Kohler Generator 5E Troubles

[FONT=&quot]Hello all,[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]I just wanted to share some recent information about my 5E Kohler gen.

I'm new to the forum but not boating. I own a 2005 348 Vista and love it. The Kohler 5E gen however? Sometimes not so much![/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]After taking delivery last and with the boat winterized I never tried to start the gen until spring as everything was laid up. The Kohler ran ok during the sea trial but I knew we had a few things to work on as it sputtered.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Ok,come spring. The gen cranked like crazy but no start. She didnt have power to the fuel pump nor spark? I replaced the control board ($245) with new and no go, same thing. Here's what I found.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]1.The carb was completely plugged with grit and the anti-diesel solenoid was not working.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]2.I found the small inline fuel filter just in front of the fuel pump was plugged despite having a fuel/water spin on filter in front of that.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]3. The electric choke was shorted which caused the no spark no power to fuel pump issue. This was obvious when looking at melted connections and a little ohm work.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]4. Oh one other thing? If you have a remote start/stop button in the boat say down in the salon, remember it needs to be in the neutral position or you will not be able to start the gen from the bilge. You'll get the ol no spark no power to the fuel pump routine which can drive you batty![/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]These units need clean fuel and need to be regularly run under a load. Fuel problems cause most issues with these units along with plugs. Throttle hunting is most likely plugged jets in the carb.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Keep fuel clean gents and always check fuel, spark and air first.

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I didn't know that generators needed to be constantly monitored

All generator faults can be divided into two groups - mechanical and electrical. The first includes the destruction of the device housing, broken mountings, bearings, brushes, clamping springs, overrunning clutch or pulley, and other parts. The second includes breaks and short circuits of the diode bridge's winding breakage, and voltage regulators wear of carbon brushes.
Again, if it is an old alternator, it may have more than one failure. My old alternator did, and so I chose a new one. This is one of the quiet generators since the old one was making an awful lot of noise, which was bothering me.