On Mon, 05 May 2008 02:43:17 +0000, Larry wrote:

Bruce in Bangkok wrote in
:

I recently downloaded about 500 posts from alt.energy.homepower and
found a thread discussing honda generators and problems they have with
the oil system. I am not sure if this is the same model as you are
using but you might want to research this as apparently there is a
small plastic gear that can be seen through the oil drain hole that
fails and stops oil reaching the cylinder.


Huh?? I think my EU3000is and I know my EU1000i little suitcase have the
same "oil system" as my lawn mower....the crank splashes the oil all over
the crankcase when it comes down, including the rings. There's no little
gear inside either one of mine, because I use a rubber water bulb made
for battery acid to suck out the old oil, cleanly and pump in new oil.
These little one cylinder engines have no "oil system"....

My EM5000X 11hp slant single had no oil system, either....

Splash might be considered a lubricating "system."
Since I was curious I did a little searching.
The gear Bruce referred to is the governor gear.
Parts of that plastic gear assembly are paddles to splash oil.
Not clear if they are for splashing the cylinder walls, but I did read
one description of them splashing the internal timing belt which
carries the oil to the valve assembly (rockers, lifters).
In any case, it has caused some premature failures.
Since the cost of repairing these engines seems pretty high, I don't
know if it's a good thing to look in that drain hole to have it tell
you "You're f**ked."
Since replacement involves getting down to splitting the crankcase,
unless you're adept at engine repair you might be better off not
knowing about those paddles, and let it run until it's just time to
buy a new one.
But all true info is basically good to know (-:

--Vic