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Desperate Generator

Desperate Generator (post #188451)

edwin on Sat, 05/01/2010 - 11:02

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I have a somewhat aged Generac generator that was made in Japan and is equiped with a Kawasaki engine. I has very few hours on it and it performed very nicely. Sadly it nolonger runs because the float bowl gaket and possibly the float valve are shot. I have tried to get repair parts from Generac who said that they had no record of making sell the generator. Kawasaki has discontinued the engine and have no parts for it. They had no suggestions as how to get the thing to run. Now, out of desperation, I all you clever people for whatever assistance you can offer.

If it were mine (post #188451, reply #1 of 14)

by calvin in reply to edwin [original] on Sat, 05/01/2010 - 11:18

I'd go to a whiz with small engine repair and say- "make me one that works".

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Yeah, look in your Yellow (post #188451, reply #2 of 14)

by DanH in reply to edwin [original] on Sat, 05/01/2010 - 13:02

Yeah, look in your Yellow Pages for "small engine repair". Just about any such shop should be able to fix you up.

We are like tenant farmers chopping down the fence around our house for fuel when we should be using Nature's inexhaustible sources of energy -- sun, wind and tide. ... I'd put my money on the sun and solar energy. What a source of power! I hope we don't have to wait until oil and coal run out before we tackle that. --Thomas Edison

Can you figure out who made (post #188451, reply #3 of 14)

by gfretwell in reply to edwin [original] on Sun, 05/02/2010 - 07:11

Can you figure out who made the carbureator?

That is probably a way to track down the parts you need.

Good idea! I thought Kawasaki (post #188451, reply #4 of 14)

by edwin in reply to gfretwell [original] on Sun, 05/02/2010 - 09:27

Good idea! I thought Kawasaki made the carb, but as i think about it, such things are oftem made by other companies. I will check it out.

As to other suggestions re. small engine repair shops around here, if it is not American made (Briggs and Straton, etc) they tend to regard me as some sort of insurgent.

A carburetor is a carburetor (post #188451, reply #5 of 14)

by DanH in reply to edwin [original] on Sun, 05/02/2010 - 11:09

A carburetor is a carburetor -- only so many variations. If all you need is a gasket, one can be cut, if something off-the-shelf isn't found. Needles and such are likely to be interchangeable. Floats are a bit specialized, but a leaky copper one can be soldered (outside!!) and the plastic ones rarely become gas-logged. Or replace the whole damn carburetor with a different one -- you only need to match the HP and stud spacing.

What Dan said. Start with (post #188451, reply #7 of 14)

by Scott in reply to DanH [original] on Sun, 05/02/2010 - 15:31

What Dan said. Start with some paper or neoprene gasket material; or a bead of RTV. That may be all you need.

re. small engine repair shops (post #188451, reply #8 of 14)

by xxPaulCPxx in reply to edwin [original] on Sun, 05/02/2010 - 18:32

re. small engine repair shops around here, if it is not American made (Briggs and Straton, etc) they tend to regard me as some sort of insurgent.

Oh, I see. They haven't seen a good engine yet!

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Had the same situation just a (post #188451, reply #6 of 14)

by florida in reply to edwin [original] on Sun, 05/02/2010 - 13:44

Had the same situation just a few months ago. My pressure washer has a Kawasaki engine and the carb corroded so badly the engine wouldn't run. The shop told me it was shot, no parts available, etc. Took it to a guy who does small engine repair from his house. He found a new carb and had me back up and running in a week for $175.00. He also showed me how to drain the gas from the carb every time I use it so the ethanol won't make it corrode. If you can't find the carb let me know and I'll get the name and number of the parts place where i got mine for you.

I see a theme here.... carbs (post #188451, reply #9 of 14)

by Scott in reply to florida [original] on Sun, 05/02/2010 - 19:05

I see a theme here.... carbs rusting on Kawi engines. Why? I've got a Kawi engine on my lawn tractor that has been great so far. Should I be checking something?

....Think I'll run out and drain that bowl right now.....

The dterioration is common (post #188451, reply #10 of 14)

by Jigs-n-fixtures in reply to Scott [original] on Fri, 05/07/2010 - 12:04

The proble with the carbs is semiuniversal. The ethanol bled being sold as regular gas can destroy older gaskets, and is slighlty more prone to evaporating, which leaves more varnish behind.

So why is it not a problem (post #188451, reply #11 of 14)

by DanH in reply to Jigs-n-fixtures [original] on Fri, 05/07/2010 - 15:47

So why is it not a problem with my roughly 25-year-old snowblower?

According to the mechanic who (post #188451, reply #12 of 14)

by florida in reply to Scott [original] on Sat, 05/08/2010 - 06:15

According to the mechanic who fixed it the problem is universal now. He says that he spends half his time repairing corroded carbs. His advice to me is to drain the float every time you use the engine. Got the same advice from the local Gravely dealer when they repaired my Honda generator.

You guys do know to use gas (post #188451, reply #13 of 14)

by DanH in reply to florida [original] on Sat, 05/08/2010 - 06:55

You guys do know to use gas stabilizer, right? And drain the tank and run the engine dry when storing the unit for more than a couple of months?

Stabil, or Seafoam work very (post #188451, reply #14 of 14)

by Jock in reply to DanH [original] on Sun, 08/15/2010 - 19:37

Stabil, or Seafoam work very well in you fuel tank. A side note, at least in Michigan, marinas carry non ethanol gasoline. For us, the name has changed to recreation gasoline. It's only in regular grade.