Kohler 5ecd

Corral42

My new to me boat’s generator wouldn’t start since the day I got it. It was puzzling because it wouldn’t throw a code except for the over crank after 3 tries. I replaced the low and high fuel pumps. New fuel injector, spark plugs and oxygen sensor. Nothing. Turns out I had to change the valve clearance from 5 to 10. Started right up. Common sense would tell you things get looser with age not tighter but that was the issue. I now have a lot of perfectly good spare parts.

Aqua_Aura

Valve clearance? I would not have ever thought that would keep it from starting, must have been real bad. Atleast you got it fixed and did it yourself I'm assuming. How many hours are on it?

Corral42

Aqua_Aura said:

Valve clearance? I would not have ever thought that would keep it from starting, must have been real bad. Atleast you got it fixed and did it yourself I'm assuming. How many hours are on it?

600 hours, the valves weren’t closing all the way causing the low compression. It was the same on both cylinders. And yes I did it myself. I had to get a starter button so I could bump the motor

Dream_Inn

Corral42 said:

My new to me boat’s generator wouldn’t start since the day I got it. It was puzzling because it wouldn’t throw a code except for the over crank after 3 tries. I replaced the low and high fuel pumps. New fuel injector, spark plugs and oxygen sensor. Nothing. Turns out I had to change the valve clearance from 5 to 10. Started right up. Common sense would tell you things get looser with age not tighter but that was the issue. I now have a lot of perfectly good spare parts.

I had the exact same issue with one of my cylinders about 5 years ago.  My genny was basically running on one cylinder for years since new.  One symptom was extra black exhaust because it started building up carbon.  After adjusting and running cleaner thru the fuel, it's been great.