Forum Discussion
jayhorowitz
Apr 16, 2015Explorer
UPDATE:
A couple of days ago I fully drained the oil and replaced it with 1.6 quarts of 10W-40 dino. The generator still starts easily and runs fine, but the oil consumption issue is hasn't gone away. An hour or two of generator time under load took the dipstick reading from Full nearly all the way to Add. At least switching to dino oil has made it cheap to keep the oil level topped off while I troubleshoot!
I removed and checked the breather tube for obstructions and didn't find any, and user "427435" suggested that I next check the breather leaf valve, the process for which I'll need research. Fortunately I have a solid solar array and battery bank so the generator issue isn't pressing, but I definitely want this solved.
I've also noticed exhaust fumes in the RV (setting off the CO detector) after ~1 hour of running the generator, but I've had that issue since before the oil change. Stupidly (I think), the exhaust pipe doesn't even fully extend beyond the side of the RV, terminating underneath the RV a few feet below a huge (closed, of course) window - RIGHT where the CO detector is. When I look at the breather valve I'll also check for cooling/venting obstructions (mud daubers were an issue in lots of areas when I bought the RV), attempt to clean out the muffler by removing the plug, and - if I can see it - look for any cracks in the exhaust pipe at the muffler connection. Warm/hot exhaust blows strong from the exhaust pipe and I haven't seen any residue of any kind in the pipe.
Could the weird choke assembly issue I described in the original post have anything to do with oil consumption? It looks like the choke does fully open after the engine has been running, only that the housing assembly is wonky.
A couple of days ago I fully drained the oil and replaced it with 1.6 quarts of 10W-40 dino. The generator still starts easily and runs fine, but the oil consumption issue is hasn't gone away. An hour or two of generator time under load took the dipstick reading from Full nearly all the way to Add. At least switching to dino oil has made it cheap to keep the oil level topped off while I troubleshoot!
I removed and checked the breather tube for obstructions and didn't find any, and user "427435" suggested that I next check the breather leaf valve, the process for which I'll need research. Fortunately I have a solid solar array and battery bank so the generator issue isn't pressing, but I definitely want this solved.
I've also noticed exhaust fumes in the RV (setting off the CO detector) after ~1 hour of running the generator, but I've had that issue since before the oil change. Stupidly (I think), the exhaust pipe doesn't even fully extend beyond the side of the RV, terminating underneath the RV a few feet below a huge (closed, of course) window - RIGHT where the CO detector is. When I look at the breather valve I'll also check for cooling/venting obstructions (mud daubers were an issue in lots of areas when I bought the RV), attempt to clean out the muffler by removing the plug, and - if I can see it - look for any cracks in the exhaust pipe at the muffler connection. Warm/hot exhaust blows strong from the exhaust pipe and I haven't seen any residue of any kind in the pipe.
Could the weird choke assembly issue I described in the original post have anything to do with oil consumption? It looks like the choke does fully open after the engine has been running, only that the housing assembly is wonky.
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