Kohler 6.5 fouls plugs after 30 minutes...

It pulls fuel from the right main tank. Mains are Marine Power 454’s (super fuel efficient�&#56841

I have Lucas fuel injector cleaner in the main tanks right now and I plan on throwing another bottle in there with my next fill up.

Fuel is whatever they sell at the marine. I think it’s ethonol free?

I’m 3 1/2 hrs away from the boat, so far when we’ve on then boat, I’ve set aside a few hours to work on the gen but so far it’s been gathering information more than actually wrenching, aside from throwing plugs at it.

Both plugs look identical, so both plugs are getting the same fuel mixture. The plugs in that picture had very little use, but we’re fouled. I saved them, I’ll clean them and install them and I bet they’ll work.

So my brother has a kit car that uses a Subaru turbo 4 cylinder. It was idling one day as he was still sorting it out and it just died. It was running rich. It wouldn’t fire. For months we checked every single thing we could think of to figure out why it had no spark. Finally my dad pulled a plug and even though it looked fine, he sprayed carb cleaner on it and then we had spark. We replaced the plugs and it started right up. I honestly don’t understand how a plug that looks like what I pictured can be fouled, but it was.

Maybe I’ll just keep running cleaner through it and run the gen as much as I can. The one thing I do know is the PO never ran it, which is probably why I’m dealjng with this right now.

The boat is for sale. We’re going to be moving up to a larger boat with diesel, so hopefully I don’t have to deal with a gas generator much longer.

Thanks guys for your help. I think the plan is to run cleaner through it as and see if that helps, if not I’ll pull the carb and take it apart.

Just pull the carb and re-build it (order the parts before you go down), or at the very least take it down and clean it up as well as you can. And then run that thing hard and for as long as you can, put a good load on it, nothing worse for those Kohler's than sitting (or any gen really). What kind of boat are you trading up to?

boatruptcy said:

Just pull the carb and re-build it (order the parts before you go down), or at the very least take it down and clean it up as well as you can. And then run that thing hard and for as long as you can, put a good load on it, nothing worse for those Kohler's than sitting (or any gen really). What kind of boat are you trading up to?

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We really like 47’ Jefferson sun Bridges or something comprobable. There are a few with 3 staterooms which we really like. Just tough finding one in our price range that’s in decent shape.

Steve91T said:

We really like 47’ Jefferson sun Bridges or something comprobable. There are a few with 3 staterooms which we really like. Just tough finding one in our price range that’s in decent shape.

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Cool, Im up the street from you in Cornelius and looked at doing the same thing on the weekend, bigger boat to take the family to. I have a two year old and teenagers so it's tough to get the schedules worked out, settled for an Albin on Lake Norman for now. Good luck on the gen.

boatruptcy said:

Cool, Im up the street from you in Cornelius and looked at doing the same thing on the weekend, bigger boat to take the family to. I have a two year old and teenagers so it's tough to get the schedules worked out, settled for an Albin on Lake Norman for now. Good luck on the gen.

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Oh no kidding! I’ll have to look for you on the lake. M

When we were looking for boats, we only looked at gas boats that could be shipped. We had no idea how we were going to like boating on the coast, and the travel to get to and from. Plus we weren’t sure how our 3 year old was going to like it. Our plan was to do the coast thing for a year or two then ship it to Norman. But we love it so much. I wish I could afford to bring the Mainship to Norman and also have something on the coast, but I can’t.

What’s nice about our area is you can have a boat anywhere from Charleston to Wilmington and it’s all just a 3 1/2 hr drive away. It’s really not that bad. And the amount of boat and fun that we can have in just a 3 day weekend is pretty crazy. It’ll be more difficult as our kids get older (4 yr old little girl and a 1 month old little boy), but we figure the experiences they are having is worth it.

Every time we go, about once a month, it’s like a vacation. The car shuffle is the only thing that sucks, but that’s only when you are changing locations. In another week or two we are going to move the boat from Myrtle to Wilmington, so we are going to rent a car from here to myrtle, then again from Wilmington to home. But as much as the shuffle sucks, the journey is really fun.

Our plan is to get something larger with diesels and explore Florida, keys and the Bahamas. We can fly for free as long as there are open seats, so we’ll take advantage of that and keep the boat in larger cities that have plenty of flights to and from. It’ll add a bit of a stress, but I think it’ll be worth it.

I’d find a young man who services small engines to have a look at it. He might start with cleaning the carb.

My son (small engine mechanic) cleaning the carb on my Merc 20 hp 4-stroke. It took him 30 minutes or less, once he had it off. Use Carb Cleaner. He says you cannot effectively clean the carb with an additive.




Jim

JDCAVE said:

I’d find a young man who services small engines to have a look at it. He might start with cleaning the carb.

My son (small engine mechanic) cleaning the carb on my Merc 20 hp 4-stroke. It took him 30 minutes or less, once he had it off. Use Carb Cleaner. He says you cannot effectively clean the carb with an additive.

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Jim

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I agree. Injector cleaner won’t do anything about trash clogging a jet. I’ll take the carb apart tomorrow and blow everything out.

Once gas origin varnish has formed a spray cleaner or gas tank additive is useless.
If there is actual dirt inside the carb. a "cleaner" will not remove it.

Take the carb off and deal with it properly. A real soak in actual carb cleaner. Just be carefull to protect your hands, rubber gloves, as the chemicals are strong and will attack your skin. Read the directions. From a local Napa.

C lectric said:

Once gas origin varnish has formed a spray cleaner or gas tank additive is useless.
If there is actual dirt inside the carb. a "cleaner" will not remove it.

Take the carb off and deal with it properly. A real soak in actual carb cleaner. Just be carefull to protect your hands, rubber gloves, as the chemicals are strong and will attack your skin. Read the directions. From a local Napa.

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Yep, I agree. I’m on the boat now. Gen starts and runs great unless I turn on an AC. It can’t handle the load, starts surging and dies. Hope I find something in there. I’ll post pics tomorrow.

A boat on my marina had somewhat similar genset symptoms,though diesel. Load would cause it to blow black smoke, emit burning smells, and die.Turned out not an engine issue but a problem driving the generation end, making excessive demand on the engine. YMMV.

BruceK said:

A boat on my marina had somewhat similar genset symptoms,though diesel. Load would cause it to blow black smoke, emit burning smells, and die.Turned out not an engine issue but a problem driving the generation end, making excessive demand on the engine. YMMV.

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I hope my mileage does very because that sounds expensive!

I’ll take another video tomorrow before I take it apart.

C lectric said:

Once gas origin varnish has formed a spray cleaner or gas tank additive is useless.
If there is actual dirt inside the carb. a "cleaner" will not remove it.

Take the carb off and deal with it properly. A real soak in actual carb cleaner. Just be carefull to protect your hands, rubber gloves, as the chemicals are strong and will attack your skin. Read the directions. From a local Napa.

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I disagree with your statement: "Once gas origin varnish has formed a spray cleaner or gas tank additive is useless".

Used straight, kept on for hours to days: Berryman B-12 Chemtool cleaner [spray or liquid] will strip [i.e. dissolve] most all coating items. It's a great additive to gasoline tank for a general fuel line cleaner too! Been using it for many, many years!

Fair enough. I have never seen it where I live so it may be one of those things available depending upon where you live.
My experience has been as I stated. You have found a good product.

C lectric said:

Fair enough. I have never seen it where I live so it may be one of those things available depending upon where you live.
My experience has been as I stated. You have found a good product.

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I'm surprised that Berryman B-12 Chemtool cleaner is not available where you live. NAPA stores up there? Can also be ordered on line.

B-12 Chemtool's ingredients are bad-ass. Toluene will dissolve most anything. - Use rubber gloves [although it can melt rubber] and don't breath it... have good ventilation! I'm a product user only and not affiliated with the company at all.


Berryman Products HEST Test [High Energy Solvent Test] - This link is a shocker!

I looked it up. GOogle. I may have seen it but not payed any attention. I do still clean the odd carburettor but for the most part they are small and when they need it , they really need it so I don't fool around, get out the soaker cleaner and leave it overnight.

Tried Google some more. Napa, Canadian Tire does not seem to carry it not does Walmart. According to a 2 yr old question on the Berryman site they do not have a distributor in Canada, definitely not in the Vancouver area.

Oh well, There are products that simply are not available here due to language and labelling requirements. Must be labelled in English AND Quebecois.
Rule quit selling bilge cleaner years ago for the same reasons. Many other products, if available, are difficult to find.

My old Gunk carb cleaner still works but even that I had to pester the local Napa to bring in a gallon for me.

I'll think about looking for it the next time we travel.

C lectric said:

I looked it up. GOogle. I may have seen it but not payed any attention. I do still clean the odd carburettor but for the most part they are small and when they need it , they really need it so I don't fool around, get out the soaker cleaner and leave it overnight.

Tried Google some more. Napa, Canadian Tire does not seem to carry it not does Walmart. According to a 2 yr old question on the Berryman site they do not have a distributor in Canada, definitely not in the Vancouver area.

Oh well, There are products that simply are not available here due to language and labelling requirements. Must be labelled in English AND Quebecois.
Rule quit selling bilge cleaner years ago for the same reasons. Many other products, if available, are difficult to find.

My old Gunk carb cleaner still works but even that I had to pester the local Napa to bring in a gallon for me.

I'll think about looking for it the next time we travel.

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Years ago I purchased a "barn find" Pink color 1955 Cadillac Coupe DeVille. Not been started for nearly two decades. After making sure the engine's piston rings etc were well lubed and had turned her over first by hand crank... then by starter; I put some gasoline into the carb. No fire at all.

I then took the carb off and set it in a 5 gallon metal bucket containing few gallons gasoline and one full canister of Berryman's B-12 Chemtool. I'd removed needle valve screw/pins and also poured straight B-12 into the carb's air channel before placing in the solution bucket.

That carb sat for well over a week. The gasoline/B-12 solution became very dark. I pulled out the carb and began dunking it in and out of the solution... the liquid turned nearly black . Then, a couple times, I changed the solution to pure gas and continued dunking till color was clear.

I put the carb back on, primed her... and engine quickly started. Being Scotch of nature I poured two full cans Berryman B-12 into gas tank and then poured all the solutions for cleaning the carb into tank with top off of new gasoline from 5 gal gas tanks.

Results were great! 331 ci powerful old engine ran like a charm after tune up, carb performed well, gas in tank I'd mixed gave no problem.

I always have a can or two of B-12 on hand!

I just got done messing with the carb. I found a little dirt in the bottom of the bowl. I cleaned it out and everything else I could. I didn’t find anything but I know it doesn’t take much. Blew out jet and all the openings with carb cleaner. The float looked fine. But my gaskets are terrible. I’m thinking that’s causing my issues. I put a light coat of oil on the gaskets and put it back together. I did notice there isn’t a hose clamp on the intake boot. While this could allow unfiltered air in, could it cause an issue with the way it runs? I don’t think so.

I’m quick at pulling the carb now, I can have it off in 5 minutes. I think I’ll order a rebuild kit for the next time I’m here.

Here are some pics. That bold with the two O rings goes into the bottom of the bowl.


Can anyone point me in the right direction for a rebuild kit?

At the top of the 3rd picture sure looks like a mixture adjustment screw.
A manual would probably help.

High Wire said:

At the top of the 3rd picture sure looks like a mixture adjustment screw.
A manual would probably help.

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You’re right....didn’t even think to try it. I’ll give it a turn and see what happens

Normally that mixture adjustment screw affects idle speed adjustment only. Once the carb is off idle, which is it certainly should be when pushing a load, I doubt that screw will have much effect. but never hurts to try.

As for chemicals, I agree with B-12 and also agree with techron. Both work well. But I've found times when the tiny little holes in small carbs get so solidly packed, chemicals by themselves just don't get it done.

I've got a set of the little assorted welding tip cleaners that I can pretty much adapt to any hole in a carb/jet/needle jet. You can get those anywhere...cheap. If you take it apart again, i would make certain to clean out every hole you can find manually, but running some sort of small wire through it. Be a bit careful not to hog out the holes, but making sure they are clean is not that difficult.

One last kind of goofy idea. i've actually seen motorcycle fuel lines collapse internally. Old lines that don't resist alcohol well can kind of prolapse in on themselves, looking great outside, but being a mess inside. If you're shutting down under load, when the unit should be using the most fuel, maybe its not the small stuff, but bigger, fuel line issues.

good luck

toni

We’re going to the boat next week to move it from Myrtle beach to Wilmington. I’d like to get a rebuild kit for the carb since the gaskets and orings are obviously bad. Since that’s a known issue, I want to start there. And it’ll only take me about 30 minutes to do. I’ve been searching but not finding a rebuild kit.


Can anyone help me out? I need these gaskets by middle of next week.

Thank you

If you go to the Westerbeke site you can find the whole suite of manuals and documents for your generator assuming it is an 6.5 BCG. You can get part numbers and find them for sale using Google.

The electric fuel pump has a large strainer in the bottom cap. Has that been cleaned?


Home
Carbureted Gasoline Generators
6.5 BCG
Technical Documents

Here is the link to their website.
https://www.westerbeke.com/category/6.5BCG/5399ADA2DAF73A26740BF636#techdocs........

Steve91T said:

We’re going to the boat next week to move it from Myrtle beach to Wilmington. I’d like to get a rebuild kit for the carb since the gaskets and orings are obviously bad. Since that’s a known issue, I want to start there. And it’ll only take me about 30 minutes to do. I’ve been searching but not finding a rebuild kit.


Can anyone help me out? I need these gaskets by middle of next week.

Thank you

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Jack's Small Engine carries a wide assortment of rebuild kits. Also you could do a search on Ebay for a new carburetor if you have the Kohler engine number or the carburetor part number from the Kohler manual. I have purchased many carbs on Ebay usually for under $20 delivered

squrit brake cleaner into the jets it works great

High Wire said:

If you go to the Westerbeke site you can find the whole suite of manuals and documents for your generator assuming it is an 6.5 BCG. You can get part numbers and find them for sale using Google.

The electric fuel pump has a large strainer in the bottom cap. Has that been cleaned?


Home
Carbureted Gasoline Generators
6.5 BCG
Technical Documents

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Sorry, Kohler, Duh!

Generator runs like a champ! So I ordered a carb gasket kit and brought it with me. The paper gasket was the wrong one, so I just oiled up the original and reused it. But the rubber O rings were correct. I replaced the two on the fuel bowl bolt and the large rubber o ring for the bowl itself. The ones that came off were plastic like and totally falling apart. Unfortunately the generator wouldn’t start. No fire. So I pulled the plugs and sprayed them with carb cleaner. I think it acted more like a starting fluid than anything. I got it to start but then it starve for fuel. I did this several times with no change. I pulled the carb back off and found the fuel bowl dry! So then I put the carb back on and pulled the fuel lines and hit the starter. No fuel. So then I pulled the other cover, well first I grabbed another beer, then I pulled the other cover to access the fuel pump and disconnected the electrical plug. I ran two wires from a battery directly to the fuel pump connector to make sure it had life. Sure enough it turned on. Since I couldn’t telll which was positive and negative, I tried both. I’m sure it just spun one way then the other. Feeling defeated, I plugged the connector back in and hit the starter one more time. It started right up and ran smoother than it ever has! My wife and I just looked at each other in disbelief. We were at anchor and getting this generator running was the difference between being able to make dinner or going to bed hungry, not to mention hot and sweaty. We carefully started loading it up and it wasn’t surging at all! This time my wife brought me a beer. It ran all night powering one AC and the rest of the small things. The next day we shut it down, boated to our next anchorage and again, it fired right up and handled the load. I did notice a slight surging when under the load of the Ac compressor, but nothing like before.

I guess the bad orings were allowing air into the carb and the no start after was just an air locked fuel pump.
Thanks guys for your help!

Greetings,
Mr. 91. Good news. So, what's next on the list?

RT Firefly said:

Greetings,
Mr. 91. Good news. So, what's next on the list?

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On Sunday I’m going to spend the day working on the boat. I want to figure out why my tachs will jump and read high every now and then. I’m thinking bad grounds. Also the morning of the 2nd day of anchoring, I must have developed a small fuel leak from the generator. Covers are going to come off and I’m going to figure out where it’s coming from. I’m guessing a fuel line or something. Then, if I have time, I’m going to get the buffer out and start making progress on bringing the gel coat back to life.

One more question. When running the generator when not moving, the exhaust exits out the small hole on the side of the boat. When underway, nothing comes out at all. Is it exiting through the main engine exhaust? Is that small hole just a secondary exhaust when stopped?

What stinks is when underway, you can’t hear the generator so you can’t tell if it’s still running. And we have no gauges at all. The only indication is to flip something on like the outlets and see if they work.