donttreadonme Posted July 1, 2015 Share Posted July 1, 2015 My Generac generator will not start this season. Will crank and is getting gas to the plug. Plug is not fouled. Does anyone have experience with this system? Any suggestions? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jjrbus Posted July 1, 2015 Share Posted July 1, 2015 Ignition require three things, air, fuel and spark. Take the air cleaner off and see if it is fouled so bad the unit is starving for air, unlikely. While you have the Air cleaner off you can observe if the choke is functioning. Are you getting a spark? Is the clip inside the wire making good contact with the spark plug. IS there a gas shutoff on the unit which may be turned off? Most issues are due to ethanol in the gas fouling the carburetor. You say you are getting fuel, is it too much fuel and fouling the plug? Would you be comfortable spraying a bit of starter fluid in the carb? Bad gas or water in line is also possible. Jim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
donttreadonme Posted July 2, 2015 Author Share Posted July 2, 2015 Need to check to see if I have a spark. Got gas Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jjrbus Posted July 2, 2015 Share Posted July 2, 2015 Old gas sitting in storage may be bad?? Fuel float in Carburetor stuck open and flooding engine?? Do not mean to harp on gas, I cannot see unit and I am not mechanic but if I put away working engine and took out and would not start first I would check spark and clean or new plug then fuel or fuel delivery and or choke would be my next suspicion. Sitting in storage gas drys up and gunk's up carburetor. 95% of issues I have had with small engines has been carburetor! When putting unit away for season is best to shut off fuel line to generator and then run it dry. HTH Jim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zero Posted July 2, 2015 Share Posted July 2, 2015 My Generac generator will not start this season. Will crank and is getting gas to the plug. Plug is not fouled. Does anyone have experience with this system? Any suggestions? Needs compression, spark (at the right time), and gas to start. I'd check spark first since you say the plug is wet. Take an old spark plug and open the gap up to a 1/4" or just break off the ground electrode. Then hook the plug wire to it, crank, and see if it jumps that big gap with a blue spark. CAUTION - don't do this right next to the open spark-plug hole in the engine or it might go "boom." You cannot check spark with a normally gapped plug since it gives a false reading. Take more energy to fire when inside the engine and under compression. Opening the gap way up simulate those conditions. If you have good spark - maybe a valve got stuck and you've got no compression. Try holding the spark-plug hole closed with your finger and see if you feel pressure when you crank (there's not enough to hurt you). Better yet - borrow, or buy a cheap compression gauge. Needs at least 70 PSI to start and hopefully has more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DanAatTheCape Posted July 2, 2015 Share Posted July 2, 2015 I check for a spark in situations like your's by removing spark plug and grounding it against something metal on the engine in question while someone "starts" the engine, For more fun just hold the sparkplug in your hand while leaning your other hand on the engine ;-) Great way to teach someone about ignition too LOL Glad I have a honda. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
donttreadonme Posted July 4, 2015 Author Share Posted July 4, 2015 Thanks to everyone for their comments. Will fool around with it next weekend and see what happens. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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