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.

 

He has it right, rings are shot. Time for a new generator.

 

Hard to diagnose that given what you already checked. By a spare and run this one until it dies and possibly get a carburetor rebuild kit to play with it???

 

Did you put synthetic oil in it from the beginning?

 

no,last 2 times

 

# 1 question, how much oil is it using when running?

 

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.

 

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.

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.

 

# 1 question, how much oil is it using when running?

# 1 question, how much oil is it using when running?

Don't know,just started at the end of Milton.Holds .7 liter,its clean and at level today,but just been looking at it,starting,not running for hours.

 

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.

 

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.

 

Exhaust colors.
White = coolant
Black = fuel
Blueish = oil
Think about this and relate to the plug's condition.
Migh need a carb cleaning, replaced or kit

 

“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.

 

Air filter? Didn't see it on your list. The crankcase vent is on the clean side of the air filter so a plugged filter will suck extra hard on the crank vent. Just take it out to test.

 

Good idea

 

Sure it’s clean gasoline and not 2 stroke?

 

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.

 

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,

Hope that helps.

 

Thanks for all the replies.
Yesterday(monday)drained the gas,put new in while I had a few minutes.
Still starts 2-3 pulls,runs wonkyish,little blue/black smoke,semi-steady,this weekend will go back thru all the suggestions,just have to figure out which one to start with.

 

Start easy with air filter. Do it while it’s running. Could even drain off a bit of oil while it’s running if you’re a risk taker but I wouldn’t. I would double check the proper amount of oil you should put in. If the air filter doesn’t fix it and running it on the low end of safe oil level doesn’t fix it I would start thinking about more likely internal components are the issue.

 

The air filter on these small engines gets soaked with oil from the crankcase vent hose. Also, all of these splash lubed engines recirculate wear metals and also dirt sucked in from the intake. This is why they don't last as long as pressure lubed engines with filters. I would look at the air filter, intake tract for oil residue and clean it out. If the air filter is oil soaked, this is the result of oil blowby but not the cause of the problem. Worn rings, cylinder head valve passages are probably worn if more than say 500 hrs on the engine. The Chinese engines in many cases don't have valve guides but instead the valves ride directly in the aluminum heads. Wear here increases oil blowby.

Changing engine oil at the manufacturer recommended intervals also increases internal wear issues due to the recirculation of wear materials. Changing oil at shorter intervals is a must. This is why I recommended to you in the past to install a magnet tipped dipstick and if so equipped a magnet tipped drain plug. Amazon.com: Dreyoo Replacement for 55201 Magnetic Oil Dipstick for Inverter Generator Compatible with Wen/Predator, Aluminum Generator Magnetic Oil Dipstick with O Ring, Silver (1 Pcs) : Automotive

And definitely don't use a suction pump to remove crankcase oil. The heavier sludge on the sump bottom containing metal wear debris isn't fully removed with the suction pumps. You have to drain the oil. I even add a little fresh oil and drain again before a full oil fill.

 

The Chinese engines in many cases don't have valve guides but instead the valves ride directly in the aluminum heads

This is pretty common with a lot of the cheaper small engines nowadays. I work mostly on flatheads, with them it is pretty easy to install valve guides. It should be just as easy, if not easier on a OHV engine, I just haven't ever done one.

 

The Hondas are the best if you want one of these small inverter generators to last. But, you won't find Hondas for the cheap prices I've found the Chinese clones. If relying on one of these as a sole source for backup power, spend the money for the Honda. Keep in mind, the Hondas have "wet" timing belts and if the belt needs changing, the engine requires near complete disassembly just to change the belt. Honda EU2200ITAN EU2200i - 1800 Watt Portable Inverter Generator w/ Bluetooth® & CO-MINDER™ 49-State

But again, Chinese built generators are cheap new and used. I have the older version of this one without C0 monitor and only paid $160 for it lightly used: A-iPower Portable Inverter Generator, 2300-Watt CO Sensor, Light-Weight With Telescopic Handle And Wheels - Sam's Club
Or: Genmax Portable Inverter Generator, 3000-Watt CO Sensor, Light-Weight With Telescopic Handle And Wheels - Sam's Club