Onan 4ky generator
Customer said it was running fine for two days straight then wouldn’t start. I went through the carb a couple of times then known good spark plugs. Best I could get out of it was a low sounding bac...
Forum Discussion
Kpackpackkelley wrote:
...Turns out after we pulled it and installed a new coil it started right up...
Good troubleshooting! Sometimes a part can "test good" yet not work, but swapping in another part that tests the same will solve the problem.
I didn't look at the 4KY parts list, but I'm guessing this is one of what I'll call "all in one" coils where the rotating flywheel not only charges the coil, but also provides the timing signal. If so it could easily be "half bad" with Good Spark but Wrong Timing, and/or Correct Timing but Bad Spark.
For those of you reading this who have 4KY's, always remember The OIL. Over the years we've had many of these lose an engine because the oil was low. Maybe because the oil was cooked to where it wasn't oil anymore. This is a high RPM, splash lubed, air cooled engine and not at all forgiving. Like your lawnmower. Unlike your lawnmower, it runs half a day instead of half an hour. Runs unsupervised instead of you right there with it. Inconvenient to check/change oil instead of pretty easy. Very expensive instead of expensive enough.
