until ....

[WheelhorseBob 1,549]

I really like my Onans. I have a P216 on my loader tractor and a low hour 520 with the P220. That P220 sound as as good as a Harley. Parts are available and they are easy to work on. Good luck!

[RED-Z06 2,221]

On 12/6/2021 at 8:06 PM, Handy Don said:

Yep, the wiring/lighting expects you, the owner operator, to react correctly to the warning light. When the "Low Oil" light comes on, it's giving you a strong hint.

You are free to consider the light a distraction and ignore it until ....

I had a Deere 316 that had a P218G because in 89 they ran out of 16s.  But...it had about 2200 hours on it...ran fine.  Those mowers had a red light on the dash.  My mom was using it and i walked by and saw "that" particular light on...i reached in and shut it off.  Dipped the stick...dry.  apparently the air filter had come loose and ol girl had been chewing on the finest deep south silica from the Appalachian Mountains.  I put almost 1.5 quarts in..the oil light went off but she was never right, the cam/governor was now failing im guessing due to heat.  Mom said that light had been coming on and off for 45 minutes, she thought it was the charging light.  Tough engines, they do have some weaknesses, one of which being the cam/governor/flyballs, the other being about $1k in parts to do a full overhaul 

[AHS 1,440]

12 hours ago, RED-Z06 said:

I had a Deere 316 that had a P218G because in 89 they ran out of 16s.  But...it had about 2200 hours on it...ran fine.  Those mowers had a red light on the dash.  My mom was using it and i walked by and saw "that" particular light on...i reached in and shut it off.  Dipped the stick...dry.  apparently the air filter had come loose and ol girl had been chewing on the finest deep south silica from the Appalachian Mountains.  I put almost 1.5 quarts in..the oil light went off but she was never right, the cam/governor was now failing im guessing due to heat.  Mom said that light had been coming on and off for 45 minutes, she thought it was the charging light.  Tough engines, they do have some weaknesses, one of which being the cam/governor/flyballs, the other being about $1k in parts to do a full overhaul 

Eeeekk!! 45 minutes with no oil/ hardly any oil… wow!! Those motors are tough!

[AHS 1,440]

The Onan 16… I drained the oil, and the was about 5 oz of water in it.. it wasn’t stuck.   The previous owner had It was sitting outside with the spark plugs finger tight in it. So, how much oil do the 16s take? 10w-30? It is inside now!! 😀

Edited December 8, 2021 by AHS
Misspelled

[kpinnc 12,085]

On 12/6/2021 at 9:06 PM, Handy Don said:

Yep, the wiring/lighting expects you, the owner operator, to react correctly to the warning light. When the "Low Oil" light comes on, it's giving you a strong hint.

You are free to consider the light a distraction and ignore it until ....

 

Me personally, I prefer having some backup. Meaning I'm happy to have the Vanguard style system that stops the engine when oil pressure falls low enough.

 

I'm responsible, but the sun is brighter than that LED. Not to mention many 520s have problems with that warning light, and I've seen several tractors that the light has been on for years and no one thought to figure out why. 

 

My Vanguards won't fire at all until oil pressure is at 15psi. And the coils are grounded when the pressure falls below that point. Not sure how to make it work with an Onan that requires a 12v source to fire. I'm guessing those same style pressure switches can be a "normally open" version that can carry the ignition wire.