15yr Old Generac Never Started

[Fulthrotl]

I bought a house with a 15 year old Generac Guardian 4079-1 10kW standby generator that the owner builder never finished installing. It's never been used. The transfer switch is running to one of my 100A subpanels so that's wired. The lp line is all set to go.

Does anyone have any experience or knowledge if it would be a good or bad idea to try and get this working? It goes against my better judgement and I'm leaning toward just ripping it out and installing a new Briggs & Stratton 10kW standby. I don't want to risk dirty power blowing stuff up if I get it fired up.

Any experience or wisdom would be greatly appreciated.

there's a number of things you can put in to lube the cylinders, before spinning it up.
if it was mine, i'd put a squirt of aero kroil into each spark plug hole, and see if it turns
thru a couple turns.

then drain the existing oil, and refill.

put the plugs back in it, stick a fresh battery in it, and start it up.
first running, let it go at a fast idle for about 20 minutes, and shut it down.
drain the oil and refill.

now, treat it like a brand new unit, change the break in oil when suggested,
and i'm betting it'll run a fairly long service life.

 

[ActionDave]

On the drawing they do look like sealed bearings. What they’ll be like after ten years standing idle I wouldn’t hazard a guess. There's only one way to find out.

Bearing grease has an expiration date?

 

[norcal]

Bearing grease has an expiration date?

Would you use 15, or 30 year old NOS, New Old Stock bearings?

 

[gadfly56]

Bearing grease has an expiration date?

Grease will dry out, "sealed" being a relative term. Bearings, like auto tires, will develop flat spots if left in one position too long. This depends of course on the design and actual load, but I'm guessing Generac isn't necessarily using the Cadillac of bearings for their product.

 

[Cow]

I would change the oil and coolant at a minimum. Check or replace the air filter. Replace the battery.

 

[iwire]

Would you use 15, or 30 year old NOS, New Old Stock bearings?

Yup, as long as they where not stored out in the weather

 

[iwire]

Grease will dry out, "sealed" being a relative term. Bearings, like auto tires, will develop flat spots if left in one position too long.

OK we have officially jumped the shark now for this little, low end generator.


The only solution is a total disassembly, cleaning, balancing and blueprinting with reassembly done in a class 1 clean room.

A Genercrap deserves no less.

 

[gadfly56]

OK we have officially jumped the shark now for this little, low end generator.


The only solution is a total disassembly, cleaning, balancing and blueprinting with reassembly done in a class 1 clean room.

A Genercrap deserves no less.

Whoa, whoa whoa!! You forgot to Magnaflux the block and head! hmy:

 

[iwire]

Whoa, whoa whoa!! You forgot to Magnaflux the block and head! hmy:

I stink!

 

[gadfly56]

I stink!

We'll let it slide this time. :lol:

 

[Fulthrotl]

Whoa, whoa whoa!! You forgot to Magnaflux the block and head! hmy:

what about shot peening the rods?

probably wouldn't hurt to have Jerry Branch put flow the valve pockets as well.
to prevent any turbulence. we abhor turbulence on the forum, yes?

 

[ptonsparky]

what about shot peening the rods?

probably wouldn't hurt to have Jerry Branch put flow the valve pockets as well.
to prevent any turbulence. we abhor turbulence on the forum, yes?

Reading some of the threads I would say "adore".

 

[gadfly56]

Reading some of the threads I would say "adore".

I was going to fix that misspelling for him but you beat me to it.

 

[1db2]

Generac Becomes Boat Anchor

Generac Becomes Boat Anchor

I finally got it started today. The motor ran just fine for 15 seconds and then died, restarted and did this repeatedly. I've gone over this thing meticulously for a month. I measured the output voltage...7 volts on each leg with no load...no alarms. I think the stator rested in peace years ago...whatever...I'm done with it. I worked on it so much getting it ready to go I got attached to it. Maybe I can use it on my land for back fill on a new little bridge over a gully. A new generator will be an easy swap with everything in place. FYI Generac tech support is non existent. There's a young girl that reads the manual you have in front of you, just in case you never made it out of grade school. If you ask a question that's not in the manual like what gauge wire to use to feed the transfer switch she doesn't have a clue. That's secret information Generac chooses to keep out of the manuals. :slaphead:No Generac in the future for me.

 

[junkhound]

I'd come take that 'off your hands', no disposal fee either, if you were closer.

re: I measured the output voltage...7 volts on each leg with no load...
sounds like you have a capacitor regulated generator, likely only the 100 uF cap* is failed (or corroded open sitting ?) *100 uF typical for that size, may vary.

re: ran just fine for 15 seconds and then died, restarted and did this repeatedly
did you disassemble the carb and clean it, typical for a clogged carb or fuel filter.

If you are going to ditch a perfectly good gen set, sounds like you have plenty of bucks$$? If so, hire someone knowledgeable to fix it for you and at the same time show you how it works (extra $50/hr :lol and why it failed. Priceless knowledge when the new one you buy quits in the middle of a storm ?

PS: retired 'Inside Wireman' : I almost expected to see a moderator had closed the thread as it looks very DIY, and not a very good DIY (or very wealthy and uninterested in electrical ) at that ?

 

[mgookin]

I finally got it started today. The motor ran just fine for 15 seconds and then died, restarted and did this repeatedly. I've gone over this thing meticulously for a month. I measured the output voltage...7 volts on each leg with no load...no alarms. I think the stator rested in peace years ago...whatever...I'm done with it. I worked on it so much getting it ready to go I got attached to it. Maybe I can use it on my land for back fill on a new little bridge over a gully. A new generator will be an easy swap with everything in place. FYI Generac tech support is non existent. There's a young girl that reads the manual you have in front of you, just in case you never made it out of grade school. If you ask a question that's not in the manual like what gauge wire to use to feed the transfer switch she doesn't have a clue. That's secret information Generac chooses to keep out of the manuals. :slaphead:No Generac in the future for me.

Sounds like a low oil level lockout behavior.

 

[ptonsparky]

I have installed a few Generacs in the past. They have worked very well. Some customers never realized the utility power was Off until they heard the unit running.

Most likely a simple fix.

 

[K8MHZ]

Sounds like a low oil level lockout behavior.

aka Murphy switch.

Usually when they lock out, the engine won't start at all.

 

[mgookin]

aka Murphy switch.

Usually when they lock out, the engine won't start at all.

I can't speak for that brand but when my neighbor called while stranded in a blizzard in New Hampshire I flew up there from south Florida to put a quart of oil in their motorhome genset. It would start, run 15 sec and die.
Problem solved.

Expensive oil. And you thought $140/ bbl was high.

 

[1db2]

Thank you for the input. The generator was never started or used before. Again, it was put in place in 2000 and left; never used or started. I spent a LOT of time with this...I'm beyond thorough and have rebuilt a lot of engines. I spent time gently getting the motor loose, cleaning the flywheel/magneto, re-gapping everything, removing and re torquing every connection, cleaning every contact in the control board compartment, changing oil/filter with the purple break in oil and replacing a couple parts that had disintegrated. There was even a bug mud house in the breaker. I'm in the forest.

I'm not sure why an lp carb would need to be cleaned if it was never used. There is a valve that opens the lp supply to the engine so bugs couldn't enter it. It's running off a 500 gallon propane tank right at the house pipe entrance. I'd agree on fuel starvation but I got 7 volts while the engine was screaming so there are multiple issues.

The troubleshooter says control board. I could rip apart the carb, take apart the stator which is probably well rusted after seeing the flywheel, but I don't have any more time or money to flush on it.