I have bad fuel right now myself. Same mixture I've stored in the same can to be used with my chain saws. The chain saws both run but very ****y due the contaminated fuel. Fuel was out in the barn for too long.
How old was the fuel in the generator?
Great!My generator has been repaired. The problem was not obvious from the outside looking in and not something I would tackle myself having never worked on this type of motor before. The problem was a nut that came loose for a rocker arm controlling the valves. That nut came completely off and fell into the lower part of the engine. Without the valve working, the engine stopped and would never restart.
This repair required the generator portion to be removed and the engine opened once the valve cover was taken off and it was found the nut had fallen off. SERELEC recommended Orlando Plantas to repair it. Orlando charged $100 US for the repair. No new parts were needed, just the removal of a slight burr on the end of one valve so it would slide smoothly. Orlando set the valve adjustment and it started up and is running well. This problem happened at only 150 hours of use.
Great!
But how weird is a loose rocker arm nut?
no doubt about it .. not torqued down properly.Must have been like that when it left the factory and it just worked its way off from not being torqued down properly. Lots of bolts needed to be turned to get at it.
Larger gap for more expansion due to increased heat, being air cooled?The original valve lash adjustment was around this time for the engine. I think it was the nut that locks the adjustment in place. It has less than 150 hours on it. When Orlando adjusted the valve lash, I noticed he did not use the settings originally told to me by the seller. I asked him about that and he explained that our ambient temperature meant the adjustment had to be different to burn cleaner. He would have used the suggested setting if it were water cooled and not air cooled. I will say, it does run cleaner at the setting he made.
Larger gap for more expansion due to increased heat, being air cooled?
It is an Apollo AED6500SR which is like many generators from China like the Aurora AGI6800SDE. It has a CF186F single cylinder diesel engine about 440CC which stopped running. I changed the fuel filter, but it might have a dirty injector.
I learned an interesting trick if you can't get a diesel to run. *You spray green Baygon in the intake. *Crank it over and if your engine is intact it will run!
I learned this from a Dominican mechanic.
It was running for about an hour. Then it started to labor for about 10 to 15 seconds and it stopped running.
There is only a simple plastic in line fuel filter. No water separator. It has only about 200 hours total on it over 3 years.
But when I need it, I like to have it.
The problem I have with working on it is that I do not have easy access to the engine. I cannot find a way to get the cover off the unit (it has a shroud) over it. I removed all of the visible bolts holding the cover to the chassis and I still cannot lift it off.
How long has the gas been in the generator. You can try putting some dry gas or gas treatment and then try to start it.
i think its the inverse ..
Since there is not a radical difference in operating Temp from " cold" to full operating temp in a tropical setting like the DR, as opposed to like CANADA at below Zero Cold start Temps
, you can therefore probably tighten up the tolerances and not worry about a Valve staying open ( inefficient). So if it calls for .010" intake, you can probably safely go .008" as an example
Assuming the settings are being done while the engine is COLD..
but then again, the AIR Cooled vs Water cooled throws another parameter into the Mix which I am not familiar with, and the Aircooled might be running a LOT hotter than Water cooled ?
however this should not be as drastic as the COLD COLD start in a northern Climate going to full Operating temp vs the Tropical Climate going to Air Cooled " running temps"
I would imagine there is NEVER a Rocker RATTLE sound when they start any Diesels in the DR..
that is strictly a Cold Climate thing.