engine dies

14 years ago

I have a nikko generator with jiangdong engine. It starts easily and runs perfectly until it dies suddenly.

I have: tried to clean carb jets, sprayed lots of carb cleaner into the carb, and just tried loosening the gas tank cover and the only change is that it will now run perhaps 3 minutes before suddenly dying.

Now, if it's a carb problem, shouldn't it die slowly as the gas winds down, rather than suddenly just stopping?

And, what else might it be? Cleaning the carb had the result of it now running a few minutes while before it might run 5 seconds before dying.

Help appreciated!

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Comments (4)

tomplum
14 years ago
Try an ounce of Seafoam (fuel system cleaner) in the tank w/ fresh fuel. As long as it is up and running, you have a chance. Has this sat for a while? If it doesn't improve- disassemble the carb and remove the emulsion tube and jet in the stem of the carb. I'm not sure if the gen has a low oil shut off feature- so know the oil level is up too.
redoctobyr
14 years ago
I have a Generac generator, with a Generac engine. When I bought it, it would start, run 5-10 seconds, then shut off abruptly, while lighting the low-oil light. It turned out the oil pressure sensor switch had failed. With a new switch, (or the switch disconnected, for troubleshooting) it ran great.

I only mention that because, if you got it running a few minutes at a time now, my guess is it's not a low-oil-shutoff type of problem. You should still check the oil level, of course, just to be safe.

Agreed on trying the Seafoam. Maybe you can draw enough into the carb to clean it out gradually from the inside. If I recall correctly, the Seafoam package talks about 2 oz per gallon, for cleaning the fuel system.
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jamesg
Original Author
14 years ago
Well, went and gave it another try. I started and shut off the engine a few times, pulled the fuel to the carb--not the problem. Then I started and shut it off a few times and decided it was dying just as though I had shut it off.

Started looking at the wiring, and when I found one going into the crankcase area, I had a good feeling. Until reading your responses, I was unaware of that sensor. In my case it turns out that the oil sensor is working. The engine was a little low on oil, and the ground where I have used it has often been less than flat. So that explains the inconsistencies.

I added a little oil and it seems that it's running fine now. A big thanks for your help. It's always nice to have someone better informed or more experienced who is willing to share their expertise! Yes, and I will change the oil very soon.
rcmoser
14 years ago
Advice from the OIL CHANGING NERD. Old man once told me NEVER intially start an engine without checking the oil and gas. I was 9 at the time. I have never ever once failed to do this. I have never had engine failure let along oil related problems. But I am the oil Checking/changing nerd.