Until I got the shop manuals from Plano Power, Plano, TX, I was one happy
camper with my Honda EU3000is inverter genset that is powering my stepvan
shop. Everyone who has seen it and heard it are simply amazed by how quiet
this power plant is. Many boaters and RVers have mentioned getting one so
I'd like to warn them of what I found out, today.

In the SECOND supplement to the shop manual, Honda Power Equipment has
thrown a big, double-ended, ratchet wrench into my EU3000is
experience.......

This genset has been made since 1998 or 9. The date on the shop manual is
1998 for EU2600i and EU3000is. It's not a new unit.

The original maintenance schedule, 1998, is pretty easy and routine:
Oil - Check before use, change first 20 hours and every 100 hours after
that.
Air Cleaner (paper) Clean at 50 hours replace at 200 hours
Sediment cup in carb filter clean every 100 hours.
Spark Plug - clean/adj every 100 hours, replace every 300 hours
Spark Arrester in big muffler clean every 100 hours
Valve Clearance (OHV engine) check/adj every 300 hours
Fuel tank filter - check every 300 hours
fuel line check every 2 years, replace if necessary.
All this is pretty easy to get to and standard for gas, air-cooled engines.

In Dec 1999, page 3-1 was modified to CLEAN the fuel tank filter every 300
hours, which means draining the tank. Not easy but doable. The rest
remained the same, pretty much standard for small gas engines.

Then, Supplement 61ZT700Y came out (IPC 2600.2002.02)and, once again,
replaced page 3-1 in January 2002. A new, disturbing line had been added.

COMBUSTION CHAMBER - CLEAN EVERY 500 HOURS.

WHAT THE H___??!! EVERY 500 HOURS I GOTTA OVERHAUL IT?!!

Something is wrong. Let's call Honda to make sure they didn't mean every
5000 hours. I pointed this out to my Honda dealer and he said it was crazy
and probably wrong. So, I called the factory:

American Honda Power Equipment Division
4900 Marconi Dr.
Alpharetta, GA 30005-2519
678-339-2600
Mon. - Fri. 8:30 - 5:00 EST

Customer Relations
Tel: 770-497-6400
Fax: 678-339-2519
Mon. - Fri. 8:30 - 5:30 EST

FOUR times, today, to talk to the talking heads in Customer Relations, the
office kids. One wonders if any of them could tell the difference between
the carb float and the oil level sensor float, or between the crankshaft
and the valves....???

I was put on hold for a local conversation without my hearing it.....
I was told, Yes, Honda Engineers want me to DISASSEMBLE THE WHOLE TOP OF
THE ENGINE EVERY 500 HOURS AND CLEAN OUT THE CARBON DEPOSITS.

I run this genset about 6-8 hours a work day, probably more in hot summer.
This means that EVERY OTHER or THIRD MONTH I've gotta take the whole end
off the cabinet, remove the entire air cooling shroud, exhaust system,
unbolt the overhead valve-containing head off the engine (which will surely
screw up the OHV somehow), clean the carbon off the oil-cooled head, piston
top, and cylinder/rings, then reassemble it all back the way it was with
NEW GASKETS, RETORQUING THE HEAD BOLTS, of course......EVERY OTHER OR THIRD
MONTH? I hope Honda CARS and expensive 6-cylinder MOTORCYCLES don't
suddenly fall victim to this requirement! This is a GENSET, NOT a super-
high-performance, 30,000 RPM, Formula One racing machine! IT RUNS AT 1200
RPM UNTIL THE LOAD IS OVER 1800 WATTS!!

"What went wrong with this engine that suddenly requires this new MAJOR
maintenance item that will take longer and cost far more than all the other
maintenance steps for this engine, COMBINED?", I questioned. Of course,
being the office boys, they had no idea of the WHY and, to date, I cannot
find the name and phone number of anyone related to the Honda ENGINEERS who
made this questionable decision. Maybe they don't have phones! are
slaves! Noone will answer this question, so I'm asking all of you if you
know of anything like this?

Somethin' ain't right with ANY 1-cyl engine you have to disassemble and
clean every 500 hours!.....My dealer even agrees! If anyone at Honda Power
Equipment reads this message, please answer the question for all of us!

Larry
****ed off owner.....

What would happen to our warranty claims if we required some off-the-wall
crazy, EXPENSIVE maintenance item in the schedule everyone refused to do?
Will we be able to blame any problems on NOT following the maintenance
schedule, no matter how crazy it is? How crazy is too crazy? Can car
manufacturers absolve themselves by requiring you to change the crankshaft
every 12,000 miles??

DAMN A GOOD TORQUE WRENCH IS EXPENSIVE THESE DAYS!!