Generator breakdown question

[Nick_H]

At the end of last summer the genny coughed and vibrated a bit, and when I switched it off it spat a load of black soot out into the water.

It's taken a while to get round to having it fixed. The engineer suggested an oil analysis, which showed nothing unusual, and he has since concluded that there's nothing wrong, and the oil was simply overfilled at the last service.

The thing is, the genny had run for probably 60-80 hours since the service without any problems, so why would an overfill have such a latent effect?

I'm obviously delighted if there's nowt wrong, but a bit sceptical that it ran fine for so long if the overfill is the issue.

 

[rafiki_]

As long as the excess oil was not "spat" out through a seal or gasket, I'm pretty confident that if the engine is running OK now, you will be fine.

 

[SlimRick]

Excess oil can end up travelling through the breather pipe to the air filter - this could well take a while to clog. Failing that, the injectors might have become dirty / blocked.

 

[volvopaul]

At the end of last summer the genny coughed and vibrated a bit, and when I switched it off it spat a load of black soot out into the water.

It's taken a while to get round to having it fixed. The engineer suggested an oil analysis, which showed nothing unusual, and he has since concluded that there's nothing wrong, and the oil was simply overfilled at the last service.

The thing is, the genny had run for probably 60-80 hours since the service without any problems, so why would an overfill have such a latent effect?

I'm obviously delighted if there's nowt wrong, but a bit sceptical that it ran fine for so long if the overfill is the issue.

If the sump level has risen it could be fuel entering the crank case mixing with the oil, sample should shown that up, if the oil level was filled up too full it may have blown the dipstick out and spilt excess oil out into the genny case.

If fuel is entering the sump it can enter through the fuel pump, or the lift pump if its mechanical ie on the engine.

Make sure after service that the level is correct, then check it every 2 hours to see if the level rises.

 

[Nick_H]

Sorry, should have been clearer. The soot came out of the exhaust, and formed a slick on the water. There was no oil in the genny casing. I also assumed the oil sample showed nothing unusual because the engineer concluded from it that there was no mechanical failure, whereas in fact I haven't seen the analysis so it may have shown something which led the engineer to conclude that the oil level was too high.

Note to self, stick to the facts!

 

[ARE]

At the end of last summer the genny coughed and vibrated a bit, and when I switched it off it spat a load of black soot out into the water.

It's taken a while to get round to having it fixed. The engineer suggested an oil analysis, which showed nothing unusual, and he has since concluded that there's nothing wrong, and the oil was simply overfilled at the last service.

The thing is, the genny had run for probably 60-80 hours since the service without any problems, so why would an overfill have such a latent effect?

I'm obviously delighted if there's nowt wrong, but a bit sceptical that it ran fine for so long if the overfill is the issue.

Could it be that you just overloaded it? either by adding some additional load or something like a air conditioing chiller motor failing. This would make the generator cough & vibrate and normally black smoke heavly.

Anthony