carburetor float failure

[TOL]

I was having problems starting my 2 year old Onan 7000 Genorator Model 7HGJAB-900k this is well maintained by me. On my last 5000 mile trip I had notice that it had become hard to start at times or would stop while I was driving and hard to start at times, I was driving at high altitudes and hot weather, thought it might be getting a little warm checked it and made sure altitude adjustments on carburetor were at 5000 ft checked oil was able to start it after a little while this continued a few times during the trip. I am now at my snowbird destination and my generator won't start at all, so I went to looking deeper into the problem and found that the fuel float was full of fuel and allowed fuel to continue to flow freely into the caburater out the air cleaner and down along side the generator in my opinion THIS IS A SAFETY ISSUE !! raw fuel being poured out on a hot generator engine. That being said, if your having problems with flooding this should be something that needs to be checked. I have dealt with Onan before and as everyone I'm sure knows trying to talk to them can be like pulling teeth. This is not an uncommon problem and there are numerous posts on this issue and how to fix it with a 2 to 300 dollar new carburator. My quest here is to inform everyone of raw fuel on a hot eng when trying to start it, I will not be taking this to Onan, but to the agency's that can put a recall on this dilemma.

[JRscooby]

RLS7201 wrote:
OP said his generator is 2 years old, so the materials in his carb are designed for E10. The tip if the needle is not rubber, it's viton. The float is plastic and there is no adjustment. The plastic will crack and break if you try to bend it.

Richard

I know nothing about anything that new. I understand that most manufacturers have reduced the adjustments on carbs. (In the early days of emission controls, adjust the air bleed, then cap to limit how bad the owner could screw it up)
But I have picked up plastic floats, that felt heavy compared the same floats in other carb. With no adjustment, a heavy float will cause high fuel level.
And it does not matter what the needle/seat is made of, dirt will hold it open.

[RLS7201]

OP said his generator is 2 years old, so the materials in his carb are designed for E10. The tip if the needle is not rubber, it's viton. The float is plastic and there is no adjustment. The plastic will crack and break if you try to bend it.

Richard

[wa8yxm]

First bad float adjustment I saw (Observed only did not touch) was on my Mother's chevy. another fixed it.

Oh my own cars I cleaned and adjusted.. I have a tendency to keep the service manuals handy on hardware I'm competent to work on... Alas modern fuel injected engines are a touch above my experience grade but Carbs. In my sleep (Well almost).

[JRscooby]

wa8yxm wrote:
I too have seen this in a Car/Van (both actually) The cause was NOT float failure but needle valve failure.. and the cause of that turned out to be fuel pump failure.

The fuel pump diaphragm was flaking away and with a tiny piece of rubber got into the needle valve it could not close... Eventually the pump failed completly and then the problem .. went away.

I got real good at cleaning needle valves

deltabravo wrote:

wa8yxm wrote:
I too have seen this in a Car/Van (both actually) The cause was NOT float failure but needle valve failure..

I've seen it too.

Ehtanol in the fuel wrecks rubber parts in carbs that were designed prior to Ethanol. Ethanol in fuel has wrecked the carb on my DRZ400 three times.

Carb rebuild on power equipment / motorcycles is easy, providing you can buy the parts.

I have had issues with bad needle/seat, and bad floats. After a owner messed with it, the most frequent issue was bad adjustment of the float. (And yes, I have screwed it up myself) And the first bad float I ever found was on Mother's '63 Ford in '66. I expected to find dirt in the seat, but found the brass float was full of gasoline.

[westernrvparkow]

ksg5000 wrote:
I have had to replace floats in tractors/lawn mowers/chippers over the past 30+ years. Since all the floats are pretty much the same I am not surprised you occasionally get a bad one with Onan. If I had two year old Onan generator with bad float I would suggest talking to Onan rather than the govt.

They are just looking for solutions at the wrong government level. Onans are sold around the world. Instead of seeking redress with the US government they should seek compensation at the World Court in the The Hague, Netherlands. That would be much easier than buying a new float or having a small engine shop repair the problem.

[deltabravo]

wa8yxm wrote:
I too have seen this in a Car/Van (both actually) The cause was NOT float failure but needle valve failure..

I've seen it too.

Ehtanol in the fuel wrecks rubber parts in carbs that were designed prior to Ethanol. Ethanol in fuel has wrecked the carb on my DRZ400 three times.

Carb rebuild on power equipment / motorcycles is easy, providing you can buy the parts.

[wa8yxm]

I too have seen this in a Car/Van (both actually) The cause was NOT float failure but needle valve failure.. and the cause of that turned out to be fuel pump failure.

The fuel pump diaphragm was flaking away and with a tiny piece of rubber got into the needle valve it could not close... Eventually the pump failed completly and then the problem .. went away.

I got real good at cleaning needle valves

[Lynnmor]

It is almost impossible to buy many carburetor parts for Onan, just complete carburetors. If someone could provide a part number and a source it would be helpful to the OP.

[SidecarFlip]

Buy and install yourself. easy peasy.

[Tyler0215]

Any small engine shop will sell a float and gasket. Install both and the problem is solved.

[K_Charles]

Carburetor floats can be fixed, repaired or bought. You don't need to buy a carburetor to fix the problem. If it quits the fuel pump will stop. If it doesn't start in a few seconds stop at see why. Not much fuel is lost when it isn't running.

[ksg5000]

I have had to replace floats in tractors/lawn mowers/chippers over the past 30+ years. Since all the floats are pretty much the same I am not surprised you occasionally get a bad one with Onan. If I had two year old Onan generator with bad float I would suggest talking to Onan rather than the govt.

[romore]

I am a retired small engine tech and have seen this many times over the years. There is little anyone can do to prevent the problem short of buying a diesel which is fuel injected although the plastic floats are an improvement over brass.