Honda EU2000i Leaking Oil and Won't Run - Found in the Trash
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- Опубліковано 4 лют 2025
- Honda generators are known for their reliability. Could this one be the exception? Apparently the prior owner thought so because he threw it away. Even broken Honda's have value. Is this one broken? Lets find out.
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#HondaPower #GeneratorRepair #SmallEngineRepair #SmallEngine #DIY #Fixed #Troubleshooting #HowTo
Alternator, Bad Fuel, Bad Gas, Blue Smoke, Carburetor Cleaning, Carburetor, Clean Power, EU2000, EU2000i, Fixed, Fuel Contamination, Generator, Hertz, Honda Generator, Honda, How To, How-To, Leaking Oil, Load Test, Oil, Overfilled Oil, Repair, Small Engine, Smoking, Surging, THD, Total Harmonic Distortion, Troubleshooting, Water in Fuel, White Smoke, Will Not Start
Wow, don’t take it personally but Americans seem quite wasteful to me. Watching your’s and others videos and the condition that some machines are in when they’re left out for free or garbage collection just leaves me speechless, especially gas engined machines.
Maybe it’s the cheap initial cost that makes them easier to just toss. I have that same generator and here in Australia they were $1800 - $2200 AUD. The eu2200i has replaced the eu2000i but sell for around the same price. Looking at Walmart US the most expensive gas powered pressure washers are around $500US. In Australia it’s difficult to find a gas powered pressure washer for that price and those ones that are, are junk sold by the big box hardware stores. A 3200 psi Honda powered Karcher like mine is around $1500.
Admittedly even you were surprised that the Honda generator was dumped. Perhaps the previous owner tossed it out of frustration. The sad part is I’ll bet he’s running around telling everyone that Honda’s are junk. Obviously you proved they’re not.
Thankfully there are people like you that save this stuff from landfills.
Cheers from the expensive land down under. 🇦🇺
No offense taken. Its hard to believe. There are not many small engine shops in my area and the few that exist charge $100 an hour and months waiting for repair. Most end up in the trash because the cost to repair often exceeds the value. Honda's though are very different since that are expensive and hold there value. It is wasteful and thankfully there are a lot of people like me who pull this stuff from the trash or buy them really cheap and fix them up.
@@jcondon1 Yes, I forgot how much they cost to repair, and when they are relatively inexpensive to buy new it makes sense. 👍
Tom just found a $1,000 Stihl saw in the Australian trash. To be fair, it was really broken and the owner at least took it apart before giving up. ua-cam.com/video/PokCzW5ajns/v-deo.htmlsi=Ku8uC8X6p4Ki8WyS
I’m right there with ya! Realize that most people are not mechanically inclined and stuff like this just baffles them! Thank goodness you and I have some ingenuity and brains to fix and figure things out!!!
Most of the time, the repair shops will tell the customer it's cheaper to buy a new machine. That's why stuff like this gets thrown out.
A friend once told me that every lawnmower you see on the side of the road likely only needs minimal effort to get them going.
People toss away things often because no one has any skills left to fix it.
This is fact. I have picked up 3 over the years and the most I did was order a new carb from Amazon for $20. People have no skills or clue what to do and they don’t know where to go for a repair either. So for $200 they get a new one.
I"ve been using an early 90's Cub Cadet 2166 for 10yrs that some sold me for $50 because "it didn't run". Oil, plugs, cleaned carb, drained the fuel with a new filter and lines and cleaned the ignition stuff up with sandpaper. Runs like a top.
I have never bought a new lawnmower, including the one I used to cut grass as a kid in the early 70's. I can't tell you how many mowers I have thrown in the truck, got running, and given to friends. I have also made an untold amount of money cleaning carbs in the spring.
A picked up a self-propelled mower at the curb in my neighborhood. Cleaned the carb, flushed the tank, changed the oil three times - it was nasty. I'm still using 5 years later, but now it's starting to burn oil. I just need it to hang on 4 more years until I sell the house and it will convey.
No one has useful skills anymore. But at least the nerds won! Nerdy hobbies like DnD, marvel movie binge watching, and non stop watching twitch streams playing video games. Nerdy skills, na no one wants that anymore. Just the useless hobbies.
I bought one of these 10 yrs ago and to this day, it still runs great. I run nothing but ethanol free premium fuel, start it up once every couple of months and put a good load on it. It came in quite handy after a wind storm hit 2 years ago and left us without power for 6 days. I set it up outside and it ran the fridge, a few lights in the house, coffee maker in the morning and the washing machine. I filled it up before going to bed and in the morning before leaving for work. It ran for 6 days straight no issues. When neighbors were using these big, loud gensets mine was just humming away mainly for the fridge. I used about 1.25 gallons per 24 hours when neighbors were burning 5 gallons a day. Honda makes an excellent product and they'll run for years if well maintained.
Was snowmobiling at Mt. Bachelor Oregon, some years back, a couple of generator pearls came out of that trip. They had a big military tent set up, and there was a snowmobile rental business set up all season long. They had an eu2000 set up to a 5gal aux tank that ran 24/7 during the entire time they were up there. At night, it was averaging from 5 below to 5 above zero. They taped off some of the cooling vents on the generator. Otherwise, you had to use some choke. Taping off half the cooling vents seemed about right to allow the generator to reach proper running temperature when it was that cold out. So we did the same to our eu1000, and it ran great. Because the highest it got, the whole trip was 22F, and the generators just wouldn't warm up to operating temperature.😊
@@scottpecora371 I never knew companies did a snowmobile business like that, sounds like so much fun, my dad took me one back in the 60's wow.
Mine fried on a job site. Electrical problem with the generator started smoking smelled like wires after a minute the engine stalled. Lasted 4 years (almost caught fire). Maintained it well I was running the same equipment I had been running since new. Not overloaded. Later that day bought a Harbor freight Predator had it ever since. 8 years now all I have done is change the oil and put on a new pull cord. I will never waste my precious money on a name brand inverter generator again. The Predator has bounced around in my truck and looks like hell and keeps running. Not so much for the Honda....I would have never thought that before it happened to me.
Mine is 21😂❤
5 gallons a day is hardly a high price to pay to live in comfort. While you're sitting there swapping cords to run one thing at a time, your neighbors were running their whole house.
Have one of those generators, least 15 years old, used on back of a boat, had to clean the carb once, bad fuel in New York. Even ethanol free fuel. Every year I have to clean carburetors on lawnmowers, zero turns, golf carts, etc. That Honda is a good generator, I wouldn't get rid of it. They are pretty quiet even under full load, currently use mine as backup power at home and for RV camping.
You should always run the tank dry after a seasons use.
The emulsion tube gets plugged, uae .009 guitar string to clean.
Mine is over 15 years old. Only maintenance, change oil, air filter, check the plug, and cleaned the carb once. Videos like this give Rookies like me the confidence to do our own repairs. Thanks.
Mine not a inverter Honda just regular honda 650 I think - 30 yr old been used after many hurricanes just change oil. -
Man I wish I could find one of these Hondas in the trash. Them thing's are two thousand dollars. This little inverters are so dependable. I mean anything where's out. But just the parts you can get out of these thing's are worth keeping. But parts are available and they are easily fixable. Nice find. Last time I was in a saw shop or hardware they are over two thousand dollars now.
That is the perfect generator, not only because it is a Honda, but the fact that it generates power AND repels mosquitos!!
Expensive but truly great generators.
While it is a great generator when it’s working, the fatal flaw is that Honda designed it such that it is essentially unserviceable in an economic way.
@@mensaswede4028 In the hands of James, it can be done. Reminds me of this joke: A gynecologist had become fed up with malpractice insurance and HMO paperwork, and was burned out.
Hoping to try another career where skillful hands would be beneficial, he decided to become a mechanic. He went to the local technical college, signed up for evening classes, attended diligently, and learned all he could.
When the time of the practical exam approached, the gynecologist prepared carefully for weeks, and completed the exam with tremendous skill. When the results came back, he was surprised to find that he had obtained a score of 150%. Fearing an error, he called the Instructor, saying, “I don’t want to appear ungrateful for such an outstanding result, but I wonder if there is an error in the grade?”
“The instructor said, “During the exam, you took the engine apart perfectly, which was worth 50% of the total mark. You put the engine back together again perfectly, which is also worth 50% of the mark.”
After a pause, the instructor added, “I gave you an extra 50% because you did it all through the muffler, which I’ve never seen done in my entire career.”
James reminds me of this doctor, he can get in there and fix it one way or another.
@@mensaswede4028 Honda's rarely need parts, but when they do they're expensive. I don't think that's a slight on the consumer as much as very finely made parts costing more to make.
Nice little genset
I saw this video 3 months ago and said I would never find a Honda generator in bulk trash. A week later I was bicycling I found one😮 and forced my fiance to stand by it while I bicycled home and grabbed the car😂 she was none too happy. The only thing wrong with it was one hose which they had deteriorated to my amazement. It was $5 to replace it 🤯 Even the fuel inside of the generator was good. As soon as it replaced the breather hose and pulled the cord it started right up 😊 thank you for making this video and giving me the idea.
Your fiancée can be told that was 1/3 of her engagement ring.....
James, the only additional check you should have made was to check the spark plug. The plug could be loosly gapped or is fouled. Combustion chambers get very hot when they are burning off oil so a plug check is required.
I would have put a new plug in myself.
I was thinking the same. A new plug would probably put it over the edge to being a perfect runner.
Check the oil too after shutting it down when it stopped smoking. Make sure it didn't burn all the oil out of it. He mentioned excess oil will push past piston but if rings were worn it will dump all oil past. Should of checked oil after run and changed plug or atleast checked it.
I would have pulled the muffler off and cleaned it out. Now it will be half full of soot from the boiled oil.
@@einfelder8262 The sponge looked a lot cleaner on the last build up, so perhaps they both got a clean.
you are so gentle with everything! it’s like watching a precision piece of equipment being rebuilt. I quickly realize why i break 75% of the small motor stuff I work on lol
Thank you for not playing thrash metal 'music' as background as so many seem to do. I love the silent calmness of the workshop as you work methodically away.
The agency I work for has four of these units. When we had problems and took them to a shop, we found the problems were usually with old or bad fuel. I make it a point to pour the fuel out and run the engine dry. I've never had a problem since doing that. They are extremely reliable, and two units can be connected in parallel to double the capacity. Jim
Most small engine problems are due to bad fuel.
Get the Hutch Mountain cut off switch. They're 20 bucks. When you shut off the gen, it burns all the fuel from the carb. Next time you go to start, they start on the 1st pull, instead of gumming up the carb.
StaBil always in the fuel. With my lawnmowers and chainsaws I run that and at the end of the season I run them dry, pull the plug and mist with Balistol, give a few pulls and loosely put the plug in for storage.
@@bixby9797That works to some degree, or did, with old unleaded fuel but the new stuff with the ethanol added in the fuel only has a shelf life of a few months unless stored in a completely air tight enviroment since the ethanol will pull moisture out of the air and contaminates the fuel.
Most small engine problems are due to ethanol in fuel today.
Not gonna lie, there is something VERY satisfying how much attention to detail you put into CLEANING these revivals and making them look their best.
I was just thinking the same. It gave me warm fuzzies to see the level of detail in cleaning the unit up after he got it running.
You forgot to reinstall the fuel feed clamp! Good thing you decided to look at the carb again. Great video
Ha ha I spotted that and waited for the next time but he did the second time
I watch a few UA-cam videos and “try” to repair most things before replacing. Recently rebuilt my GE dryer, replaced my snowblower belts and cleaned the carb in my 15 year old Honda eu2000i that was starving for fuel and wouldn’t run a 1,000 watt appliance. Saved me hundreds of dollars👍
Our EU2000i is ancient, or seems that way, we keep it full of gas because it sees 150 to 200 hours of operation every month for the last 12 years. I've had to adjust the valves 3 times in all those hours. It's forced to live outdoors as well, but the unit always starts first or second pull. Amazing machine.
Just curious, what do you use it for to get 200 hours of operation per month? I’ve seen these frequently at food trucks. I have the EU2200i and it’s a great little machine.
@@readyplayer2
Race weekends, amateur sports car.
Does it surge at idle?
@@volvogt21
Noticeably on eco mode.
2400 hours, adjusted the valves a few times... definitely a wrench head😂 oh, but that specific 2200i actually does 2600i😮
I was given an EU1000i a few years ago. It seems it's a common problem where people overfill the oil. Mine was turned on it's side and filled to 'full' on the dipstick. Everything was soaked in oil, even the air filter was dripping. I cleaned it up and it smoked for the next 2 weeks but it's been bulletproof since. Love that little genny.
Me: I’m not going to watch a 45 minute video.
Also Me, 45 minutes later: that was really well done and interesting.
Me, too, Cluttered. James is a natural teacher; very patient, succinct and clear presentation. Would enjoy watching more repair vids (e.g., replacing the starter cord, etc).
Y'all Be Safe!
Same here.
I was rooting for the little engine on the patio: you can do it, get rid of that nasty oil.
I like the longer vids. You get more information. You may know how to do whatever it is but you may see a better way.
You gotta make better use of your time and watch all videos on 2x speed. Knocked this one out in 22 and a half minutes.
Never thought about watching these videos on 2X excellent idea .
I have two 2200's and I treat them like gold, Can't believe somebody dumped that? Great find.
A friend had a rototiller that would not run and was locked up. It turned out the oil was overfilled and the tiller sat on its side for a while. Too much oil was the easy part. the engine lock-up was caused by hydro-lock of the piston from oil that filled the cylinder. Once I got most of the oil out through the spark plug hole it started right up and smoked for 20 minutes. He was very happy because the engine was a new replacement engine on an old tiller. He thought he was going to have to replace the 2-year-old engine.
How much you wanna bet the owner laid the generator on it's side and filled the oil to the top. Thanks for the videos !
I was thinking it was perhaps a case of sabotage. I.e. A nearby camper was mad bc it was running too late in the evening. So they dumped in extra oil plus added water to the gas. Better than sugar, I suppose!
@@tubereactor7393 I am an automotive engineer and I never understood why and how sugar in the fuel should damage an engine. Sugar is not soluble in gas or diesel (I tried it out). All it can do is clogging a filter or a jet. Which would result in failure, but not in damage. Any ideas anyone?
@@tubereactor7393 The water was probably due to ethanol gas. The oil? Anyone's guess.
@@guzziwheeleras I understand it, the sugar when it burns produces massive carbon deposits from the intake valve right through the engine and this gums up everything inside necessitating a complete strip down to decarbonise the internals.
@@iandennis7836 But why would it burn? How would it get into the cylinder? Not with the fuel, it is unsoluble. And not thru a carburettor or injection system, the filter and/or the jets will catch it.
You hit the jackpot finding that treasure in the trash! I'd never been that lucky.
Best curb find I encountered was a grandfather clock in pristine condition and the only problem was the chains were all tangled up. The people may have decided they didn't need it anymore, but it just needed some detangling, and it works perfectly, and they even included the papers with it.
you need find new ngighbour :)
I have always found 2 or 3 of them on the LTVA in arizona/california every year. Snow birds are pretty wasteful
Everything you did was perfect with one exception; as a precaution I'd have checked the engine oil again as the smoking reduced. That's just to be certain that the smoking didn't stop because the engine had run out of oil.
the engine would of stopped running due to the low oil switch
@yanbag9487 unless the switch failed
@@adamdnewman it wouldn't run with a bad switch ..no spark
James, that pull cord wear is not from excessive pulling. It is where the pull cord rubs against the inner shroud when the unit runs. It is at an angle and generates wear. A true sign of a higher hour unit. I fix hundreds of these a year. The surging also doesn’t matter because the inverter still outputs clean power. They all surge like that at no load
Yea, i have seen the rope wear issues, just like the honda mowers first couple feet of rope exposed to weather and sun and deteriorates before the rope on the starter pulley, the carb adjustments are so critical on those
Why can't the water go thru the jets?
@alext8828 water doesn't get drawn like gasoline or alcohol, it can just sit there,till it's cleaned out
@@alext8828 even if it passes it doesn’t burn so the engine will never run. Gotta get it completely out.
@@car2069 Interesting. Thank you.
I have owned two of these and currently have the EU2200i. Meticulous about exercising under varying loads monthly, frequent oil changes and ethanol free premium gas only. I also clean the muffler screen about every 50 hours. Great video....well done!
Bought 2 @ 2000 watt Harbor Freight Predators . They work great !
@@charleswesley9907 I would like to know in a few years how well they do. Honda is hard to beat. A friend bought a Yamaha for 400$ less than the Honda, would not put out the same as Honda, eventually it failed. Money wasted. Honda is going strong 15 years later.
Yet no ethanol based fuel the pistons turn black as night, premium gas only.
Thanks for the video. Great information.
I agree if you maintain your equipment it lasts longer. I find these new generators from Honda being tiny and quiet aren't worth the buck a cc to me, I guess I'm just old school.
Your EU videos always make me appreciate that I keep my EU1000i on hand as a backup to my Duromax. That little things starts my giant waste my pump.
My guess about the oil overfill is that the owner rolled the generator over onto its side to put new oil in it rather than filling it the right way.
Good job overall
That's also possibly how the cylinder and muffler filled with oil via an ope exhaust valve (if that's where this engine parks).
That could be a way of how the oil was overfilled. Then got sucked up through the crank case ventilation tube, making smoke.
I don't think there's any way they could have gotten that much oil in the crankcase other than laying it on its side. It was pouring out of the crankcase while sitting level as soon as the dipstick was removed.
I thought the whole thing got in the water and somehow it got to both fuel tank and engine. That would explain increased "oil" level. And the smoke could be water slowly evaporating when the oil heats up. I'd check oil level after few hours
@@goatman86 There was no water found in the oil drained from the machine, but there was evidence that it was possibly inundated at some stage (rust on the crank counterweights). If that was the case, the former owner in an attempt to recover the generator did an oil change and in doing so, unwittingly tipped the generator over to refill the oil, not knowing the correct procedure.
The smoke was smoke, not water vapour and as previously posted, that could have been oil that leaked passed the exhaust valve and into the muffler, burning off during the initial running period(s).
The only water found was in the fuel which could've entered during the possible inundation or from corrupted fuel added after the incident.
Thank you for your input.
I like the way James cleaned up the outside,used q-tips,made it look like new. Very professional.
A toothbrush might have been faster. lol
My brothers new EU2200 would stumble and pop at idle on first start. He returned for exchange stating it was defective. The new one did the same thing but it's a great generator. Nice work James I'm jealous of the find.
Based on the 2 blinks of the inverter light at initial start, the generator has 200-299 hours of running time on it. A great dumpster find. Worth at least $700 in current condition. Honda’s are definitely worth the money and are bulletproof like you said. Would love to see you do a engine teardown on one of these one day but they are pretty indestructible.
Did one a couple years ago ua-cam.com/video/iO2a9I4VfDk/v-deo.htmlsi=OQxVrDUkqv-ibR13
Worth $200.00 at best. Used Hondas in good shape here go for about $600.00
I suspect that that generator was run on choke for some time. The generators are good, but they are not "owner proof" . The sticker indicator for the choke, is unclear to people who have been taught only to read the sign language, which is for Neanderthals who cannot read words. This causes people to run then on choke because the sticker says "Choke/(baffle symbol)/-> .. The arrow on the right is misleading because it can be translated as "run" and the word "choke" on the left causes people to think choke is to the left ... The fuel tanks fill up with water because the dial vent on the fuel cap allows humidity and rain moisture to leak in.. These are two failings of the Honda generators. I know of three cases where this has happened.
The reason it was smoking is because it was overfilled with oil. It just had to burn it off. It may have even disrupted the rings, And they subsequently had to reseat.
Me, I am lazy :) I would have done what you did, filled the tank 1/4 with new gas and then thrown in some carb cleaner and/or some SeaFoam and let it run dry and see what happens. Then maybe done it again before doing a carb clean. Put a new plug in it too.
I remember those times during soviet union, - where things in people's houses were serving them for decades and some of those still around. why? because we were not able to buy things in the stores, - so that's why people were fixing everything all the time. Something broke, - you are fixing it again. You always knew someone who can make spare part for you. And now so many things are going to a dumpster because we don't know how to fix it anymore.
People in this country mainly haven't been able to fix things since the 30's - and it has, since the 20's, been the dream of most Americans simply to be 'Consumers': buy it, abuse it - and when it breaks throw it away and get the Newer Better model.
I was raised to buy used, overhaul to spec's, and maintain for a long service life. Mostly I am still the same way. But many things are less able to be repaired and you bring the 'Parts Cannon' to bear, until it costs more to fix than replace. I harvest the old unit for parts and try to get another like unit to use going forward. Some units don't have very much 'fix' engineered into them at all and that's sad.
they were hard to buy, because they were rare and simple as stick this gen is simple like that, but something like ecoflow, yeah, cheaper to buy a new one
I would love to fix some appliances, usually its a 30cent spare part, but getting that specific part takes so much time and so much hassle to replace it sometimes its more cost effective to just buy whole new machine (what is ridiculous paradox)
Appliances sold in U.S. used to last for decades and were repairable (I remember repair techs coming to our house during the 1960’s and 1970’s). But today, these things are built cheap and considered disposable. When I bought a new clothes washer in 2015, the sales lady told me it would last about 8 years. I questioned this, as our washers and other heavy appliances used to last 20+ years or more. She said, “They don’t make them like that anymore”. My washer lasted 7 years - the repair guy told me the main circuit board went bad - $400 just for that part, plus installation. So it didn’t make sense to repair it - just bought a new machine. And another big piece goes to the landfill. 😮
Absolutely spot on! Every year, billions of dollars in repairable items are thrown away in US.
I was never taught about small engines as to repair them. With videos like this I'm confident I can fix my small engines. And I have two of these Honda generators for my RV air conditioner, normally I only use 1 of them to run everything. I just need two in parallel to run the air conditioner. Thanks from Canada
We would love it if you would put a bore scope in every cylinder during inspection to see the wall condition and to read the spark plug. We all look forward to the oil getting checked before testing
That’s almost the easiest fix I’ve ever seen on your channel so far!!!! Nice job Jim!!
Thanks for the great filming and editing. I am an old school mechanic (from the 1960's) and you made the thought of trying to fix a new one with the idle servo - much less intimidating. Thanks for the close-ups of all the little parts and how they fit. (and what the're called) I may not get it on the first go... But I will be able to try and succeed - knowing what you showed us.
Simply wonderful! Thanks again.
From what I saw in the video, the smoking issue came from an oil level that was still over-full. When you first removed the excess oil, you only got the oil level down to where it didn't come out the fill orifice. Actually, the oil level should be about three-quarters of an inch BELOW that point. The filler cap has a dipstick on it that tells you where the oil level should be. I wasn't surprised to see it smoke for a considerable time at startup. I WAS surprised that you didn't catch that. Otherwise, an interesting video with no obnoxious music to distract. Well done.
Your a 100,, present right. to mutch oil is just as bad not enough
Clear vocal pickup and I definitely appreciated the lack of the usual backing tracks. This is how I-fixed-it videos should be done.
"Actually" according to the Honda manual the oil level should be at the top of the oil filler neck guy in the video had it right and your way would be too low. quote Honda maintenance manual; 1. Remove the oil filler cap and wipe the dipstick clean.
2. l~nsert the dipstick into the oil filler neck but do not screw it in.
3. Iif the level is low, fill to the top of the oil filler neck with the recommended oil.
You’re 💯 right, the oil should barely touch dip stick without threading cap. It only holds 400 CC/milliliter, 13-14 ounces. Just under half a quart. An ounce of oil will burn a long time in that small engine.
I've seen people throw things away because it had too much oil in it
I have to say I get a warm fuzzy feeling whenever you do a Honda… there’s nothing like them in the generator world; they just won’t die. Mine is going on 24 years and still start’s first or second pull. Yes they are a thousand dollars but they’re worth every penny…
My EU6500 has never let me down.
It's easy to comment on the guy who tossed this beautiful Honda generator. He did it out of frustration obviously. He didn't have any knowledge about the unit....and acted hastily. It was foolish...however the guy let anger & frustration takeover. The guy in this video has pretty good knowledge of mechanics & is able to troubleshoot extremely well. Furthermore; the video is edited for time. This mechanic put in lots of hours of labor to get it working again to make great UA-cam content. Once again thank you & Kudos to this man for his helpful video and for his excellent skill set level for him to show us step by step how he fixed thus generator. Thank you!!
Thanks!
There is a heck of a lot to be learnt from watching your videos, James. Your attention to detail including cleanliness is fantastic and the fact that you explain everything that is going on including what might happen is so educational. Love your videos.
I especially liked the one where you swapped the engine and repaired the front suspension on your son's go cart. Really good and entertaining.
Thanks heaps and Happy New Year to you and yours.
Where I live in Missouri,we love to find little treasures like this. Some people are so wasteful.
Same with north Florida too
I gave my son a really good Honda lawnmower. It worked for a short time then stopped. He cursed it and had a big moan to me that it is not reliable. He had a second look and found the plug lead had come off. He replaced it and was on his way again. Then he sent me a message telling me how wonderful the mower went.
Love your content James! I don't generally post much in the comment section, but I wanted to take a moment to pass along a useful cleaning tip. Q-tips work well for many small areas, but in those hard to reach nooks and crannies I recommend using a cheap acid brush. I've used them for years for detailing just about anything, and once you give them a try you'll be hooked. They are sold individually or in larger bulk and are pretty cheap and disposable. They are basically natural hair bristles placed in a metal tube with the end crimped to hold the bristles. They are normally sold with the bristles too long to be of much use for cleaning since they are meant to be used to apply acid or flux, however they are easily trimmed down with scissors to provide more stiffness to really scrub into small cracks and crevices. Since they are cheaply made, the bristles tend to fall out or get pushed back into the handle rather easily, so I like to add a little super glue along the edge where the brush bristles meet the handle. I glue all of them at the same time when I buy a new package and let them fully dry so they are ready to go. Then you simply trim the bristles to the desired length/stiffness when you grab a new one. They sell them at all the big box stores in smaller quantities or you can order them online in bulk (recommended). A quick search for 'Acid brushes' will find you several price options. Anyway, I hope this helps you or someone else reading this. Again, love your channel. Keep up the great work and thanks for bringing us along. :)
Thanks I will check it out. I have been stealing little brushes from my kids art supply and have used up most of them. Need to replenish.
Thanks for these honda videos. Love them. Bought a 2200i a few months back. Only put ethanol free in mine, run it every couple weeks, stabil in the gas. The manual is super clear about not overfilling the oil tank. I measured mine out and put exactly the right amount in. The newer design shifts the oil tank lip out a couple inches to make it easier to drain.
Yes.
The best way : drain the warm oil and fill with a measuring cup.
Use Motul 10w30 or 5w30 API sn.
I mainly use the 7100 10w30. Or Amsoil XL Boosted 10w30.
And alkylate fuel.
Because of the oil burning : clean the spark plug.
I'm not really interested in machines, but after these fascinating 45 minutes I realized that it's really important that there are people like you who can repair machines like this. Who can actually fix anything. I love UA-cam because of videos like this. You have a new fan. Greetings from Vienna
Thank You for making this Vlog James. I have an identical Honda as yours. I bought it brand new and have used it for years. Mine has the same idle issue as yours. I just figured that was as good as its going to be. They are great little generators.
Drill out the idle jet 1 drill size bigger as James has done many times previously....
With the amount of oil in the beginning I would say the exhaust was half full of oil. Great save, well done!
The crankshaft must of been hammering the oil in the crankcase, lucky it didn't spin.
"exhaust was half full of oil" ... Optimist. 😀
Agreed about oil in the muffler. Could have been laying on its side.
This is the first of your videos i have seen. I cant tell you how good it makes me feel to see someone clean their equipment. Im so fussy about those things and i cop a lot of crap about it.
Wow! Great find! Thanks for posting James. Your videos are the best small engine videos on UA-cam. You inspired me to buy a neglected Honda power washer for next to nothing on Facebook Marketplace a couple weeks ago. Just for fun and experience, I disassembled the entire engine and put it back together. New piston rings, a valve adjustment, and a new carb (she was too far gone to clean) and it runs like new.
Nice
That muffler must have been full of oil because of the overfill of oil. Oil would have gotten in through the crankcase vent and then sucked in through the intake. What a great find! Something you may want to add to your tool set is a Forney 86140 Tip Drill Set or a GYROS 20 PCS Mini Twist Drill Bit Set to help you open up those jets. Those small engines are always manufactured to run too lean to meet emission standards.
Yeah, I was going to comment that in the video you can see evidence of oil around the exhaust output.
Hey James, I enjoy watching your show. I am an electrician, and I use to work for E&J Gallo. We did all their preventative maintenance. And when’s motor winding megged under 200,000 ohms we would pull the motor remove the stator and steam clean it. Then we would bake it and spray some epoxy or something like it on the exposed windings. Then re meg it and every time it would be back to millions of ohms of resistance. Good luck and thanks for all your tips!
I used to work for a Honda Dealer and one problem i found with the 10i [probably the same problem would occur with larger models] was that sometimes people would let them run on the slow setting [no big load] for a considerable time, perhaps with a light on sitting around a camp fire and the muffler would get a carbon build up which evdentually led to not enough power available when a real load was applied, I used to tell customers to give the generator some real load occasionally to prevent this problem.
When over filled with oil, the oil comes up the breather pipe and not passed the rings. I'd have also opened up the idler jet one size or oiled the air filter to smooth it out James. Having said that, I'd like to wish you all A Very Happy New Year from this side of the pond 🎆🎆🎆 Happy New Year🙂
James, I can’t tell you how much I enjoy watching your videos and learning from them this past winter I live in Illinois and it was a very humid winter and day. I couldn’t get the snowblower to start and I was very frustrated. Then it hit me not a humidity, be water in gas, I drain the tank and the carburetor put fresh fuel in and it started right up like I say you’re never Too old, to teach an old dog tricks, you have a loyal follower and like I said I I can’t tell you how much I enjoy watching your videos up the good work James
The Bain of the EU20i (the UK version of the EU2000i) has to be the idle jet. There is a reason in my opinion and it’s a combination of stale fuel and tarnishing (always use a fuel additive) and the journey from float bowl. That is where the lean problems comes from. I cleaned the idle jet perhaps 10 times on an EU20i that had less than 10 hours running time because old fuel tarnishes the aluminium path from float bowl to plastic idle jet. It has to be pristine for the idle to run with the choke fully off.
Mine runs perfect with the idle fully off but only after really cleaning it with brake and clutch cleaner (better in my opinion than carb cleaner). Great video but this is a design flaw and 1 week is enough for untreated fuel to tarnish the idle jet path and that’s from experience. Thanks again for a brilliant video. PS: I used to build generators here in the UK. Lombardi, Ruggerini, Yanmar, Lister Petter, Briggs and Stratton and finally Honda GX120 through to GX390’s. Honda the most reliable just behind Lister Petter (these things could survive a nuke and still work). Shame the carbs don’t come with a better idle jet!!??
I use my EU2200i at least an hour a week and have had no problems at all for the last three years, it runs perfectly, same goes for my 40 year old Briggs & Stratton, use it regularly is my advice..
Absolutely and that’s exactly how Honda should recommend the maintenance. We use RON95 E10 here now or the more expensive RON97 E5. There is RON99 and RON101 as some places too. I’m not sure the octane number will make a difference but the higher ethanol content in my opinion makes the mix more susceptible to hygroscopic effects. Apparently E10 also burns hotter and may lead to issues. More research needed I think!!!💭
This is interesting and could be why my engine was clogged up from 3 years in storage. It didn’t have fuel additive when stored!!!
Ethanol is more aggressive than petrol to both metals and rubbers/plastics and can, therefore, affect engine parts such as gaskets and seals. Also, the ethanol is hygroscopic (it attracts water), which in some cases can cause issues. So it is advised not to fill up the car with E10 (even if the vehicle is suitable for this) if you are not going to use the car for an extended time
In my experiences old fuel and especially the modern fuels are always the problem, i turn fuel off and let run dry when leaving off for a while but modern ones don't have a fuel tap.
I really like how you always clean items up when working on them. Most people don't do that, and I hate a dirty repaired item.
Agreed
He also spent twice as long cleaning it than fixing it :)
People would flip the absolute hell out if a shop billed them flat rate to clean everything so it looked new. It's one of those fun content creator things that doesn't really translate to real world stuff.
I'll bet everyone watching this counted every Chord pull to 10... maybe even 11.☺ // This analysis and methodical step by step "issue/problem" track down is so thorough, logical and clearly explained that it aught to be included as a Honda Video repair/manual. // James Condon. Thankyou so much for making creating this excellent Podcast.
James I love your Honda generator videos. I have two of the eu2200i that are the best in my opinion. I live in Florida and used them during hurricanes for many years. I take very good care of my generators.
Do they surge too?
@@volvogt21 All my HONDA generators run smoothly and perfectly.
I love watching your videos. I can't wait for my generator to start running rough cuz you have taught me how to adjust and clean a carb! Thanks for the commentary as you go, it helps me better understand.
Now that is a worthwhile throwaway, I am amazed at the items people cant be bothered with and take it to the curb. I am always on the prowl for items like the Honda you acquired.
I miss the old days when you would put the torque specs up on the screen, but that's a nitpick great videos.
Wow, I have a newfound respect for my almost 20-year-old EU 2000. I’ve had such good luck with it. I run it about once a month drain the carb completely after each use, being in California. We have crappy ethanol gas, but I always have stabil in the fuel, never any issues with the little beauty except the fact I piss
my wife off by using her hairdryer to exercise the inverter!
I don’t own a Honda generator, but enjoyed watching your procedure for diagnosing and bringing it back from the dead. These steps can apply to any brand. Good learning detail and worth my time watching. Thanks for posting 👍👍
FaceTime
Definitely an improvement on the idle after cleaning the carb. Great job. I’m so jealous. I wish I could come across a Honda generator that have been thrown in the garbage. 😁
Nice result, glad you went back in and did the carb because you forgot the fuel pipe clip first time round.
Yup,I noticed that too.
These Honda Generators are bullet proof. I bought one of the very 1st iterations of this unit way back in the 70s… it ran and ran and ran providing power for my camper during ski seasons and ski vacations. It was very quiet.
It is heart warming to see abandoned Honda EU2000I brought back to life. This was a wonderful experience. Seriously it's great that a good piece of equipment running again. Great show.
My Honda 2000 is 15 yrs old. I change the oil yearly and I’ve never replaced the spark plug. It runs great every time.
Great video👍🏼
Bet the spark plug is slightly oil fouled. Think for $5 bucks and an additional 15 minutes, it couldn’t hurt
Many, many thanks 😊
They soon burn clear.
Gasoline and a wire brush, clean the spark plug. Ensure gap, 28-30 on that engine. Good to go.
Good to see you reinstall the clamp on the fuel line, the second time. Overall nice easy fix. Well done.
Awesome video. Thanks. You made me nervous running it so long indoors but a lot of good information
Nice job James; I usually drill out the idle jet one or two mini drill sizes up from what they are. EPA rules are running them way to lean. Thanks for a great video.
That would explain the slight surging.
Correct, or plugged with ethanol sludge. thanks@@wryanddry2266
I have my 9000 feet above sea level and having the same issue. I was thinking there might be a need to change out the jet? If I’m thinking this through correctly, and higher altitudes, you would need more fuel? If I apply a lot a little bit of choke, it stabilizes, just like in the video.
Start with the idle jet so you don't go to far. Might want to buy several jet sizes.@@DJ_Megahertz
@@DJ_Megahertz First try using the idle mixture adjusting screw if it has one.
I've bought my eu2000i back in 2007 for a little over $1000 at Camping World here in New Jersey. It's provided reliable power in a lot of storms over the years, keeping the refrigerator and freezer running. I change the oil every 50 or so hours of running, or if we have the threat of a major storm coming. I can guarantee that the guy who left that by the side of the road couldn't figure out how to get the right amount of oil in it and tilted it back, then proceeded to fill it. Sad day for him, great day for you... I used to keep mine in the back of my truck, along with a 6 gallon pancake type air compressor - both are very handy to have in an emergency. I have a larger generator now for emergency house power, but that eu2000i serves us well when camping.
Nice video, as always! Only a very few people are truly lucky enough to find a perfectly good (with just a little bit of James' time) Honda EU2000i in the trash!
Someone with more money than talent, that's for sure. If I found that in the trash I would go buy some Lottery Tickets immediately!
I've seen that same situation frequently in the automotive business. People overfill vehicles and it smokes like a chimney until the oil burns off. It's cool that you are able to get this stuff and fix it. Great for your tool/equipment collection or selling.
Hi James, I'd bet that even new Hondas surge at an idle, you have mentioned that. a lot of Tecumseh engines from the past at low load did that. I feel that the motors must meet the EPA standards for anywhere in the states, we all know that elevation has a large impact on jetting.
keep up the good work
Rich
The problem with this generator is everyone is afraid to work on them. I took my generator to an established small engine shop with a good reputation and he couldn’t stop an oil leak. My generator ran great but leaked when turned off. I got brave and tore the thing apart and found it was leaking from the low oil sensor where the wires come through the bottom of engine. Replaced oil sensor and grommet thing and used a little black rtx. Good as new now no leaks
I've had several EU2000i's. The first ones I had were Made in Japan and worked great and had buttery smooth idle. The later ones I had were made in Thailand and they ran a little rough on idle, even with carb cleanings and replacements. They ran great otherwise. I just thought of them as having this "quirk" The EU2200i "refresh" seemed to have cured the idle "burping" problem
Great story. Thanks again for sharing. Clearly the overfilled oil condition caused that smoke. How do people even get that much oil in there? Fill it while its laying on its side?
More than probably that was the way it was done....
Bought a litre, poured it all in!….thats what you do right?
You're a lucky boy James to get freebies like that! I wish I could find them!
Great video. I have a better understanding of whats under the maintenance pannel. You learn so much watching someone talk through the repair of a engine.
Happy new year James. Hey don't forget the frayed starter cord mate. Bob
There was a recall on these gensets where the clamps on the fuel lines at the tank were potentially positioned where they would rub a hole in the fuel line causing a leak and potential fire. You must separate the case to get at them. You might want to check. EDIT: serial numbers EAAJ-2260273 through EAAJ-2485025. Doesn't look like that one is in that range. Mine was but didn't have the issue.
Man, i had a lucky day and i found the same generator but completly disassembled in the box. Few parts missing including valves and spark cover but i think i will try rebuild it as much i can.
I hope electronics is ok.
Daily i work for my local honda dealer so i have access to all nessesary docs and parts so i will join to Honda generator owners ;)
Best luck with your unit.
Best regards from Poland.
Great video, thanks. Really like your attention to detail, and it pays off. The only small suggestion I would make would be to change out the spark plug and that might help with the idle flutter. I've worked on many small engines over the years and often the new plug does the trick. Thanks!
It's crazy what people throw away, that turned in to a beaut little Honda generator.
amazing how quick people give up?! i'm a automotive tech and i'm like you try to fix it. i'm pre you tube and i no there are waay to many fix it videos to be throwing away a 1000 bucks. super wasteful. good come up. like the old saying one man's garbage is another man's gold. true facts. great video love the honda geny
As a small tool tech for a rental company..when these units sit for awhile I find when you try to start them pull in the choke then chock off several times and make sure the fuel cap vent switch is open great job these machines are bullet proof
What a great find. Definitely jealous of the quality and consistency of great work you put in to make it run and look almost new.
The rag in the tank was overkill 😂. I liked the video for sure though
I converted my 2200i to propane. Works well for my needs even though the power is a bit reduced. I also bought an extender for the oil filler that makes changing easy as it extends the opening a few inches beyond the plastics making it easier to dump on it side and not leak inside the shell.
How about part number buddy.... Help out your fellow honda owners ....😅😅
@@DA-zi6eq I installed the Hutch Mountain conversion kit. The essential kit is $280. I didn’t install any of the stickers, I just leave the fuel selector switch on the setting just before off that is used to drain the fuel line. Kit was easy to install, probably took 2 hours, more because I took my time drilling holes in my brand new generator case. I took pictures before adding the conversion kit so I could get all the original lines back in the same place as u need to move some thing out of the way to gain access between the carb and the engine body. I had to make a slight adjustment to the regulator after getting it running as it seemed a bit too lean at lower idle and was surging looking for fuel. Once I made the adjustment it ran very smoothly. It’s all in the directions, just read them a few times before doing the actual work. It isn’t as efficient as gas, but I don’t have to deal with bad gas or lugging fuel around. I have it connected to 40lb propane tanks, use it on my off grid cabin inverter to recharge my EG4 LiFePO batteries when we don’t get enough sun.
Thank you for the explanation, I'll be looking into thos conversion kit!!!👍
I did the same conversion on 2 brand new Hondas that run off the same tank. Started and ran smooth on first pull.@@jimmyg6215
@@DA-zi6eq Extension tube for oil is very handy, less mess when changing oil.
What a great way to start a new year with another great video. Keep up the good work.😊
Wonderful repair video. A friend has two of these and loves them. The only thing he has done to them is add running time meters (from Amazon).
With those he can do the maintenance on schedule. The biggest design flaw, in his opinion, is no oil filter. Hence the Honda manual.requiring the frequent oil change.
I am amazed that you didn't replace the pull cord.
Not an easy task on this machine. Decided to leave it for Jason. As much as I like this generator, there are certain maintenance items that are a lot more work then you would expect.
@@jcondon1 I knew it wouldn't be easy. You don't usually stop til you reach perfection. Keep up the good work.
Man wished I could find a few like that side the road , great video
Me too, I'm clearly not checking the right dumpsters. =b
I live in Florida. Almost every time we have a hurricane I drive around a few days/weeks after and have found some great generators sitting out for trash pickup. Lots of folks had old gas in them couldn't start them and threw them away. They just go buy a new one instead of repairing.
@@Asidebar I live close to pc beach I also have found a few that I had running in a hour or less
Another fine job James. I know it's good when I hold my breath as the carb bowl seal opens, waiting to see the mess that hides in there. Ha.
Ethanol guard like Stabil ?
See you in the next installment .
Someone fixing 'broken' things? Subscribed!
With all that smoke wouldn't you want to check the spark plug for oil fouling?
I had a job in a trash company. I had to maintain batteries, the generators, computers etc. On day one the boss said that he had knocked over one of the Honda 2000s and it hadn't worked since. He had taken it to 3 repair places and they said it couldn't be fixed. Anyway as soon as I took the cap off I could see a problem. This was around 2006 and the cap wasn't plastic like yours but a lot of metal parts that had corroded. When he knocked it over the fuel had dislodged the rust and so I cleaned the carb and system. It started easily and it was used everyday till I left.
BTW I used to work on C130s and I cleaned filters in a sonic bath in 1974. I haven't seen one since then.
I used to go down to the local marina and pick up the lead acid batteries that the boat owners left by the trash cans. They had left batteries on the boat then gone away for a few months and they were flat when they got back. They would toss them and get new ones. I got a de-sulfator from Fort Lauderdale and managed to recover most of them.
I'm glad that you are on the receiving end this time James re: "I hope this helped someone" considering the fact that you're usually the one doing the helping. Thanks for how you help/benefit others-I'm sure it's more often than you know. Question re: a Honda generator. I bought an EB3500 in 1999 with *zero* knowledge re: generators. Since I found your channel I've been curious about the THD level(s), but can't find any info-do you know [approx]? What are your thoughts on this unit in general. Btw; it always starts first pull and it runs my entire house with the exception of the A/C. Thanks for another great video. God bless.
It is a good machine. I don’t think I have ever had one of these models. That’s probably means they are reliable. Have not tested the THD on this model. Would expect it to be in the 20% range. But don’t know without testing one.
@@jcondon1 // Appreciate the feedback. It's never failed us-and even my 4 yr old daughter could start it [pull start], when we first purchased it.
I would suspect the spark plug to be partially fouled from burning all that oil, thereby causing less than perfect idle. A possibility, anyway.
Pays to put a new one in when you get a secondhand machine just as a rule of servicing. Expect the last owner never serviced it so give it a thorough going over.
The Hondas are awesome little generators. I had a batch of a dozen. During Covid we were running medical tents at hospitals and these units ran nonstop sans refueling. We had zero issues with them and would service them per spec. by tracking hours of operation. We had a knock off version from a certain tool retail store, and it grenaded after several weeks of service. Replaced it with a Honda and no more issues. I currently have one of these on my salt water fishing boat and it runs flawlessly and has for the last 4 years. Clean oil, fuel, sparkplug gap, and wiping down help maintain it. There is a micro circuit board in these that can go bad and keep it from firing up. Found that out when a friend accidently submerged his non-running generator in salt water which lead to the board failure from corrosion and electrolysis.