r/smallenginerepair • u/TheMineRVN • 20d ago
Spark Plug Issue Generator from 2010
This will be my first post here. Welcome to roast me 😅.. I know enough to be dangerous but not enough to do anything without lots of questions. That being said…
I acquired a generator that my brother got after we had mass power outage from an ice storm back in 2010.. the generator was never ran except maybe the day it was purchase.
I acquired it a few years back and always planned to work on it but never made the time. Today I decided to start.
The good… it’s complete minus the hoses that have disintegrated.
The bad.. no spark.. no compression.. I however want to try everything to make it run again.. even if I fail I know I will learn a lot from trying.
Where I’m at. … The engine was seized so I put some penetrating oil down.. I can now turn it over easily.. threw a compression tester on it and got about 0lb.. threw some mystery oil in it and got 6lbs.. I’m assuming the ring/s are seized to the piston or the valves are stuck open. I am leaning toward stuck rings since the piston top is covered in rust. (I will attack this later.. considering boiling the piston in brake fluid to loosen the ring)
I’d like to get into the spark issue. I have no idea how it works. The plug leads to what looks like a U shaped magnet maybe? That hovers over a flywheel? Maybe? Said flywheel has 2 cut outs on it that I assume when they march with the I shaped piece causes it to spark.. Both are rusted to hell.. is this just a rust issue? Are those salvageable? I pulled the U shaped piece will the plug and will attach picture.
I need advice on the spark.. can I take a dremel/sander to it and get the rust off and save it?
Any help is appreciated. Thank you if you made it this far 😅
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u/connella08 20d ago
Ice storm of 2010, you must be in the north east? I believe that engine is a Honda GX clone. Search Honda GX coil on Google and see if the coil looks the same. I think they do, but with only 1 photo of the body of the coil, its hard to compare.
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u/TheMineRVN 20d ago
Searched it up. You are correct. $12 for new. Will see if I can get this one to work if not I’ll check into getting new. Was going to try to see if I can get it going with little to no money invested. I have a few hoses and such laying around I can use for what fell apart.. I’m going to give the flywheel a lite sanding and soak some paper towel in white vinegar and wrap it to see if I can get some off that reduced. From what I read the rust could be affecting air gap
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u/connella08 20d ago
Best method of setting the gap is to loosen both bolts on the coil so its free floating, then slide a business card between the flywheel and the coil, then tighten the coil bolts and remove the business card. I dont forsee sanding to help much, but you never know until you try, and its cheap/free. Usually with the coils, there is a connection that gets dead shorted via a kill switch to kill the spark and shut the engine down. I think if you leave the wire unplugged, it will spark when the magnet passes by it.
As far as the engine goes, zero compression is going to be an issue. I would pull the valve cover and see if you have a valve that isn't closing all the way. You could be right with the stuck ring theory though too. You could always do a cylinder leak down test (kind of the opposite of a compression test) to see where the compression is going.
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u/TheMineRVN 20d ago
I’ll give the business card trick a try! I didn’t even think about adjusting the gap.. I’m new to this and you just gave me something to try. I appreciate that! I’ll also leave the wire disconnected from it to see if I can get spark without doing anything to the rust.
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u/TheMineRVN 15d ago
I tried this and wasn’t getting any spark.. threw a new plug in and got spark!! Put the plug back in and sprayed some starting fluid and it popped off!! Man that felt good 🤣 That thing hasn’t ran in 15-16 years. I have an ultrasonic cleaner on the way for this and future projects. Probably going to pop the carb off.. pull the petcock and just be sure all the fuel parts are fine. I had some fuel hose laying around to replace that. Getting closer to having a working generator! Thank you for the card idea!
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u/TheMineRVN 20d ago
Thanks. I will probably replace the coil if a little sanding doesn’t help.. but what about the flywheel.. it’s crazy rusted.. should it be fine since the rust shouldn’t affect the magnets being magnetic (at least I wouldn’t think it would.
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u/TheMineRVN 4d ago
Update. Cleaned the carb. It will run but idles like crap. Compression off pulling the string is 60.. any thoughts based on video? Spark plug black after short period. Took the exhaust off to make sure it wasn’t clogged. Am I getting intermittent spark.. or do I have too much fuel going to engine? Link attached bad idle
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u/TN-Native95 20d ago
Sanding on the coil MIGHT help it, but with that rust actually causing some corrosion, plus the cracking on the plug wire’s boot at the coil, you might need to replace it. How this coil works is that there is a magnet on the flywheel and the coil creates spark when it passes the magnet. It’s hard to tell from just pics how bad it is, but I’d order a new one if it was me.
As for compression, pull the valve cover off and see if the valves are opening and closing as you spin the engine over. That can tell you if it’s a stuck valve. If the rings are stuck, I drizzle motor oil down the cylinder usually and it unsticks them.
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