Generator FAIL!

[Bruce's]

This is the last one I had ,manual shift ,awd ,it saddened me to cut it apart for the engine ,but that is why I bought it .

[2LZ]

Oh man...clean. Too bad you had to cut it apart.

We bought two on the same day. One my carpool partner bought (the silver one to the left) and one for us. How can you beat 20k each for a pair of fairly loaded 4WD's? Love the remote start and heated seats on a snowy morning. It handles snow like it's not even there. I have yet to need to lock it in because the AWD takes over by itself! More importantly, the other nice days of the year, I can drop by Lowes on my way home from work and fit 8' lumber in it with the hatch closed (fold-flat front seat), to save me a town trip the next morning. Most useful vehicle I've ever owned that didn't suck huge amounts of fuel.

We've accumulated over 150k between the two, super-commuting since we bought them at the end of 2014 without as much as a hiccup. I'd not hesitate to buy another.

Oh! The generator! I'll post a review on it once I have it in place and going.....

[pistolclass]

I have a 2009 liberty and it is a tank.

[Bruce's]

I bought a 4 cylinder Dodge Journey with a blown head gasket ,The 2.4 in them are supposedly bullet proof .When I removed the head bolts ,I could of taken them out with my fingers .I guess who or whatever assembled the engine didn't do it proper ,and the threads came out with the bolts on everything except the outside ones .I had a hard time ( the threads don't start until about 3 inches below the top of the block ) but was able to install helicoils in the aluminum block ,but while torquing the head down Something didn't feel right and I removed the bolts again with some more threads .I then just went looking and found the green jeep running and driving great for $500.00 and put the jeep engine in the Journey .I only needed the engine ,and the jeep was 5 hours away ,I saw no pictures of the jeep so I brought a trailer thinking it was going to be a piece of crap ,but as you can see ,it was in very nice condition ,and I could of easily driven it home .I put it up for sale ,but still needed to get an engine in the Journey so I reluctantly cut it apart .
The other one wouldn't crank over .Two winters ago we had a brutally cold winter ,and a Patriot popped up for $1000.00 with a new battery ,alternator ,and a bunch of stuff that didn't work for the guy ,and he was not going to work outside in the cold on it . I took a chance ,and was able to get it running in a few minutes just by jumping the starter with a screwdriver .Everything on the Patriot goes through the fuse box /body control module under the hood .I pulled out the module ,opened it up ,figured out where the starter relay was and repaired the soldered connection to it .I sold that one for $5000.00 .

[2LZ]

Originally Posted by Bruce's

I bought a 4 cylinder Dodge Journey with a blown head gasket ,The 2.4 in them are supposedly bullet proof .When I removed the head bolts ,I could of taken them out with my fingers .I guess who or whatever assembled the engine didn't do it proper ,and the threads came out with the bolts on everything except the outside ones .I had a hard time ( the threads don't start until about 3 inches below the top of the block ) but was able to install helicoils in the aluminum block ,but while torquing the head down Something didn't feel right and I removed the bolts again with some more threads .I then just went looking and found the green jeep running and driving great for $500.00 and put the jeep engine in the Journey .I only needed the engine ,and the jeep was 5 hours away ,I saw no pictures of the jeep so I brought a trailer thinking it was going to be a piece of crap ,but as you can see ,it was in very nice condition ,and I could of easily driven it home .I put it up for sale ,but still needed to get an engine in the Journey so I reluctantly cut it apart .
The other one wouldn't crank over .Two winters ago we had a brutally cold winter ,and a Patriot popped up for $1000.00 with a new battery ,alternator ,and a bunch of stuff that didn't work for the guy ,and he was not going to work outside in the cold on it . I took a chance ,and was able to get it running in a few minutes just by jumping the starter with a screwdriver .Everything on the Patriot goes through the fuse box /body control module under the hood .I pulled out the module ,opened it up ,figured out where the starter relay was and repaired the soldered connection to it .I sold that one for $5000.00 .

Nice score! The 2.4 WGE motor is bullet proof....and they changed it to a single cam "Tiger Shark" motor in '15 in all the other Mopar rigs. I hope it does just as well for them.

['16 TT250]

Being that the Honda ran a while before quitting I think it's unlikely to be gunk in the carb. I'd start with checking spark, and even a plug that looks ok can be bad so if the spark is weak/dead try another plug before thinking it's something worse.

I have the little China two smoke gen for easy emergency use, but around here it's odd to have power out for more than a few minutes. I've had the gen for about 5 years and used it once. I didn't really need power as I keep lanterns & other stuff around, but I wanted to watch TV and have 'real' lighting. I wish I coulda heard the neighbors, I'll bet there was some WTF? going on with my house being the only one on the block lit up. None of the neighbors I know have a generator. I also have the motorhome gen if I need more power, many people have RVs and don't realize that it can power a house in a time of need.

Since we don't have needs around here people don't prepare, turns out that we pampered city folk are lazy/ignorant. None of my neighbors have water, food, power options, guns....none of the things I consider basic needs to have on hand. During that couple hour outage I took a short walk around and houses had dim candle light, or flashlights, or darkness. I was amazed that nobody even had a camping lantern to run. I took a lantern to one neighbor because he had nothing effective to light the house with, 5 people sitting in darkness with no clue what to do.

I'll try to not write a novel next time if you need some help with diagnosing your Honda.

[2LZ]

Well, I got the new generator living in its new home, under the back deck (north side). It should keep the elements at bay. Because of splashing mud, I decided to screw on a piece of ply across the front. I want to keep this baby nice and ready. Got just 12 gauge cord running into the kitchen for now. Thinking of doing something more permanent this Spring, regarding getting power inside.

Possible inline switch box probably next year but they're kinda pricey. I'd like to tap into my well. Water is a good thing. Right now we keep our Walmart pool filled (and sometimes frozen) and run buckets. Better than nothing.

Ran the trickler to an outlet under the house...and now after all of this, I have a guarantee that we'll never see another power outage this Winter! New generator, the perfect scarecrow.

['16 TT250]

After the test run/break in I'd make sure the carb is empty. I actually drain the tank on mine since I know it'll likely sit a LONG time between uses. Unless your scarecrow effect works that probably won't be an issue for you, but fuel stabilizer for sure.

[2LZ]

Originally Posted by '16 TT250

After the test run/break in I'd make sure the carb is empty. I actually drain the tank on mine since I know it'll likely sit a LONG time between uses. Unless your scarecrow effect works that probably won't be an issue for you, but fuel stabilizer for sure.

Yep, already did the break-in and added the Sta-bil. My habit with generators has been to keep just a little stabilized gas in it and run it once a month. Then, when I really need it, put some more fresh gas in it and let 'er run. If the power outage doesn't last too long, re-add Sta-bil for what's left over and then run it again once a month. Seems to work out pretty well.

[JerryHawk250]

Originally Posted by 2LZ

Well, I got the new generator living in its new home, under the back deck (north side). It should keep the elements at bay. Because of splashing mud, I decided to screw on a piece of ply across the front. I want to keep this baby nice and ready. Got just 12 gauge cord running into the kitchen for now. Thinking of doing something more permanent this Spring, regarding getting power inside.

Possible inline switch box probably next year but they're kinda pricey. I'd like to tap into my well. Water is a good thing. Right now we keep our Walmart pool filled (and sometimes frozen) and run buckets. Better than nothing.

Ran the trickler to an outlet under the house...and now after all of this, I have a guarantee that we'll never see another power outage this Winter! New generator, the perfect scarecrow.

Nice job! I fabricated my own Generator Lockout similar to this
http://www.homedepot.com/p/Eaton-Gen...Q&gclsrc=aw.ds and back feed through my panel. The lockout is a lot cheaper than a ATS. Give you an option on what you want to power I the house just by turning on what circuits you want to use.

[BlackBike]

Originally Posted by JerryHawk250

Nice job! I fabricated my own Generator Lockout similar to this
http://www.homedepot.com/p/Eaton-Gen...Q&gclsrc=aw.ds and back feed through my panel. The lockout is a lot cheaper than a ATS. Give you an option on what you want to power I the house just by turning on what circuits you want to use.

Nice find...Can't quite figure out its setup but understand the concept. Nice that it inherently safe for back-feed issue. Looks like a nice cheap solution. I know those auto switcher things are big bucks.

[Dakados]

I knew a ranch type family in the back woods of middle Alberta in the days before solar was practical that ran their entire home and a small mill from an old diesel VW Rabbit.
It ran 24/7 two 12v alternators, 16 deep cycle batteries as back-up. Everything in the house ran on 12v DC and the mill would run off a chained front wheel.

It was really something to see.
Dak

[katoranger]

Originally Posted by Dakados

I knew a ranch type family in the back woods of middle Alberta in the days before solar was practical that ran their entire home and a small mill from an old diesel VW Rabbit.
It ran 24/7 two 12v alternators, 16 deep cycle batteries as back-up. Everything in the house ran on 12v DC and the mill would run off a chained front wheel.

It was really something to see.
Dak

That sounds more my style. Should have kept my rabbit.

I am looking for a pto generator that I can run off my tractor.

[2LZ]

Originally Posted by BlackBike

Nice find...Can't quite figure out its setup but understand the concept. Nice that it inherently safe for back-feed issue. Looks like a nice cheap solution. I know those auto switcher things are big bucks.

You can find auto switchers between 5-600.00....not including the electrician to install. I can do a lot of electrical work but I'd rather leave something like this to a licensed, bonded guy.

I'm DEFINTIELY looking into the manual setup that JH250 mentioned. It's just a lockout plate that won't allow you to switch back to street power if the generator is running. You still need to have the generator tapped into the main house power though. I'd hire a guy for that also. Don't want any "county" problems. Unfortunately, the Humble 2LZ Abode is front and center on a main road. I have to be real careful on what needs a permit and what doesn't....unlike my neighbor who has an entire grove of pines, oaks and cedars between his house and anything.

[JerryHawk250]

Originally Posted by 2LZ

You can find auto switchers between 5-600.00....not including the electrician to install. I can do a lot of electrical work but I'd rather leave something like this to a licensed, bonded guy.

I'm DEFINTIELY looking into the manual setup that JH250 mentioned. It's just a lockout plate that won't allow you to switch back to street power if the generator is running. You still need to have the generator tapped into the main house power though. I'd hire a guy for that also. Don't want any "county" problems. Unfortunately, the Humble 2LZ Abode is front and center on a main road. I have to be real careful on what needs a permit and what doesn't....unlike my neighbor who has an entire grove of pines, oaks and cedars between his house and anything.

Depending on how your breaker panel laid out it easy to fabricate the lockout out of heavy gauge sheet metal or even Plexiglas. Google generator lockout picture to give you some ideas how to fabricate. I installed a 30 amp twist lock box on the out side my house and ran some #6 wire that I had laying around to a 30 amp breaker. So when I have a power outage I just roll out my generator and plug in the cord to the box. I turn off the main breaker and HVAC breaker then slide the lock out up so I can turn on the generator breaker.