www.iFourWinns.com

Have it in the bilge of an '04 Vista 268. I posted earlier about no 120V power. Fixed that problem. Cleaned carb, cleaned ground, changed oil and replaced plugs. Gen only has 125 hrs on it. The 3rd night out, after running for 4 hrs straight without as much as a burp, it sputtered and died. It will not re-crank. The starter turns it over but nothing fires. The bi-metal wire sparked and glowed red the last time I tried to crank it. Strainer is clean. I've read every post I can find on multiple sites. Who's smart on a Kohler 5E? I'm ready to shoot it! Thanks in advance for reading/replying.

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Ashley
2004 268 Vista "CTR+ALT+DEL"
Kohler 5E
Lowrance HDS5

How much fuel do you have on board? I know my manual says that the gen fuel pickup will not let you drain the tank. I don't recall exactly how many gallons but I don't let my tank get real low for this very reason. Long shot I know but it's a place to start.

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2008 Vista 278 Volvo Penta 8.1 Gi 375 hp
1999 Horizon 220 5.7 GSi

Thanks, tank is 3/4 full. Wish it was that simple...

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Ashley
2004 268 Vista "CTR+ALT+DEL"
Kohler 5E
Lowrance HDS5

Step one would be to download a service manual for a 5E if you don't already have one. Even if it ends up being an easy fix this time, you will need it in the future, guaranteed.

If you have crank and no start at all, you can rule out all your shutdown systems. Holding the start switch bypasses all of them, so if its not starting at all, you either have no power to control board, or a fuel problem...bad fuel pump or anti-diesel solenoid on the carb maybe. I have read of coil packs failing, but not too often. Overheating, fuel supply, and electrical issues seem to be the major failures, and spark plugs but you mention you had changed those already.

Check the fuse holders on the genset next to the start switch, maybe one popped. I believe one of those supplies 12v power to the board, but I don't have the book in front of me right this minute to confirm. It's a good place to start, anyway. Also, make sure the switch on the genset itself is not in the stop position. On my 5e, start is momentary but stop is not. I've only had a no start once from the cabin panel and found the other switch to be off, but once you do it you won't forget it again...major duh moment...lol.

That should get you started, any deeper and you should have the manual because you will be checking power to the board and other circuits. The troubleshooting guide in the service manual is pretty good. At some point you may want to pull that board and do a visual inspection... I've replaced mine before after finding a big burned spot on it, but even then it would run while holding the start switch.

I have service and parts manuals if you can't find them. PM me and I'll send you a link.

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Jack
2005 268 Vista - Sold

2001 Silverton 35C 8.1L Crusaders

My 2004 5E ran great for the first couple of weaks this summer and then sputtered and died, I wasn't able to troubleshoot it for a couple of weeks, when I did get to it I found that gas was shooting out the intake. At that point I thought the float was stuck and I tapped on the carb to free it. That didn't work and I went no futher with troubleshooting that day. About a week or two later I tried tapping it again and starting it and it ran perferctly, my thought was that the tapping had freed it. It ran again for another weekend or two and then sputtered and died again. I finally pulled the carb the next week and saw that the float was full of gas which obviously doesn't allow the float to float. I could not visually detect any cracks in the float but I replaced it. I did keep the defective float laying around for a few weeks and the fuel inside eventually evaporated. My theory is that that the first time the gen failed is that the float became full and quit, the few weeks of no use allowed the float to dry out and function again but then after running the generator again it became full again.

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2004 Vista 298
Twin 5.7L Volvo Penta GXi-E