Posted: 6/29/2013 3:04:01 PM EDT
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I found one of these 800w generators for $40 today. It looked brand new but I could only get it to start once after about 20 pulls and it died in about 3 seconds. I pulled a few more times and now the pull cord is locked tight. After looking closer I noticed a spring between the choke/throttle lever is probably missing. There's nothing connected to the lever at all. For those of you that own these is there a spring connected to that lever and any ideas on getting the pull cord to move. I hope the engine didn't seize up. I used 50:1 and it only ran 3 seconds. Hard to believe it would lock up from that. |
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I found one of these 800w generators for $40 today. It looked brand new but I could only get it to start once after about 20 pulls and it died in about 3 seconds. I pulled a few more times and now the pull cord is locked tight. After looking closer I noticed a spring between the choke/throttle lever is probably missing. There's nothing connected to the lever at all. For those of you that own these is there a spring connected to that lever and any ideas on getting the pull cord to move. I hope the engine didn't seize up. I used 50:1 and it only ran 3 seconds. Hard to believe it would lock up from that. I have one and love it. If the cord is locked, that does sound like the engine seized but unless the previous owner never added any oil to the gas I'm not sure how it would happen. You can let these sit for over a year without running and they should start right up. It really sounds like there was no oil present. As for the spring/lever...I know the lever you're talking about. It is supposed to slide across and then you slide it back when it's started. I don't think that would have anything to do with seizing unless it was left on choke and broke off or something like that. Maybe someone else can give you better help. But it sound to me like the engine seized. -Emt1581 |
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Just going on past small engine work here. Pull the spark plug and look in the cylinder. If you can see the piston, try to put something long and blunt in there and push down. If the piston moves, your problem is likely a mis wound pull starter rope. If the piston doesn't move, it might be at bdc or tdc. Maybe pull the starter cowl and try to free it or put a wrench on the shaft and turn it.
Just guessing. Good luck. |
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Quoted: Just going on past small engine work here. Pull the spark plug and look in the cylinder. If you can see the piston, try to put something long and blunt in there and push down. If the piston moves, your problem is likely a mis wound pull starter rope. If the piston doesn't move, it might be at bdc or tdc. Maybe pull the starter cowl and try to free it or put a wrench on the shaft and turn it. Just guessing. Good luck. Thanks! It turned when I got a socket on the shaft so I think I'm good to go as far as the engine being seized. I just need to figure why it's have such a hard time to start. This thing looks like it never had gas in it. |
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Just going on past small engine work here. Pull the spark plug and look in the cylinder. If you can see the piston, try to put something long and blunt in there and push down. If the piston moves, your problem is likely a mis wound pull starter rope. If the piston doesn't move, it might be at bdc or tdc. Maybe pull the starter cowl and try to free it or put a wrench on the shaft and turn it. Just guessing. Good luck. Thanks! It turned when I got a socket on the shaft so I think I'm good to go as far as the engine being seized. I just need to figure why it's have such a hard time to start. This thing looks like it never had gas in it. Dribble a bit of fuel onto the air cleaner and see if it fires. Or carefully hold an unlit propane torch at the intake and see. ***Don't use the propane torch trick on a 2 cycle engine and add a bit of oil to the spark plug hole even if you test for a few seconds with fuel mix. |
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Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: Just going on past small engine work here. Pull the spark plug and look in the cylinder. If you can see the piston, try to put something long and blunt in there and push down. If the piston moves, your problem is likely a mis wound pull starter rope. If the piston doesn't move, it might be at bdc or tdc. Maybe pull the starter cowl and try to free it or put a wrench on the shaft and turn it. Just guessing. Good luck. Thanks! It turned when I got a socket on the shaft so I think I'm good to go as far as the engine being seized. I just need to figure why it's have such a hard time to start. This thing looks like it never had gas in it. Dribble a bit of fuel onto the air cleaner and see if it fires. Or carefully hold an unlit propane torch at the intake and see. The spark plug had black crud all over it. I cleaned it and it started for a couple seconds blew a cloud of smoke and died. I'm picking up a new plug tomorrow. It pulls really easy since turning it with the socket. I think I'm close to getting this thing running. If not at least I get a lesson in 2 stroke engine repair  |
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Quoted: Stupid, obvious question, but you opened the gas supply isolation valve? Do you need a manual? ETA: Over in the big thread on these in gear, there is a recommendation on a better replacement plug, available ot Lowes I did open it and found the manual. I think the new plug might get it running. The one that came with it had chunks of crud on it. Probably the worse looking plug I've ever seen. |
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Stupid, obvious question, but you opened the gas supply isolation valve? Do you need a manual? ETA: Over in the big thread on these in gear, there is a recommendation on a better replacement plug, available ot Lowes I did open it and found the manual. I think the new plug might get it running. The one that came with it had chunks of crud on it. Probably the worse looking plug I've ever seen. Let me look around in my files, I probably have the plug somewhere (as well as written on the wall of the shed ETA: It was in the "Two Cycle Engine Fuel Ratio" file This is for the Blue one, the SKU 66619 model (that goes with this manual)
Harbor Freight Spark Plugs: Bosch W8DC, Champion N11YC, and NGK BP5ES |
| Pull the breather off and get someone to spray WD40 into the intake as you pull the starter rope. Don't use straight gasoline or you will be back to that seized engine risk again. It will start and run on the WD40. You may have a clogged fuel system. Engines that sit for long periods unused; like generators, can become inoperable due to the breakdown of the fuel itself. |
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I found one of these 800w generators for $40 today. It looked brand new but I could only get it to start once after about 20 pulls and it died in about 3 seconds. I pulled a few more times and now the pull cord is locked tight. After looking closer I noticed a spring between the choke/throttle lever is probably missing. There's nothing connected to the lever at all. For those of you that own these is there a spring connected to that lever and any ideas on getting the pull cord to move. I hope the engine didn't seize up. I used 50:1 and it only ran 3 seconds. Hard to believe it would lock up from that. find what you need here: http://www.ar15.com/forums/t_10_18/632490_Review_of_the__79_Harbor_Freight_Generator__with_pics__56k_noway____update_page_14.html&page=31 |
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Quoted: Quoted: The spark plug had black crud all over it. Black crud on the spark plug of a nearly-new generator - Sounds like maybe the original owner added W-A-A-A-A-Y too much oil to the gas...  I was thinking that also. I bought this at a warehouse sale so I'm sure it was a returned unit. For $40 I figured it was worth taking a chance on. The guy wanted $80 until I told him the were only $79 new. He had at least 5 skids of them. Most looked beat to shit though. This one looked unused other than the spark plug. |
I think it's a lost cause  . The new spark plug got it started for about 2 minutes, but it smoked really bad even with the choke off. After it stalled the pull cord locked up tight again. I decided to tear it completely apart and see what was going on. The carb looked really clean, but I cleaned it anyway. The piston, head, and crankshaft had chunks of crud that looked like metal shavings mixed with carbon. I cleaned them all off and very lightly oiled them with motor oil. It started on the 3rd pull and sounded better, but still was smoking bad and stalled after about a minute. Now the pull cord is stuck again. I'm no expert on small engines but I'm thinking my piston is shot. Maybe the previous owned ran in on straight gas. I'm thinking about repairing it just for the practice, if the parts aren't too expensive, or I'll giving it to someone who already has one for parts since everything else on the generator looks new. |