EF1000 has spark and fuel - wont run

[jmartinaz]

The gen EF 1000 IS has been sitting unused for about 2 years and no I did not drain the gas - my bad. I have added fresh gas and a carburetor cleaner to the fuel tank. The plug is firing and the fuel line to the carb has gas in it. The engine will run if I spray starting fluid into the filter (which I have cleaned) then stops as if no fuel is making it to the combustion chamber. Do I let it sit and soak the stuck/plugged part or tear into the carb? Any thoughts are welcome.

[Cash45]

Did you ever get any answers to this problem with your generator.  You have described almost exactly same issue I am having, but I spray carburator cleaner in side and it will fire but will not keep running.  Cleaned the complete carb and I am sure nothing is plugged but still is not getting gas from the float to the butterflys and into the engine.

[robertbruce]

drain the carby bowl, pry off the fuel-line at the tank, blow down the fuel-line. A very good volume of air should pass very easily at a good rate...
if you have to force your cheeks at all then there is a blockage in the jet...sometimes a quick fix is to then remove the bowl, fill the fuel line with kero and let it run through the float jet. Once the kero flows, bounce the float up and down while blowing and sucking on the fuel line. Otherwise, pull off the carby, its bowl, soak it all in kero overnight and repeat the blow test in the morning...
Sometimes, by using the wrong oil, oil can get into the carby through the air-filter/anti-polution.

[cnb]

What is Kero?  My generator will not get gas to the new spark plug??  There is spark and gas in the bowl.

If you spray starting fluid it will run until the starter fluid runs out.  Help

[350bowtie]

Hey guys,
My ef 1000 was kicking my butt too.  Only mine was leaking fuel from the bowl overflow on the side of carb.  I found out that the bowl was overfilling so the carb was getting flooded with gas.  it was so rich it wouldn't run.  
Mine sat for like 4 years before i bought it off a guy, so it gummed up a bit.

If i used carb cleaner i could get it to start, but then it would die, and pour fuel out of the carb.  

my problem was the needle in the carburetor bowl. it was clean and everything, but the end that pushes on the float has a little nipple that is spring loaded. mine was stuck down so the float couldn't put enough pressure on the needle to seat it right. It should sick out about and 1/8 of an inch, and push down until it is flush with the body of the needle.  I sprayed carb cleaner on it and taped it on the workbench until it moved enough to grab with tweezers, then worked it until it moved free.  Put it back together and it worked great.

I am having problems with my vent tube though.  It dumps tons of gas on the ground when the switch is only in the "stop" position.  If you guys know anything could you tell me? Thanks!

[CycleRob ()]

After 2 years the carb's (idle) pilot jet's tiny metering hole will be gummed up solid. It is removable externally and so is the idle mixture adjusting screw. It's best to remove the carb and very carefully clean it. Gumout spray Carb Clean, at WalMart, AutoZone etc is the best stuff. The pilot jet meters idle speed and low throttle opening fuel, it's fuel flow trailing off with heavier throttle, overlapping the main jet's beginning range of progressively greater metered fuel flow. The pilot jet has a very tiny hole needing a very tiny fine wire and patient gentle cleaning. If you saved it, the yellow "No Oil" tag the Genny came with has exactly the fine cleaning wire you need. You must NOT increase the hole size with aggressive cleaning, or your unit will run rich, carbon up the combustion chamber and waste fuel. The control motor's power wire is long enough to remove and clean the carb while still connected. Removing the pilot jet from the top of the carb may require screwing in the idle stop screw to get it out of the way, so count the half turns you give it until it's away. The plastic capped pilot adjuster screw also has to be removed to clean out the needle and it's metering passageway. Remove the plastic cap, screw in the brass adjuster screw, counting the turns exactly, so it can be returned to there after cleaning. If you are not confident  you can do this job, find someone that can, as you can do expensive, system down damage without realizing it.

It is also very possible the fuel pump itself is so gummed up it will not pump. It uses the pulsating crankcase air pressure changes generated by the underside of the piston as it goes up-n-down. That's why 1 of the 3 hoses connects to the engine crankcase. A very clever, reliable and inexpensive way to pump gasoline, with zero parasitic power drain, from a fueltank that's at the same height or lower than the carb. It's internal diaphragm and 2 check valves all have to be able to "flutter" freely, or no pumping will occur. You can remove the pulse air hose from the pump and add your own cleaner one to the air port on the pump, allowing you to operate the pump by rapidly alternating mouth vacuum/pressure on your hose.

The purchase of a big bottle of Stabil brand fuel stabilizer would be a really smart one to protect it in the future. It uses so little gasoline and most generators usually have frequent periods of inactivity. Ethanol in gasoline also accelerates the corrosion and gumming up processes but the Stabil will protect you up to 2 years without damage.

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