Outdoor Power Equipment and Small Engines - Honda 1000 Generator

Hey guys I am new here and I think I am posting this questions in the correct place. I have a Honda EU1000 generator used for tailgating 4 months of the year, but today I needed to use it and when I went to crank it, it started blowing blue smoke and then died, when I tried to crank it again the pull rope felt locked, meaning I could not pull at all. Brought it in and pulled the spark plug and it was black and filled with carbon. I pulled the rope and it blew oil out of the cylinder, I cleaned what I could on the plug and tried to start again and it was trying to turn over and I stopped to get a new plug. My concern is the oil in the cylinder, does this mean rings are bad or what are your thoughts?

thanks Andy

My initial though is that it was tipped or stood up on end for a moment, allowing oil to get in places it shouldn't be. If that's the case, just replace the plugs and get it going again...let it run until the smoke clears and you should be fine. It might have spewed oil into the air filter, so it may need to be replaced. You may need to add some oil to get it to full level.

If it wasn't stored or moved in any position other than upright, then check the oil to see if it is overfilled or smells like gas and post back with that info.

cheese,
thanks for answerinI know it has been on its side before and smoked a bit and then cleared up. Just got back from 3 parts stores on the hunt for a plug, put it in and started up fine, but blowing smoke to no end. I let run for 20 min or so and would almost cleear up and then sound like bogginh down for second and then right back to smoking. I will check oil level tomorrow, I know the last time I used it a few months ago I topped off the oil but don't thinkI overfilled it.

thansk for the advice

Ok, no gas in oil, new plug and fired up fine and finally stopped blowing smoke, but on every restart same thing, blowing smoke, and oil level is ok.

just strange to me

here my suggest here senice i work on alot of generators however this is my suggest is put a load on the engine the reason why i say put a load on the engine due it will run little more hotter and it will burn off any resdude oil left on the piston crown [ the upper most of the piston ] something like half load on it or so it will get hot engouh to light off any oil laden muffer and clear up all the oil out and check it pretty often when you run for a while.

{while we are on simauir topic i am not sure if the honda engine like this small should have crankcase breather there tied into carb check that out as well sometime will get pretty full of lube oil in there and suck in the carbuatoer }

Merci,Marc

you may have burnt a ring or two. I would change the oil to a heavier weight.

I wouldn't go the heavier oil route. Stick with straight SAE30 oil. So, now when it is started, it blows smoke and then quickly clears up? If so, you may help the situation by replacing the valve stem seals. I'd also have a look at the air filter and air filter housing. If you see any oil at all in there, go ahead and replace the air filter. The filters on hondas are very intolerant of oil contamination. The oil closes the filter pores.

cheese, that is correct, start it up and it blows smoke for maybe 4 min then clears up. Now it has done this the past handful of times but not like last Saturday where it was laying down a 007 smoke screen. I will get a new filter and seals and give that a try. thanks cheese


LI Tom; Ok say I have burned a ring, how much are we talking to fix? The engine would need to be torn down, heck I can buy a new one for 650?


French227v; I did load it up yesterday and seemed to burn clean however, letting it sit for 3 hours and fire it back up and here comes the smoke for a min or two, this generator is 4 years old and barely gets used 4 months a year. just frustrating,

thanks for all yours suggestions

The cost of replacing piston rings varies on where you take it to. You can confirm if you have bad rings with a pressure test. I dont know what the PSI should be for your generator but if you could get your hands on a repair manual, (available online), it should tell you. Most repair shops will charge a small fee and tell you what is wrong with your unit.

setting so long may have rusted the cyl walls, running may reseat them and stop the oil but you may have to run it several hours. Might not also. run a compression test and leak down to help diagnose.
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