Yamaha generator hard to start
 

Hi everyone, new here, I recently bought a yamaha ef2400is generator that used to start first or second pull all the time, i ran seafoam through it for a tank and ever since then its taken 6-10 hard pulls to start it. I keep it in the box of my truck for yhe summer months for camping and stuff

I put a brand new spark plug in it a few weeks ago and the problem persisted so I cleaned the carburetor yesterday and added a fuel filter. The problem still hasn't gone away. Anyone on here have any ideas of more stuff I should try? Kind of frustrating trying to figure this out at this point
Thanks for any help!

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First thing that comes to mind is partially plugged exhaust. I'd check the screen to see if it was plugged up from the SeaFoam. Next would be checking compression.

You probably have something plugged in your carb. I would suggest pulling the needle and spraying it out. It should be a straight forward job and solve the issue. Yamaha #1

Also, does yours have the Removable screen in the top of the tank?

Any spark? I had a problem with the 10.5 Briggs on my chipper, no/weak spark. Pulled the cover off the flywheel, and the pickup magnet was pretty gross with rust. Buffed it with 220 crocus cloth, and it fired instantly.

Does it matter if it’s the first start since you quit driving or not? Could be flooding with the float bouncing down the road. Not a bad idea to keep the fuel shut off while driving to prevent this. I would also look into the exhaust being plugged.

You sure you got the right plug in it?

Have you ran through the tank that had seafoam in it entirely? Seafoam is wonderful stuff but wondering if you over added.

With that said my Yamaha 2000 always takes a few pulls after it's sat for a bit. Haven't worried about it to much, always starts.

Last time valves adjusted?

I’m going on 8 years since I got my yama and all I’ve ever done is replace the air filter and oil yearly. I also follow the shut down procedure for storage every time. Turn gas off and run till she dies.

We have this problem with the ones on our service trucks quite often.

I ended up figuring it out. In my books seafoam=bad now. I thought it was great stuff but I decided to try and drain the tank and put pure 91 octane fuel in it and it started first pull again! As for shutting yhe fuel off, usually if im not turning it back on in 5 minutes, the fuel gets shut off, that way I never have to worry about flooding the engine while it sits for so long
Thanks for all the suggestions!

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Glad you got it working and that OL JR's fix worked for you.

Seafoam is not bad or the issue, what we have here is user error. You clearly had way too much Seafoam in the gas. My bet is you poured the whole can into the generator gas tank thinking more would clean better. It will clean as long as you leave it running but too much will make it hard starting for sure.

Just after my warranty expired.Took it in 'NO Start'.Mechanic says there's NO compression.To repair.Buy a Honda...Lesson learned

On the subject of generators...

I have a Champion inverter. It was a tougher start.

Buddy gave me a pro tip and told me to cycle the on/off switch after a couple of pulls.

Not sure why but it seems to work and she fires up quickly after doing this.

That to me sounds like pure coincidence or a weak switch. If it's handy try disconnecting one lead of the starter switch and starting. If it fires up which I bet it will ground it out and it should die.

I’ve heard about sea foam on here several times and didn’t find it appealing although I’ve heard good things.

I thought I would elaborate a bit on how I’ve learned to maintain my Yamaha, not that anyone asked lol

Early on I discovered that if the generator is moved abruptly while running or turned off after running without going through the recommended shut down process you can dump gas into the air filter some how :thinking-006: and after that happens the filter is junk in my eyes anyways and let’s all kinds of crap through after degrading.

I always make sure it’s on a level surface when running and I check the oil every couple days when camping. I usually have to add one or two syringe fulls at that point.

Over the winter I run my generator at least once a month. I just plug a space heater into it for ten minutes.

I love my Yamaha and it’s been used hard over the past 8 years.

Yamaha 1000
 

The smallest fleck of crap can plug up the pilot jet which causes surging that I had issues with for years. After cleaning the carb many times which would fix the situation for a time only to come back I discovered that if I drain the float bowel after every use I no longer had the issue.

If your not running it every day don’t be using gas station gas, yes even the high octane stuff.

https://youtu.be/Wvps2gF0Sdo

Engineered fuel is what you need to run through a unit if it’s going to sit for any period of time.

This

Actually after I ran the seafoam through the generator I ran 2 tanks of pure premium fuel through it and after those 2 tanks I followed the mixing procedure on the can. Definitely not user error the second time! I'll admit I free poured the first time but the second time was with a 10l jerry can and a measuring cup so my mixture was bang on.

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I think u may be misunderstanding what Seafoam is. It is NOT a fuel stabilizer nor an octane booster. It is strictly designed to clean. Gas with Seafoam is designed to be run through and the full strength fuel used for regular running. Seafoam will make any pull start engine harder to start, especially small displacement ones.

I'm well aware that it is not an octane booster and my intention was to use it to clean, but where you're wrong here is it literally says on the front and back of the can that it stabilizes fuel

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My Honda 2000 does the same after sitting for a while....:(

Ya it literally says right on the can that it stabilizes fuel.
Their own website says it stabilizes fuel for up to 2 years so not sure why your saying that.

I just went and pulled on my Yama :sHa_sarcasticlol:she fired first tug :sHa_shakeshout:

Went and looked at a can in the case of seafoam in the garage. You are right, it does say that. I have used Seafoam for decades but never realised it was a fuel stabilizer. I have always used StaBil for that and Seafoam only as a cleaner. Learn something new every day. :):)

Just add a little. A lot of people seem to think higher octane means more energy. High octane fuels burn slower so that high compression engines don't ping. Heat energy is the same as lower octane fuels. I use regular in my Honda.

Guess I better go give my Yammy a few pulls. Haven't used it for awhile. Although I always give it a splash of StaBil cause don't need it very often but when I do it gets a workout. Also the last couple of trips out in the boat I will run some StaBil, fill the tank and use the storage recommendation at the end.

My honda wouldn't start after sitting for a long time. Same with my lawnmowers. Pulled the float bowls and they were completely caked with green hard crap which I'm sure also clogged the jets. I've been told it's the ethanol-blend or something. Number 1 rule, run the float bowl dry before storage, that goes for any carbed small engine with a float bowl.