Generator question

[stg099]

Hey guys, I have a Kohler 5e on my 2004 280 sundancer. On the first start after Not running for more a day or so, the gen will crank for some time before firing. It often will take 2 to 3 7-10 second attempts to start (when that’s the case I close the seacock to prevent hydrolock). Once running the gen will run perfectly until shut down, and will restart quickly and easily for the rest of the day.

it seems to me like its either losing it fuel “prime” when sitting for an extended period OR there is an issue with the electric choke. I’m curious if anyone has had a similar issue and how you resolved it.

thanks!
John

 

[northern]

We have a quicksilver 8kw that does the same.

 

[bajturner]

I had the same generator on my 300DA. I suffered two seasons of hard starts and intermittent shut downs. The difficulty in finding the problem was there were two causes.

One was the fuel pump was marginal, and the other was the anti-dieseling solenoid was intermittent. Neither one seemed to be faulty, but every once in a while one or the other would cause a problem.

I thought it might be the automatic choke, the fuel supply valve solenoid, the fuel lines, fuel filter, etc. After replacing both the culprits I never had another problem.

Might be worth checking the fuel pump...

 

[scoflaw]

Had the same issue with that gen. It was the choke.
Easy enough to check, manually close it when the engine is cold.