Honda Generator Problem?

[springermnguy26]

I had my generator out on the lake this weekend. I thought I had it in a good location, but woke up and it was covered in snow. I then fuel it and restarted it. It burned up a tank of gas in five hours, which it usually gets about 12. After it ran out of gas it has not started since, any ideas?

[BartmanMN]

Air filter clogged or something??

[Weissguy]

EU2000i? Was the switch flipped off eco-throttle causing it to run full power? Check to see that you have sufficient oil. I'd pull the plug and give it a shot of gas in the cylinder, reinstall plug and give it a pull. I would think all should be o.k. as long as you have oil.

Good luck.

[minnbowhunter]

How long has it been since the oil was changed? Honda's are very sensitive to dirty oil. They will protect themselves by not starting. Don't ask how I know.

[springermnguy26]

I last changed the oil about two months ago. I have ran it quite a bit since then. It probably is due for a change. Could this cause problems with how efficient is is running and starting? No the eco power save was on. I did notice some snow underneath the cover around the air filter, I did take out the filter and dried it off.

[pushbutton]

Did you check to see if the plug is fouled?

[minnbowhunter]

You don't say which gen you have, I own the 1000eu, my owners manual sez change the oil every 10 hrs of run time. Yep, that's not a typo, 10 hours. There is a little float that will hang up if the oil is dirty. I change my oil every weekend I use it. Learned the hard way.

[springermnguy26]

It is the Eu2000

[minnbowhunter]

I would def. change the oil, check the sparkplug, the air intake is pretty well designed on these units, should'nt suck in any snow. Hope that helps. The oil is really easy to change. I can do it inside the fishhouse with no tools in about 3 mins.

[MNfan]

My manual on the 2000 says 20 hours the first time and then every 6 months or 100 hours.

Andy

[Cast A Way]

The low oil sensor on the Honda 2000 is very sensitive. If the oil is not up for any reason it will not start. I have had mine for 4 years running nearly every winter weekend without a problem. I change oil per specs. but always keep a quart with me.

[Bryce]

My money is on snow dust in the filters. Dry them out while changing oil and you're back in business. Good shot of starting fluid gets any oily residue out of the filters.

[tisosy11]

Changing oil on the eu2000. Do you just pick it up and drain the oil our of the same hole you pour it into? I've never changed mine yet and its due for the first one i would guess...

[Hoey]

It probably has something to do with be buried in the snow, i.e. ran, was warm, shutdown, and snow moisture has fouled something up. My Yamaha gen set shutdown in a drift. Next time I used it, it blew all of the crankcase oil out. I refilled, it worked and did the same thing again. After a couple times in and out of the shop, we found the crankcase breather line full of water which would freeze, block the breather, cause internal crank case pressure which would cause the pressure relief plug on the generator to let go. The internal oil level protection would not allow the unit to start.

[springermnguy26]

Well I changed the oil, put in a new plug, and dried out the filter and she fired right up!!

[chrishalvy]

I recently had the same problem.

The 2000 was running a little rough, so I changed oil.

Found out that the filter was wet?!?!

I was rather shocked.

But changed oil, and it ran like a champ.

I then went back to dry out the filter. I did not do this first because I wanted to know if the wet filter was the cause, or simply bad oil.

As stated before, the honda's are sensitive.

[chrishalvy]

Good YouTube video for Oil Change on Honda Generators

[deadduk]

I had my generator out on the lake this weekend. I thought I had it in a good location, but woke up and it was covered in snow. I then fuel it and restarted it. It burned up a tank of gas in five hours, which it usually gets about 12. After it ran out of gas it has not started since, any ideas?

Don't want to alarm you but I bought a EU 2000i last winter and I got a recall notice in the mail that said that there is a fuel line that can get a hole worn in it from vibration. Maybe a slow leak? If so that could be very dangerous and not fish friendly

Check into it. Good Luck!

[harleyharry]

If you are going to continue to run the gen on the ice, you can remove the air cleaner. There is no ambient dust in the air in the winter, so an air cleaner is not needed. As the air cleaner picks up snow particles, they become embedded in the filter material. When the engine shuts down, the engine temp will melt the snow, turning it to ice. When you refilled the gen, and restarted it, the air cleaner was plugged with ice. This is what accounts for the extreme consumption of fuel. The engine was running like the choke was in the start position. Air does not travel through ice.

Hope this helps in the future.

Harry

[BLACKJACK]

Good YouTube video for Oil Change on Honda Generators

While looking at that video, saw another one for Yamaha generators, of course they badmouthed Honda and all other generators, but they made some very good points on why you should buy a Yamaha generator. Was about to pull the trigger on a Honda, but after reading this post and wathcing that video, will be looking into the Yamaha's also....

[Lip_Ripper Guy]

I think it's six of one, half dozen of the other Honda vs Yamaha. Both have excellent reviews, but there are a lot more Honda's out there. I went with the Yamaha because it came with charging cables, a gas gauge, and I found a good sale on them. I've been happy with it, but I know I would have been happy with the Honda also.

[BLACKJACK]

Yep, they both have good reviews, about the same pricing, but the Yamaha does have a few additional features as you mentioned, plus the seperate manual gas shutoff. Still looking, haven't ruled out either, but leaning Yamaha.

Any other Yamaha generator owners out there?? How has it performed for you? I'm looking at the EF2000.