Gas in my oil ????

[The_King48]

I have a small generator ( 2000W) and I have gas in my oil. I suspect it is a carb problem? Any info on this?

[Macgyver55]

Probably a dirty carb issue. The needle is more than likely seeping due to old gas being left in it. Am I right to assume that it sits for long periods without running?

[The_King48]

Well yes and no.... I started it every other month or so in the summer. I started it two weeks ago and it ran good. I went to use it and nothing but smoke and sputter. I am not a mechanic but I'm gonna take the carb off tomorrow and give it a good cleaning and change the oil. When I change oil could I add sea foam to it? Then I would run it for a half hour and change oil again after I clean the carb??? I was thinking the diaphram or seal what ever you want to call it could be cracked. I was told to use only non ethonal gas for small engines is this true?? Could I run a synthetic in the generator?

[Scott K]

I wouldnt add seafoam to the oil. As for the ethonal, the only downside of it is it has a short shelf life. So if you use the gas up in less then 3 months it doesnt matter, but if the fuel in the tank sits in there for longer, I would find non ethonal added fuel.

[The_King48]

Well I took her apart today and cleaned everything..... It seemed pretty clean. I changed the oil and put a little seafoam in and ran it for 10 minutes. Everything was fine, so I changed the oil again to get the seafoam out and it ran fine. I'm thinking something could've stuck in the carb or the generator could've got flooded be being on its side....

[upnorth]

It doesn't take a whole lot of dirt to make a needle valve stick open. For a carb, any dirt or grime at all is filthy.

[Surface Tension]

Taking the bowl off or draining it will drop the float and the inlet needle. Sometimes thats enough for a small piece of dirt to flush out. If you have a fuel shutoff you should use it.

[Tyler23]

there could be some dirt or varnish around the needle and seat. try cleaning it out and if that doesn't fixed it replace the needle and seat. don't add seafoam to the oil that will thin it out, adding it to the gas wont hurt tho.