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Wen gen burning oil? blue/black smoke.What to check?

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cook

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Discussion starter · #1 ·
Guess this could go in many sections,sorry mods if any Karens complain.

Little Wen 2000w invertor gen,no clue how many hours,a bunch plus some.Thing is a workhorse as far as light sips gas,starts up,etc..but it may have earned its monies worth.

Blowing a lot of smoke.I'm far from a mechanic,but..

1)cleaned plug,not to too dirty,but wire brushed it,gapped.
2)drained fuel,cleaned carb bowl,not much sediment.Starts 1-2 pull
3)fresh oil,.8o liter synthetic,old didn't look bad
4)spark arrestor?/muffler?Heavy coating,pulled and solvent wire brush.

I'm willing to learn,thinking first guess bad rings worn letting oil get past?
Still starts right up.produces power,so don't want to screw it up jumping into something I have have no clue.
Once it totally dies ,I have no problem ripping into it.Took me a while,but learned if its broke,ain't got nutin to lose.

The smoke isn't super heavy,or continuous,but something is wrong.
 
#2 ·
cook said:
Guess this could go in many sections,sorry mods if any Karens complain.

Little Wen 2000w invertor gen,no clue how many hours,a bunch plus some.Thing is a workhorse as far as light sips gas,starts up,etc..but it may have earned its monies worth.

Blowing a lot of smoke.I'm far from a mechanic,but..

1)cleaned plug,not to too dirty,but wire brushed it,gapped.
2)drained fuel,cleaned carb bowl,not much sediment.Starts 1-2 pull
3)fresh oil,.8o liter synthetic,old didn't look bad
4)spark arrestor?/muffler?Heavy coating,pulled and solvent wire brush.

I'm willing to learn,thinking first guess bad rings worn letting oil get past?
Still starts right up.produces power,so don't want to screw it up jumping into something I have have no clue.
Once it totally dies ,I have no problem ripping into it.Took me a while,but learned if its broke,ain't got nutin to lose.

The smoke isn't super heavy,or continuous,but something is wrong.
Click to expand...
I don't know anything about a Little Wen, but burning oil like that would generally point to worn rings, or possibly worn valves/guides. My experience with small engines, mostly Briggs and Stratton, has been that if it is worn rings, normally the plug gets fouled and carboned pretty bad. Worn valves and guides letting oil past the stems usually don't seem to foul the plugs as badly. Your case may be entirely different though.
 
#5 ·
wildwes said:
I don't know anything about a Little Wen, but burning oil like that would generally point to worn rings, or possibly worn valves/guides. My experience with small engines, mostly Briggs and Stratton, has been that if it is worn rings, normally the plug gets fouled and carboned pretty bad. Worn valves and guides letting oil past the stems usually don't seem to foul the plugs as badly. Your case may be entirely different though.
Click to expand...
He has it right, rings are shot. Time for a new generator.
 
#9 ·
When was the last time it was run under a load? Sometimes that smoke will appear if it has not been used under load in awhile no matter if it's been run or not. The smoke on my diesel genny goes away after about half an hour under load.
 
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Discussion starter · #10 ·
4X4 said:
When was the last time it was run under a load? Sometimes that smoke will appear if it has not been used under load in awhile no matter if it's been run or not.
Click to expand...
4th of July ran all weekend,then back to back Helene and Milton,maybe 3 days each off and on.
Not perfect,but try to start it every month,use a circular saw(1 1/8 HP) as a load.
 
#12 ·
I doubt it's the rings, if you've never run out of oil and the oil was still at least somewhat in there, and you have enough compression to start easily and run, it ain't the rings.

What engine does that have? Honda? Robin? Kohler?

Also what color is the smoke? Oil will be blue.

I would start with the carb, do a complete clean and run wire through the jets to make sure they aren't partially plugged. Usually when small engines smoke, it's because they are running too rich, but it's hard to say without seeing it run.

Diagnosing on the internet is a crap shoot.
 
#13 ·
Sometimes an engine with a dirty carb will blow black smoke. Unburned gasoline. A carb kit and thoroughly cleaned (all the gas ports) and everything replaced along with properly adjusted low and hi speed jets will clear up and have it running like new. If its a B&S.
 
#15 ·
“If” the smoke is blueish, the oil control rings could either be worn or “stuck” as in filled with carbon. Obviously the compression rings are working as it runs. I would get it hot, pull the plug and pour a generous amount of Seafoam in the cylinder and let it sit for 3-4 hours. Then crank it a few times, install plug, change oil and fire it up.
 
#19 ·
rings or valves (or valve guides). If its a OHC then maybe you have a pushrod that came out of its socket and needs to be adjusted.
 
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#20 ·
Sounds to me like you have too much oil in it, I put a Desert Spoon too much in mine and it made it blow Blue Smoke, And My Generator was brand new at the Time and that was it's first oil change, Take out a spoon full of oil or Two and see if it stops smoking, These little engines don't take much to push them over the top,(y)

Hope that helps.
 
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