Honda 3000 with a stuck valve

[tgrfan2]

I have had my Honda 3000 for about eight years. I have never had a bit of trouble with it until this weekend. We dry camped last weekend running the AC a good bit. My 15K Carrier V usually keeps it turning half throttle or a little better after starting. I had no problems at all last weekend.

I hooked up Friday and started the gen to air up my bags. It skipped a few seconds, leveled off and ran fine off and on about six more hours Friday with no AC needed so mainly idling.

Saturday morning I started it and it died as I pushed the choke in slowly. When I tried to start it again I got the "stuck valve" symptoms.

We removed the valve cover and found the intake stuck open. After treating it to some WD 40 and some twisting and the push and pull it started and ran fine. We did the normal service due soon, replaced the plug which looked good, adjusted the valves etc. It started great and ran fine for 15 or so more hours Saturday and today.

I normally run on Econo but the gen has been worked pretty hard weekends since Labor Day running the AC etc.

Has anyone else had a problem with stuck valves? I have had the problem before on Briggs engines which weren't run regularly, but never a Honda. I started adding Marvel Mystery oil to the gas after the stuck valve and did the same on my Briggs engines. Any known problem with adding Marvel Mystery oil to the Honda's gas?

Thanks.

 

[jelag]

How old is your gen set... . I have an old 5K watt honda that works fine... its at least 20 years old... and I'm guessing doesn't have 200 hours on it... since this sits most of the time... we pull the plug and put a table spoon of oil in the cylinder and crank it a bit before we put it away...

I can only assume that your getting some dirt, rust on the valve stem when its sitting... . and that's the cause of your problem...

 

[NevadaBackroader]

My EU2000 lost compression with only 8 hours on it. The dealer replaced a cracked rocker arm and tried to charge me for the repair because he could tell that I had used "stale" gasoline. He told me any gas that was more than a week old is stale and voids the warranty. The gas I used was fresh from a heavily used pump on the 4th of July weekend. I threatened to call Honda and got him to do the repair under warranty. I'll bet the cracked rocker was caused by the stuck intake valve you mention. It has run perfectly for at least a 100 hours since.

 

[WestTN]

That is one stupid dealer. One week old is NOT stale. some smaller stations only get one delivery a week. Gasoline can easily be stored for a few months without ANY problems.

 

[tgrfan2]

How old is your gen set... . I have an old 5K watt honda that works fine... its at least 20 years old... and I'm guessing doesn't have 200 hours on it... since this sits most of the time... we pull the plug and put a table spoon of oil in the cylinder and crank it a bit before we put it away...



I can only assume that your getting some dirt, rust on the valve stem when its sitting... . and that's the cause of your problem...

Mine is eight years old but never sits over two weeks without running for 30 minutes or more. It has run over 100 hours the past six weeks.

 

[AMink]

When I got my 2000, they told me to never let it sit with gas in it. Unfortunately, Honda doesn't give you an easy way to drain the generator short of turning it upside down and pouring it out. At least not that I've found. With that in mind, I leave gas in it all year with Stabil and have never had a problem.