Dang Genny......

rasbury

Recently changed my plugs, impeller on my Kohler for my 270 and ran it on land (with water attached) and seemed to run fine...let it run probably a half hour. This weekend ran it on the river just to use it some and test it as we have not stayed on the hook with it yet. It ran maybe 45 mins or so and then cut out. Back at the dock I thought I'd try it again and it fired right up. I think my coolant might be a little low, looked ok to low when I did all the other stuff but thought I was ok. Will open back up tonight and check again and also read in the manual not to depend on the tank and to open up the cap and make sure the system is full. Are there any on board diagnostics to pull any codes as to what might be the issue? It was really hot this weekend (100), boat motor was not running but everything is closed up so I'm thinking either low coolant or just to darn hot, maybe I should run the blower while running it during the daytime in the heat....suggestions?

Dream_Inn

Ras, I run the blower every time I run the genny (& during).  When messing with the coolant, also make sure the coolant overflow hose is all the way to the bottom of the plastic tank, or it will draw air and cause an air lock (which is no fun to get out).  Do you have fluid going into the overflow?

I had my genny stop once this past weekend on me for no apparent reason.  Mine is digital and will give out a code, but nothing there.  I let is sit for about 10 minutes then fired it up and ran with no problems.  That's the kind of stuff that makes me curious!

rasbury

I am going to pick up some fluid and double check that...when you say digital and where a code might appear...is that at the unit itself or the breaker panel inside? Not sure what I have...I no I have a little black box on the outside of the unit below with what would look like a light switch on it and as I recall might have a digital type display but will have to look. I've only run it a couple of times since the purchase and it has about 125 hours on it. Changed the impeller and stuff,,,,,it was real hot as I mentioned. I need to clean the strainer out which I have not done but have done the others and there was nothing in those.....if there is a code, where do I find the code breaker?? I think I'm just running hot as it fired right back up later....how much water should be flowing out of there? It's not a pee like a out board, it kind of jugs out water but the water seem to stop flowing before it cut off...but, not 100% on that either....stuff!

rasbury

how would you know you have an air lock?

pepmyster

My buddy had the same problem, he changed the thermostat and rad cap, presto! All good.

Black_Diamond

1. you need to run the genny a lot, that's the common word with all these it seems.  lack of use just sets up problems.  Run it a few hours every weekend if you can.
2. Yes: try running less the sound shield service cover.  For whatever reason (I stopped looking) this totally solved my problems of the unit always shutting down on me.
3. air lock: there is no visible way to check.  The system does not bleed out the air, even with the bleed screw on the heat exchanger.  I posted a 'how to' on this, search for it.  This will cause the problem you described.
4. Did you backflush the heat exchanger to get out any impeller pieces?  You should probably replace the anode too.  Look in the generator section, I posted up all the manuals for the 5/7.3
5. You'll get a somewhat surging type of water flow out the exhaust, reference #4 above, this too WILL cause shutdowns.  As a note, these gens run hot, the thermostat is 180F.  So expect it to be a warm critter. 

rasbury

I did back flush the heat exchanger and I did replace the anode which was totally gone...I did download the manual you posted (thank you very much) and have looked through that and the water outlet is a "surge", that is a good way to describe it. Should it be a constant stream or a surge? The guy that did my survey did not mention anything about that and we did run and observe the water flow. I'm really thinking heat was the issue as it did crank back up as it was about as hot a day as it gets around here but I did not have much load on it. I'll try it again tonight after I check the coolant but keep it all covered up and see if that might be the issue and then go from there...is it pretty noisy when you pull the sound shield off? Guess being real quite because it won't run is a mute point!

Thanks

Black_Diamond

'surging' would be about right, it is not a constant flow.  Even with 100F raw water, it should cool just fine.  There is an over temp sensor on the exhaust and they are known to go bad too.  Honestly, the sound with/without the service cover on is the same.  Try without the service panel on.

rasbury

I think that is how I tested it at the house and then put everything back on it....was pouring last night and had to work late (don't know how your supposed to enjoy these boats AND keep a job) so, it's on the list for the weekend.....I think I'm ok, just need to tighten my ship up a bit! I have had pretty good luck so far getting everythig working, frige is next on the list!

LaRea

"Surging" -- meaning the water flow varies over a period of a couple seconds.  The flow should never stop completely, but it might run lower than average for 1-2 seconds, then above average for 1-2 seconds. 

Ditto BD's comment:  RUN THE GENERATOR!  Run it every weekend.  I've always noticed that correlation:  people who don't run the genny tend to have problems, and people who run it every weekend tend to be problem-free.

rasbury

well, I checked the fluid and opened the cap to make sure it was full, ran it for about two hours, running the battery charger, tv, micro wave and no issues but that was everything open and all the covers off so must be dealing with a heat issue- maybe the thermostat is partially closed or something. At least I know I can open it up and run it if needed. Will just have to work with and see...going to a popular boating raft up type place for the weekend so we will see!

Black_Diamond

Having been through this, I doubt it is the thermostat...which is a real PITA to change and then evacuate the air from the system, trust me.  You cannot tell by checking the fluid level if all the air is out of the system.

Having the cover on or off should not affect the cooling of the engine.  I will tell you if I leave the service panel off, mine runs like a champ; install door and it will shut down in 10-30 minutes.  You can read my whole saga on this if you search for it. 10 years of basically a useless generator for me until I wandered across this solution, after many, many hours and $$ chasing potential problems.

I've narrowed it down to: coil on the cover side overheating from being mushed into the insulation, vapor locking for the fuel line sandwiched between the insulation and the cylinder, or lack of air flow with the cover on.  Regardless, I just leave the panel off, and it just makes it easier to check oil, coolant level, etc. anyways. 

rasbury

well,went to test again today but now have a new problem but will start a new thread.