Kohler 5ECD Not Running EC62, UU, UF

[Stray Current]

This seemss like it's become the ultimate Kohler ecd thread on any boating forum on the entire internet.

Every search for this generator seems to lead here. so here is the part number for the ignition coil and the pigtail for the ignition coil should anybody else have my problem.

BWD 5511 pigtail
Kohler GM39603 coil

 

[Todd320]

Ta-Da!!!Turns out it wasnt is he impeller, but a blockage in the sea cock or the thru-hull.
Replaced impeller. Same problem. Blew back at the 3/4” hose that connects sea cock to the strainer. Big bubble! Problem solved!

I’m certain that is my issue, might try this weekend...

 

[Beech2000]

Anyone have the noise reduction covers they wish to sell? (Dog house).
Or alternatively know of A good place to purchase them?
I finished installation and it runs perfect but significantly louder than the quicksilver it replaced?

 

[Todd320]

Finally had time to diagnose the generator EE62. The basket in the strainer was clean, so with the boat in the water, and the strainer PPE, I opened up the sea cock, no flow. Took one end of the hose off between the strainer and sea cock, strainer side. Opened up the sea cock, full water flow. Used a big zip tie 12”, and was able to get the blockage out of the right elbow leading into the strainer. Hooked everything up, and it’s been running since 11 am this morning.
Current situation:

 

[Bwardz50]

Awesome! Enjoy! That's what it's all about.

 

[Boater71]

I have a CO6 fault, replace CO sensor and now I have a UU fault. What is my starting point to troubleshoot? After the CO the genset ran ok for 1 day with no issues. then UU fault is happens when i start the genset. starts for 10 or less sec and shutoff. Normal sound as if it was going to start. i tried to reset battery, but nothing, voltage is 13.7. any clues where to start?

 

[Bwardz50]

Fuel pressure

 

[Stray Current]

Fuel pressure

Seconded

 

[Bwardz50]

Sorry for my brief response earlier, I was at a traffic light.
My experience with the UU code was that it wasn't able to make the proper voltage which ended up being issues with the fuel pump(s). Mine is in salt water which damaged the high pressure fuel pump and clogged the injector with salt and chunks of corrosion. I ended up replacing the lift pump and the high-pressure pumps and cleaned out the copper tube leading up to the injector. I also brought the injector home and bench cleaned it by blasting carb cleaner through it under pressure while actuating it with a DC power source. I did all of this about a year ago and it's been good ever since. I hope this helps you. BTW, fuel pressure on the back side of the injector should be in the low 40s PSI even under load. Good luck!

 

[Boater71]

Sorry for my brief response earlier, I was at a traffic light.
My experience with the UU code was that it wasn't able to make the proper voltage which ended up being issues with the fuel pump(s). Mine is in salt water which damaged the high pressure fuel pump and clogged the injector with salt and chunks of corrosion. I ended up replacing the lift pump and the high-pressure pumps and cleaned out the copper tube leading up to the injector. I also brought the injector home and bench cleaned it by blasting carb cleaner through it under pressure while actuating it with a DC power source. I did all of this about a year ago and it's been good ever since. I hope this helps you. BTW, fuel pressure on the back side of the injector should be in the low 40s PSI even under load. Good luck!

Thank you so much to taking the time to share. I will start troubleshooting between now the next week. (just finished resolving a starter issue and want to enjoy the boat).

My concern is if I start taking things apart, gas, coolant, and water starts flooding the boat. anyway going about it? Also, is it easier to just order replacement parts or actually cleaning the individual components?

By the way, I did read the thread 3 or 4 times, I can take things apart but NOT necessarily mechanically inclines. more electrical and electronics.

 

[pyro]

I assume your issue is similiar to the 1st video I posted that started this thread.

Assuming you are going to remove the fuel pump and fuel injector, it is actually pretty straight forward - well at least depending on your access. No risk of antifreeze coolant since you aren't touching the closed water AF loop. You will remove the raw water cooling but it will be way above the water line so no risk of flooding the boat. You can also turn the seacock off to further convince you. You will disconnect downstream of the mechanical fuel pump on the side, so def don't try to run it when its apart! The fuel line is the ridgid ~1/4" hose, a couple tight areas on top, but not too bad. Then disconnect the fuel feed from your gas tank. This is prob the most dangerous part since you want to be SURE that you have a way to turn off the gas feed, and plug the hose so fumes are not escaping. This is boat dependant, but my 2007 Sundancer has a manual shutoff on the fuel safety solenoid. But you still need to be sure you block the hose from fumes escaping. Then disconnect both the high pressure and the smaller pickup pump attached together. Then once you get the high pressure pump (the big water cooled one in the front), you can take the top off and inspect it. From there you can figure out if you need to order new parts. If nothing else it would all be worth it just to take the fuel injector out and find a local place to have it cleaned for ~$25.

What's the pump look like from the outside? Have a pic you can share?

 

[Boater71]

I assume your issue is similiar to the 1st video I posted that started this thread.

Assuming you are going to remove the fuel pump and fuel injector, it is actually pretty straight forward - well at least depending on your access. No risk of antifreeze coolant since you aren't touching the closed water AF loop. You will remove the raw water cooling but it will be way above the water line so no risk of flooding the boat. You can also turn the seacock off to further convince you. You will disconnect downstream of the mechanical fuel pump on the side, so def don't try to run it when its apart! The fuel line is the ridgid ~1/4" hose, a couple tight areas on top, but not too bad. Then disconnect the fuel feed from your gas tank. This is prob the most dangerous part since you want to be SURE that you have a way to turn off the gas feed, and plug the hose so fumes are not escaping. This is boat dependant, but my 2007 Sundancer has a manual shutoff on the fuel safety solenoid. But you still need to be sure you block the hose from fumes escaping. Then disconnect both the high pressure and the smaller pickup pump attached together. Then once you get the high pressure pump (the big water cooled one in the front), you can take the top off and inspect it. From there you can figure out if you need to order new parts. If nothing else it would all be worth it just to take the fuel injector out and find a local place to have it cleaned for ~$25.

What's the pump look like from the outside? Have a pic you can share?

Thank you for the reply. My biggest worry was the gas and this is good guidance. last year I had the EC72 error, mechanics replaced the water pump and impeller. Had 20 hours on it last season and barely 1/2 an hour this season. First issue was CO sensor, (replaced and then started now the UU fault). My biggest worry is winterization (I know it is early, but it took a while to get fixed last year). I also changed all the fuses last year.

Here are some pictures of my generator.

 

[Boater71]

I assume your issue is similiar to the 1st video I posted that started this thread.

Assuming you are going to remove the fuel pump and fuel injector, it is actually pretty straight forward - well at least depending on your access. No risk of antifreeze coolant since you aren't touching the closed water AF loop. You will remove the raw water cooling but it will be way above the water line so no risk of flooding the boat. You can also turn the seacock off to further convince you. You will disconnect downstream of the mechanical fuel pump on the side, so def don't try to run it when its apart! The fuel line is the ridgid ~1/4" hose, a couple tight areas on top, but not too bad. Then disconnect the fuel feed from your gas tank. This is prob the most dangerous part since you want to be SURE that you have a way to turn off the gas feed, and plug the hose so fumes are not escaping. This is boat dependant, but my 2007 Sundancer has a manual shutoff on the fuel safety solenoid. But you still need to be sure you block the hose from fumes escaping. Then disconnect both the high pressure and the smaller pickup pump attached together. Then once you get the high pressure pump (the big water cooled one in the front), you can take the top off and inspect it. From there you can figure out if you need to order new parts. If nothing else it would all be worth it just to take the fuel injector out and find a local place to have it cleaned for ~$25.

What's the pump look like from the outside? Have a pic you can share?

I went to the boat to work on the generator Monday night. I took some pictures, did some additional troubleshooting and this is what i came up with, plus some pictures:

• I checked the fuses, and fuse #6 was blown
• I had a spare, so I replaced it and tried to reset all the other fuses
• started the generator still UU but some of the fuses started coming out because of the vibration

ordering a new set of fuses and fuse holders and then will proceed to step 2.

 

[Mikail251]

A huge Thank-You to Pyro and OzRob for your detailed posting. Not sure if your fix is going to work yet or not, but I have ordered the parts in order to change the fuel pump.

Also a Thank you to 25 Contender. He came across my Thread on Hull Truth, and pointed me this way.

I would laugh if I could. I have been trying to resolve the Generator Issue since January 2014. Even had a USCG Investigator come out and review the issue. I had really just given up on it, and have been trying to decide what to replace it with when 25 Contender posted his thread.

If you want an additional read and a sense of my frustration, check out the following:
https://www.thehulltruth.com/boating-forum/562359-kohler-5ecd-generator-will-not-run.html

-Mikail251

 

[Atalla]

Well, this is clearly the ultimate Kohler genset thread. I tried asking a few questions on the new FB forum, but not clear that @OzRob or @pyro are there, so what's the point?

Here's my story.

2007 38DA with a 7.3ECD. 290 hours, but very clearly never maintained in a meaningful way (all original paint still in place on all bolts except over the seawater pump).

First it was throwing a LOC fault. Cleaned the strainer and replaced the impeller and pulled out a small piece of an older impeller jammed in the intake hose. Oddly, the impeller was fully intact, so this piece was from a prior impeller that had finally gotten stuck. No more LOC code. Genset fires up and runs for several minutes. Read on...

Changed oil and filter. Oil was crazy low, metal at the fill cap was bone dry and shiny. Didn't even have to drain the oil to remove the filter.

Replaced Zinc Anode, pressure switch (just because I could). Zinc was down to a nub. When doing this, I removed the water intake hose on the front and outlet on the back, removed the 3 bolts on the heat exchanger that are easy to remove and pivoted the heat exchanger away and up a bit to get better access to the zinc anode threading to clean the "gunk" out. I am relatively confident I reseated the thermostat and o-rings correctly.

Current situation - Genset fires up and runs for 10 minutes or so before the coolant starts to bubble over into the overflow bottle to the point it overflows the overflow. First time this happened, I had already put the sound insulating cover back on since I thought my only issue was LOC/impreller, so I remove the cover to find coolant all over the place. Thought I had a leak in the heat exchanger flanges, so I added coolant and fired it back up with a flashlight to watch for leaks. Throws EC72 fault but I think there was coolant on something that was shorting because when I wiped down the overflowed coolant and soaked up some from the drip tray, EC72 went away.

Great, no leaks...but after about 10 minutes, I get to watch the overflow the overflow event live and in person. I siphoned out some of the coolant from the overflow bottle and fired it up again and after about 3 minutes, I get an HE code...but likely just due to the fact that there isn't enough coolant at this point. This chain of events is re-producible.

That's where I am.

Pending first fix attempt is to replace pressure cap on the radiator (ordered since nobody local has the 13psi cap in stock). But the old cap "feels" like it is working. I compared hand pressure to a 14psi cap and it feels about the same. Fingers crossed that's all it is, but I read @pyro post something about a drain plug on the block on his 5ecd that allows air to bleed out while refilling coolant. So this is something I have to look for on my 7.3ecd. Anybody have a photo of that?

What else should I be looking at? Figured I'd ask before heading back to the boat in the next couple days so I can be prepared for it not being the radiator cap and be ready to check a few more things.

Thanks!

 

[pyro]

FB!? No way. CSR is where its at. IMO, Facebook groups seems to be a giant unorganized mess of topics with only the latest few topics relevant.

I also received HE after about 10 minutes after opening the heat exchanger and replacing the coolant. That was before I knew about the bleeder valve. The fact that you removed the heat exchanger allowed air in. I would say it is definitely air locked. Here's a shot of the backside, with the bleeder valve circled.

I made an early video about flushing the heat exchanger and replacing the thermostat here. All before I removed the entire thing from the boat.

 

[Atalla]

FB!? No way. CSR is where its at. IMO, Facebook groups seems to be a giant unorganized mess of topics with only the latest few topics relevant.

I also received HE after about 10 minutes after opening the heat exchanger and replacing the coolant. That was before I knew about the bleeder valve. The fact that you removed the heat exchanger allowed air in. I would say it is definitely air locked. Here's a shot of the backside, with the bleeder valve circled.

I made an early video about flushing the heat exchanger and replacing the thermostat here. All before I removed the entire thing from the boat.

Thanks @pyro. I agree it is easier to manage this site than FB, but the FB group has generated a lot of activity. In fact, it is the only reason I log into FB since I don't use the site otherwise.

Thanks for the photo of the bleeder valve. I will cross my fingers.

I did see your YT video of the full flush. I REALLY don't want to take the exchanger off because I don't want to engage in the process of removing all the crap that is in the way. Plus that rear lower flange bolt!

 

[pyro]

Sorry, I may have misundestood. You mentioned

I am relatively confident I reseated the thermostat and o-rings correctly.

Perhaps you meant pressure switch. I would start filling the coolant back up with the valve/bolt unscrewed and go from there. My guess is you fixed the first issue, and then hitting a second issue with the coolant/overheat??

 

[Atalla]

Perhaps you meant pressure switch. I would start filling the coolant back up with the valve/bolt unscrewed and go from there. My guess is you fixed the first issue, and then hitting a second issue with the coolant/overheat??

No, I meant the thermostat. I removed three of the four bolts in the heat exchanger to shift it to better reach the anode bolt and believe I re-seated the thermostat and two o-rings in the heat exchanger properly. I also replaced the pressure switch just because I am trying to replace stuff that tends to fail on this given it is apparent it hasn't had too much addressed on it for 13 years. My experience below, I believe, would suggest the heat exchanger reinstall is fine and pressure switch install is fine.

UPDATE ON COOLANT ISSUE: I went down to the marina and loosened the bleeder bolt and filled up the coolant until it 'bled'. Fired her up and she ran for 20 minutes perfectly. Coolant overflow went from L to H and stayed there. A few air bubbles pushed out into the overflow, but otherwise fine. Switch my AC power to the genset and added the AC/Heater to the load. All good.

WOOHOO! Perfection!

If only.

I switched back to shore power, stopped the genset and reassembled the sound shield and then went back into the salon and fired up the generator from inside the boat intending to run it for 45 minutes or an hour. Started up and ran for about 5 minutes. Then I fired up my Merc engines (just for kicks as I wanted to play around with my new VV502) and began to close the bilge hatch. Suddenly the generator cuts out. Bilge hatch back up, Mercs off, I check the fault code. UF. Okay, manual says to reduce load and restart. There was no load, so I restart. Sadly, the generator did not successfully start after this. The first attempt to restart produced a UU fault. After that, EC72. A couple times, EC72 threw without even trying to crank. Then I tried a few more restarts and the genset tried to start, cranked slowly a few times, sputtering a bunch of exhaust out of the side of the boat and a bit of water and then died.

EC72 has a lot going on. I'm getting a headache looking at figure 4.7 and 4.8.

I did read this entire thread, so I have ordered replacement fuses for the genset as I recall @OzRob found that replacing a blown fuse solved his EC72 problem. Also currently staring at GM28787 relay that was the problem for somebody.

On to the next problem. These things really do suck, don't they?

 

[Stray Current]

A huge Thank-You to Pyro and OzRob for your detailed posting. Not sure if your fix is going to work yet or not, but I have ordered the parts in order to change the fuel pump.

Also a Thank you to 25 Contender. He came across my Thread on Hull Truth, and pointed me this way.

I would laugh if I could. I have been trying to resolve the Generator Issue since January 2014. Even had a USCG Investigator come out and review the issue. I had really just given up on it, and have been trying to decide what to replace it with when 25 Contender posted his thread.

If you want an additional read and a sense of my frustration, check out the following:
https://www.thehulltruth.com/boating-forum/562359-kohler-5ecd-generator-will-not-run.html

-Mikail251

I remember reading that over there when I first bought my searay with the kohler and was starting troubleshooting. I’ve gotten more info here than from my kohler distributor.