Honda generator won't start.

[JD 4520]

I got over my mad spell and worked on the generator today. Pull starting a 13 HP motor that won't start really sucks. The spray mist bottle in the carb was an excellent suggestion. A pretty simple idea but something I would have never thought of. I picked a spray bottle up in town today and misted the carb with gas. Started on the first pull. It ran very rough unless the choke was left on. I drained all the gas from the tank and carb and replaced it with fresh gas. It ran like brand new after that. The gas I replaced was from this past February and it was treated with Stabil. It was brown looking when I drained it. Definitely going to have to rethink my long term gas storage situation.

Nice to hear and happy to see that you took it on first. Use high octane ethanol free gas and you will be fine. No additives for sure. Run it once in awhile and that will help. It's a great machine and will last years. Change the oil every 50 hours, that is cheap insurance.

 

[wdchyd]

I got over my mad spell and worked on the generator today. Pull starting a 13 HP motor that won't start really sucks. The spray mist bottle in the carb was an excellent suggestion. A pretty simple idea but something I would have never thought of. I picked a spray bottle up in town today and misted the carb with gas. Started on the first pull. It ran very rough unless the choke was left on. I drained all the gas from the tank and carb and replaced it with fresh gas. It ran like brand new after that. The gas I replaced was from this past February and it was treated with Stabil. It was brown looking when I drained it. Definitely going to have to rethink my long term gas storage situation.

Glad it worked for ya Whistlebuddy.......I've used to use a can of carb spray when troubleshooting small engine stuff but have graduated to the windex bottle.....at least it gives you a direction of the problem......

Sometimes you don't get off easy with it being just old gas but it doesn't hurt to check it first.......

One other thing, when my generator was new I added a tee in the gas line, on the drop I added a short piece of hose with a shut-off valve so I could drain the whole gas tank easily.......it'll dribble out slow but it will empty completely if the need arises again.....then I just add the old gas to my truck to get rid of it.....

 

[wdchyd]

I have a friend that puts manila tags with dates on his gas cans.......when he fills and stabilizes them he writes down the date.......when the date is 2 months old he pours it in his car/truck then refreshes his gas cans w/stabilizer

I'm thinking of doing the same......

 

[whistlepig]

Glad it worked for ya Whistlebuddy.......I've used to use a can of carb spray when troubleshooting small engine stuff but have graduated to the windex bottle.....at least it gives you a direction of the problem......

Sometimes you don't get off easy with it being just old gas but it doesn't hurt to check it first.......

One other thing, when my generator was new I added a tee in the gas line, on the drop I added a short piece of hose with a shut-off valve so I could drain the whole gas tank easily.......it'll dribble out slow but it will empty completely if the need arises again.....then I just add the old gas to my truck to get rid of it.....

The spray bottle idea was the best possible advice when I needed it the most. The spray bottle with gas will be a permanent addition to the "possibles" in my garage. And I agree as other TBN members suggested that I should run the generator more often. I'm not going a full year between fresh stored fuel anymore. Fresh fuel in the spring and fresh fuel in the fall. And if that doesn't work I'll let y'all know. Thanks for the help!

 

[BobRip]

Just a word of caution. The generator head can also deteoriate from lack of use. Moisture builds up in the windings and causes a short. Just going to Stabil is a help, but you need to dry out those windings by running it with a load. From your comments you consider having a working generator very important, but your past maintenance does not show it. I used to encourage people to get a generator, however most people do not bother with the maintenance and they have wasted their money when it does not work in an outage. It is hard to think of running a generator every two weeks when two years go by without needing it. Run it often or sell it now while it still works. Sorry to be so obnoxious about this.

 

[JB4310]

The spray bottle idea was the best possible advice when I needed it the most. The spray bottle with gas will be a permanent addition to the "possibles" in my garage. And I agree as other TBN members suggested that I should run the generator more often. I'm not going a full year between fresh stored fuel anymore. Fresh fuel in the spring and fresh fuel in the fall. And if that doesn't work I'll let y'all know. Thanks for the help!

The spray bottle sounds like a decent idea but just remember to rotate the fuel in the spray bottle. or get a can of starting fluid. I sometimes use a little rubber bulb syringe to draw up some fresh fuel and squirt in the carb.

What I do with stored engines is first of all now I just treat all the fuel with stabil right in the storage cans when I buy it. So if I take a pressure washer or other piece of equipment to a job, when I bring it home it has the stabil in it already. Goes back in storage, when I take it out next time, if it's been several months, I dump that fuel and pour fresh fuel in the tank, before even trying to start it.

With a nice quality generator like yours, start it at least 3-4 times a year and dump the fuel twice a year. Also exercise the generator with an electric load, there are issues that could occur from not applying an electric load for long periods of time (will not produce AC power). An electric heater is a decent load to exercise with.

JB

 

[BobRip]

The spray bottle sounds like a decent idea but just remember to rotate the fuel in the spray bottle. or get a can of starting fluid. I sometimes use a little rubber bulb syringe to draw up some fresh fuel and squirt in the carb.

What I do with stored engines is first of all now I just treat all the fuel with stabil right in the storage cans when I buy it. So if I take a pressure washer or other piece of equipment to a job, when I bring it home it has the stabil in it already. Goes back in storage, when I take it out next time, if it's been several months, I dump that fuel and pour fresh fuel in the tank, before even trying to start it.

With a nice quality generator like yours, start it at least 3-4 times a year and dump the fuel twice a year. Also exercise the generator with an electric load, there are issues that could occur from not applying an electric load for long periods of time (will not produce AC power). An electric heater is a decent load to exercise with.

JB

Also by using a heater you can see if it is actually working. You could start the engine every two weeks for a year and never know it's not actually putting out power. If you feel two weeks is too often, contact the manufacturer and see if they have other recommendations.

I also like to connect it to the house and run some house loads at least once a year. Most years this happens during power failures, but not always.

 

[whistlepig]

The spray bottle sounds like a decent idea but just remember to rotate the fuel in the spray bottle. or get a can of starting fluid. I sometimes use a little rubber bulb syringe to draw up some fresh fuel and squirt in the carb.

What I do with stored engines is first of all now I just treat all the fuel with stabil right in the storage cans when I buy it. So if I take a pressure washer or other piece of equipment to a job, when I bring it home it has the stabil in it already. Goes back in storage, when I take it out next time, if it's been several months, I dump that fuel and pour fresh fuel in the tank, before even trying to start it.

With a nice quality generator like yours, start it at least 3-4 times a year and dump the fuel twice a year. Also exercise the generator with an electric load, there are issues that could occur from not applying an electric load for long periods of time (will not produce AC power). An electric heater is a decent load to exercise with.

JB

I'm not much on starting fluid anymore. I have read too many bad things about starting fluid. I am kind of disappointed in the Stabil thing. This stuff was mixed to last a year and after 8 months it obviously failed. May not seem like a big deal to some but it's pretty serious business to me. Last power outage in February it was pitch dark in a ice storm with no heat and no water. Single digit wind chill. The generator just has to start in these conditions. And not with me playing with a spray bottle of gas with a flashlight. That's not an option.

 

[srs]

I am kind of disappointed in the Stabil thing. This stuff was mixed to last a year and after 8 months it obviously failed.

First off glad you got the Honda fixed. I would love to have a Honda generator but man are they expensive. I bought a portable Honeywell 5500 watt generator from Costco 3 years ago. I believe it is made by Generac in China. Anyway about this time of the year I put fresh gasoline in the generator. As others have mentioned here I too drain the "old" gasoline and put it in my pickup truck. I've added Stabil gas treatment (red) in the past but this time I'm trying the bluish/green ethanol treatment Stabil. Got it at WalMart. One thing that I've done since I've had the generator from day one is to try to run it every weekend. I go out and it starts with one or two pulls. In the colder months it takes up to 6 or 7 pulls to start but it has never failed me. I know this is kind of **** and a pain sometimes but for the 15 minutes or so that I let it run, knock on wood it has started up. I'll probably jump to high test gasoline next time if not sooner maybe in the springtime. My 2 cents worth! Again, glad you got the Honda running, you have a great machine there. Stanley

 

[whistlepig]

Good advice! I doubt that I will run mine every weekend but I will for sure start it every month from now on. And I think high test gas is an option that I will be going to.

 

[JB4310]

I'm not much on starting fluid anymore. I have read too many bad things about starting fluid. I am kind of disappointed in the Stabil thing. This stuff was mixed to last a year and after 8 months it obviously failed. May not seem like a big deal to some but it's pretty serious business to me. Last power outage in February it was pitch dark in a ice storm with no heat and no water. Single digit wind chill. The generator just has to start in these conditions. And not with me playing with a spray bottle of gas with a flashlight. That's not an option.

I know there is lot of naysayers regarding starting fluid, but I've been using sparingly for 30+ years in small engines. Not real good for a diesel especially in high doses Don't ask

I agree stabil is definitely no miracle formula, I've been using it faithfully, but it's just another arrow in the quiver.
I've learned a little from this thread myself, I never knew about the benefits of the non ethanol fuel or the new blue/green stabil product.

As far as needing to fiddle a little with the generator in an emergency outage situation, at least you know what to do now!

JB

 

[whistlepig]

It's pretty remarkable that I spent many hours researching this problem online and reading everything I had on it before asking for help on TBN. The help was immediatley there for me on TBN when I asked for it. Now if you guys think no one is listening to you I, for sure, am not one of them.

 

[BobRip]

Good advice! I doubt that I will run mine every weekend but I will for sure start it every month from now on. And I think high test gas is an option that I will be going to.

Good to hear. Being on a well and with a septic tank sump pump I think the generator is vital. I have three.

 

[JB4310]

I've got 2 Hondas, think I'll take them out and swap the fuel, run them and put a load on them.

One of them is a little 2200 watt, the other is a welder/ generator ~4000 watts. Both are 120 volt only.

Neighbor bought the last Honda the dealer had just before one of the big outages we had here in the North East. I think it's 6 or 8 KW, he paid top dollar, could of bought 2-3 no name gennys for the same price.
I don't have a problem with the fact that Hondas cost so much, more because historically they have been the top of the line. But I was surprised his started acting up, like it was having carb problems after just 25-30 hours. and this was only a week old and all fresh fuel, he even bought new fuel cans.

JB

 

[Sawyer Rob]

All of these gas powered generator "carb" problems are one of the biggest reasons I LOVE my pto generator so much.

When I need it, I just start up a small diesel tractor, hook up the pto shaft and I have power every time!

Why does it work every time? Because that tractor get's used often for other things, so I know it's always ready to go, AND I never have gas sitting around for a generator, going bad!

SR

 

[bigtiller]

All of these gas powered generator "carb" problems are one of the biggest reasons I LOVE my pto generator so much.

When I need it, I just start up a small diesel tractor, hook up the pto shaft and I have power every time!

Why does it work every time? Because that tractor get's used often for other things, so I know it's always ready to go, AND I never have gas sitting around for a generator, going bad!

SR

I went a different way. Like the OP 6 years ago, I have a honda EB6500. I just up-graded it to a EU7000, it's fuel injected and very quite.

 

[Sawyer Rob]

And, you still have to deal with keeping the gas fresh...

SR

 

[bigtiller]

That's not a problem with monthly running and a little Stable in the gas. I role it outside, push the button, it starts, I plug it in and walk away for 30 minutes.

 

[Sawyer Rob]

That's pretty much what you have to do with a gas powered generator, if you want to be sure it will be ready when you need it.

Like I said, I use my tractor quite regular, so I know it will be ready when I need it on the generator.

SR