Yes, thank you so much for taking the DIY approach for these lifesavers. I was about to call the service tech to schedule. But being an automotive collision technician, i didn't see the need for that at this time. Since I'm pretty handy at most everything i do from successful engine swaps to cell phone screen repair, i figured it cant be much different from any if the things I've been exposed too since high school power mechanics capstone class. Thanks again!
Thankyou sir, your video was very timely. I could not find the drain port on my 22kw model, but thanks to your video I found it. Its in a slightly different location than yours. Never the less, this video was very helpful!
Thanks father. My company wanted to charge me $2,000 for this, plus fan belt change and freeze out plug replacement. I will do this myself - although I have no idea why they would routinely change the freeze out plugs. That doesn't sound right.
I just diagnosed a neighbor's overheating Generac. They paid a tech to replace the battery (!), then had overheating problems which took three service calls but the technicians could not figure out the cause. Some coolant was on the ground and they surmised there was a leak but could not locate it. I used a 10mm motorized wrench to completely remove the casing/cowling. The first tech had put in the wrong size battery, destroying the plastic fan blades and breaking the fan belt. These repairman were even less then useless.
I just retired from 25 years of servicing these units and we seldom flushed cooling systems. What we did instead was add a few ounces of coolant extender, which has the silicate to retard rust. That product should be available at most larger parts houses, but you need to read the label to see what's in each brand. It's commonly used in large commercial units where a drain / flush can be cost prohibitive to do on a regular basis. What I did was use a turkey baster to pull a few ounces from the radiator and just put it back into the overflow tank. Then you have room for your additive without making a mess.
Hi Father. Thanks for the great video. It is one of the few sources of information on this topic in the internet. However, I have a queston. Specs for my unit call for 2 1/2 gallons of antifreeze. But when I drain the radiator, only 1 1/2 gallons drian. I image the rest remains in the engine block. Do you find the same issue with you unit. If so, is there any way you can think of to address this? Again, thanks for the great video!!
Anybody who wants to help the community. it is crucial to mention the MODEL AND YEAR. Generac has lot of models which look the same but they are very differently built and designed . last not the least Generac keeps records and spare parts for 15 years ONLY, even the manuals are wiped out....now 2008 and before they do not support...
Hi Padre!!! Great video. Question. I have a 6 year old, 27KW Generac. I called up Generac and they recommended using Low Silicate antifreeze. Is that what you use and also, they said it holds three gallons. Is that possible?
The manual recommends a low-silicate antifreeze. Zerex has one that's yellow in color that I can get for about $12 a gallon, concentrated. My 25 kW generator does not hold 3 gallons; it's 2. I mix 1 gallon of antifreeze with 1 gallon of deionized water and have just enough left over to fill the overflow reservoir. The specifications section of your manual should tell you what the coolant capacity is. 3 seems like a lot. My generator was made around 2005, so it's a bit older than yours.
Well I bypassed the low coolant sensor and ran the unit until the thermostat opened and was able to add more coolant. Then I shut it down and let it cool and added a little more coolant until it was to the top. Then reconnected the coolant level sensor and started. Now running fine.
It could be a bad sensor, but I'd be willing to bet the sensor is just dirty. Was it doing this before you changed the coolant? The temperature sensor and level sensor are combined in one sensor. There are two parts to the sensor that are electrically insulated from one another. When it is submerged in the coolant, there is continuity and that's how it knows you have enough coolant in the system. High temperature will break the continuity too. I had a similar problem. When I took the sensor out, it was coated in a dark material - some sort of scale that was in the system. I cleaned the sensor off with steel wool and it worked fine. I'd circulate and flush the system two or three times with fresh distilled water each time to make sure it's clean, clean the sensor good with fine steel wool, and give it a go. In a pinch, you can always disconnect the connector from the sensor and put a jumper wire across the leads in the connector to make the generator run. Make sure you mix the antifreeze with distilled water and not tap water after you flush it.
@@FrGeorge thanks man ... I bridged the sensor wires wit a 3k resistor to run the engine for abt 10 minutes. I didn't get to remove the sensor it was too hard to get to on my model, flushed the radiator tho.
So, turns out there's a retrofit kit, depending on the controller your generator has, that fixes false low coolant/high temp alarm. You can find the retrofit kit at gentekpower.com. shop.gentekpower.com/products/generac-0e2507-0h50540srv-replacement-coolant-probe-kit-for-r-200-panels Just make sure you get a kit that's right for your controller.
@@FrGeorge ... Generac also has a retrofit kit for the sensor problem. It's got a new sensor and a wiring harness. The issue seems to be the original design had power to the sensor 24/7 and eventually you get that crust on the probe via electrolysis. The modified harness takes it's 12 volt feed from the gas solenoid, which is only powered when running, so greatly reduces the problem.
@@FrGeorge .... I wouldn't bother with a timing belt. They are made to last at least 60k miles in automotive applications and your running time over the life of the set will never approach a fraction of that. What I will say is that after 25 years servicing these sets the only time I ever saw a belt fail is due to mice getting into the works. If they drag in food (usually nuts) or die in there then freeze, it will throw the belt several teeth off and the unit will fail to start. When servicing always make sure there are no holes or spaces around the frame of the unit, rust or otherwise.
Yes. I change the oil once a year or every 100 hours, roughly. In the freeze in February down here I had to stop the generator after day 4 of running to change the oil. I changed the oil just before doing the radiator flush in this video.
@@FrGeorge I need to change the oil in mine also - when you drain the oil, do you take the oil feed hose off from the bottom and drain it into a pan? If so, how do you get the pan out from under the generator, over the support, without spilling any oil?
@@WarBerJr02 there should be a flexible drain hose with a metal cap on it. It’s usually clipped where you can see it. Double check your manual. The hose should be along enough to reach a pan outside the generator enclosure.
I, too, will be needing to add oil to mine soon. Mine has been running for 9 days straight now, ever since Hurricane Ida came through. I wish there was a video showing how to do this. 😢
I wouldn't say so. The air-cooled line seems to stop at 20kW and the generators 25 kW and above seem to be liquid cooled. At least in my experience of them. The generator does have a quiet-test mode in which it runs its self-test at about half speed and that is substantially quieter than standard mode. I've owned both a 20 kW air-cooled and this 25 kW liquid cooled. To my memory they are both about the same noise level. Pretty loud when running under load, but certainly manageable. Placement is key for you and your neighbors if they're close.
Many of the newer Liquid cooled generators run at 1800 RPM's. Most of the air cooled run at 3600 RPM's. I like the liquid cool units better. They only run at 1800 RPM's they use less fuel , last longer and are quieter.
It's a piece of 1/2" plastic tubing that I've had around forever. It stays on well enough, but doesn't grab hold like a rubber hose so it's easy to pull back off. The hose barb is tapered and can accommodate a variety of hoses and tubes.
Uhmm.....Did you really use tap water in your generator? Generally, you always want to use distilled water in liquid cooling systems. The new 50/50 mix coolant has distilled H2O.
Yes, thank you so much for taking the DIY approach for these lifesavers. I was about to call the service tech to schedule. But being an automotive collision technician, i didn't see the need for that at this time. Since I'm pretty handy at most everything i do from successful engine swaps to cell phone screen repair, i figured it cant be much different from any if the things I've been exposed too since high school power mechanics capstone class. Thanks again!
Thanks for a great, informative, well produced video! And thanks for smiling all the way through your demonstration, and your safety tips!
Outstanding video. Will be completing this procedure on my Gen soon. Thank you for posting.
Thankyou sir, your video was very timely. I could not find the drain port on my 22kw model, but thanks to your video I found it. Its in a slightly different location than yours. Never the less, this video was very helpful!
Thanks father. My company wanted to charge me $2,000 for this, plus fan belt change and freeze out plug replacement. I will do this myself - although I have no idea why they would routinely change the freeze out plugs. That doesn't sound right.
I just diagnosed a neighbor's overheating Generac. They paid a tech to replace the battery (!), then had overheating problems which took three service calls but the technicians could not figure out the cause. Some coolant was on the ground and they surmised there was a leak but could not locate it. I used a 10mm motorized wrench to completely remove the casing/cowling. The first tech had put in the wrong size battery, destroying the plastic fan blades and breaking the fan belt. These repairman were even less then useless.
I just retired from 25 years of servicing these units and we seldom flushed cooling systems. What we did instead was add a few ounces of coolant extender, which has the silicate to retard rust. That product should be available at most larger parts houses, but you need to read the label to see what's in each brand. It's commonly used in large commercial units where a drain / flush can be cost prohibitive to do on a regular basis. What I did was use a turkey baster to pull a few ounces from the radiator and just put it back into the overflow tank. Then you have room for your additive without making a mess.
Thank you father 🙏🏼
Hi Father. Thanks for the great video. It is one of the few sources of information on this topic in the internet. However, I have a queston. Specs for my unit call for 2 1/2 gallons of antifreeze. But when I drain the radiator, only 1 1/2 gallons drian. I image the rest remains in the engine block. Do you find the same issue with you unit. If so, is there any way you can think of to address this? Again, thanks for the great video!!
Hey father, great vid and accurate. Nate generator tech for 25 plus years
why is everyone calling him father
@@devins7 Because he is
Anybody who wants to help the community. it is crucial to mention the MODEL AND YEAR. Generac has lot of models which look the same but they are very differently built and designed . last not the least Generac keeps records and spare parts for 15 years ONLY, even the manuals are wiped out....now 2008 and before they do not support...
And smoked brisket champ! 👍
Hi Padre!!! Great video. Question. I have a 6 year old, 27KW Generac. I called up Generac and they recommended using Low Silicate antifreeze. Is that what you use and also, they said it holds three gallons. Is that possible?
The manual recommends a low-silicate antifreeze. Zerex has one that's yellow in color that I can get for about $12 a gallon, concentrated. My 25 kW generator does not hold 3 gallons; it's 2. I mix 1 gallon of antifreeze with 1 gallon of deionized water and have just enough left over to fill the overflow reservoir. The specifications section of your manual should tell you what the coolant capacity is. 3 seems like a lot. My generator was made around 2005, so it's a bit older than yours.
Nice about to do mine. Do you happen have the Ford 2.5L in your genset?
The manual says Generac 1.6L 4 cyl. inline. I had a Kholer at one time that was a Ford engine. This one looks like a Generac branded engine.
@@FrGeorge oh this must be a 3600 rpm unit then.
@@LichaelMewis Yes, that's correct. 3600 rpm, 41 horse
@@FrGeorge So I did mine and now it stops after 10 seconds with a low coolant error. Did you run into this? My radiator is full.
Well I bypassed the low coolant sensor and ran the unit until the thermostat opened and was able to add more coolant. Then I shut it down and let it cool and added a little more coolant until it was to the top. Then reconnected the coolant level sensor and started. Now running fine.
I see some oil in your coolant... or is that from the pan?
Also you have to use distilled water to prevent corrosion.
The oil is from the pan. Had just changed the fuel filter in my diesel F-350 and used the same pan to drain it. Good point about the distilled water.
Nice vid....after drain flush n refill I keep getting low coolant level/high coolant temp Everytime I start it up...bad sensor or air in the system?
It could be a bad sensor, but I'd be willing to bet the sensor is just dirty. Was it doing this before you changed the coolant? The temperature sensor and level sensor are combined in one sensor. There are two parts to the sensor that are electrically insulated from one another. When it is submerged in the coolant, there is continuity and that's how it knows you have enough coolant in the system. High temperature will break the continuity too. I had a similar problem. When I took the sensor out, it was coated in a dark material - some sort of scale that was in the system. I cleaned the sensor off with steel wool and it worked fine. I'd circulate and flush the system two or three times with fresh distilled water each time to make sure it's clean, clean the sensor good with fine steel wool, and give it a go. In a pinch, you can always disconnect the connector from the sensor and put a jumper wire across the leads in the connector to make the generator run. Make sure you mix the antifreeze with distilled water and not tap water after you flush it.
@@FrGeorge thanks man
... I bridged the sensor wires wit a 3k resistor to run the engine for abt 10 minutes. I didn't get to remove the sensor it was too hard to get to on my model, flushed the radiator tho.
So, turns out there's a retrofit kit, depending on the controller your generator has, that fixes false low coolant/high temp alarm. You can find the retrofit kit at gentekpower.com.
shop.gentekpower.com/products/generac-0e2507-0h50540srv-replacement-coolant-probe-kit-for-r-200-panels
Just make sure you get a kit that's right for your controller.
@@FrGeorge ... Generac also has a retrofit kit for the sensor problem. It's got a new sensor and a wiring harness. The issue seems to be the original design had power to the sensor 24/7 and eventually you get that crust on the probe via electrolysis. The modified harness takes it's 12 volt feed from the gas solenoid, which is only powered when running, so greatly reduces the problem.
Have you ever done a timing belt for your generic generator.
No, I haven't. My generator is 13 years old, and it's probably time to do that.
@@FrGeorge .... I wouldn't bother with a timing belt. They are made to last at least 60k miles in automotive applications and your running time over the life of the set will never approach a fraction of that. What I will say is that after 25 years servicing these sets the only time I ever saw a belt fail is due to mice getting into the works. If they drag in food (usually nuts) or die in there then freeze, it will throw the belt several teeth off and the unit will fail to start. When servicing always make sure there are no holes or spaces around the frame of the unit, rust or otherwise.
Have you changed the oil in the generator?
Yes. I change the oil once a year or every 100 hours, roughly. In the freeze in February down here I had to stop the generator after day 4 of running to change the oil. I changed the oil just before doing the radiator flush in this video.
@@FrGeorge I need to change the oil in mine also - when you drain the oil, do you take the oil feed hose off from the bottom and drain it into a pan? If so, how do you get the pan out from under the generator, over the support, without spilling any oil?
@@FrGeorge as far as I can tell, there are no videos of how to change the oil in this generator.
@@WarBerJr02 there should be a flexible drain hose with a metal cap on it. It’s usually clipped where you can see it. Double check your manual. The hose should be along enough to reach a pan outside the generator enclosure.
I, too, will be needing to add oil to mine soon. Mine has been running for 9 days straight now, ever since Hurricane Ida came through. I wish there was a video showing how to do this. 😢
Are the liquid cool models quieter then the air cooled models?
I wouldn't say so. The air-cooled line seems to stop at 20kW and the generators 25 kW and above seem to be liquid cooled. At least in my experience of them. The generator does have a quiet-test mode in which it runs its self-test at about half speed and that is substantially quieter than standard mode. I've owned both a 20 kW air-cooled and this 25 kW liquid cooled. To my memory they are both about the same noise level. Pretty loud when running under load, but certainly manageable. Placement is key for you and your neighbors if they're close.
Many of the newer Liquid cooled generators run at 1800 RPM's. Most of the air cooled run at 3600 RPM's. I like the liquid cool units better. They only run at 1800 RPM's they use less fuel , last longer and are quieter.
@@Dqalex and the alternators are so much larger/heavy duty on the 1800 rpm units.
Father - what size hose did you use?
It's a piece of 1/2" plastic tubing that I've had around forever. It stays on well enough, but doesn't grab hold like a rubber hose so it's easy to pull back off. The hose barb is tapered and can accommodate a variety of hoses and tubes.
@@FrGeorge Thank you Father - thanks to you, I picked all the supplies up to do it myself!!!
what is the diameter of the drain hose?
I used a piece of 1/2" plastic (pvc) tubing and not a rubber hose. Rubber hose with a 3/8" inside diameter should work just fine.
Looks like Les Miles
Perfect time to pray
Uhmm.....Did you really use tap water in your generator? Generally, you always want to use distilled water in liquid cooling systems. The new 50/50 mix coolant has distilled H2O.
You should used distilled water not tap water