New to me Honda Generator for $32

[Levithan9]

I came into work last week, and saw that the pawn shop a few doors down had left out a generator. Thinking that they left it out on accident, i wheeled it into the shop. I'd return it when they opened up, as I know the owner .
Out of curiosity, I tried to start it. The pull cord wound not budge. A little more investigating, and i found the problem....the plastic cam gear had shattered into several pieces.

Being an auto tech, I started grabbing my tools and went to to town tearing it apart. About 45 minutes later, I had parts everywhere. Before i split the case, I checked compression, to make sure the valves were still good...which they were.

After everything was apart, I then went online and got the model number and started looking up the parts that i'd need to get it up and running. Went to amazon and using my PRIME, ordered the cam gear and replacement timing belt. I also had to order a stator brush assembly for the generator, as one was missing.

Waited 2 days, and the parts finally arrived. Put the case back together and let it sit overnight to ensure the ULTRA GRAY silicone had plenty of time cure. I didn't want to have to do this all again because i was in a hurry.

Came in the next day, and when I had time, I started working on it again. Before I put oil in it, I sprayed a few squirts of starter fluid in it, and pulled the cord. The little engine came to life for about 2 seconds, which is all needed to know.

I went ahead with putting it all back together, filled it up with some fresh 93 octane gas, and let'er rip. Idle was wwaayyy to high, so i had to manually control the governor until the engine got hot, then adjust the idle/governor.
After about 20 minutes of tinkering, i finally got it just right. Attached my Flex 3401 and my electric pressure washer, and used both at the same time to put a load on the generator. It went off idle and i was able to use both at the same time.

The owner of the pawn shop saw what i was doing, and he said that the generator had been in his back storage for about a year. He just wanted it gone, so he left it out over the weekend, hoping someone would come by and take it.

Well, i took it. And fixed it. And now it's mine.

Total price for the parts was about $32.

Not too bad.


Generator...Minus the generator and engine


Broken Cam Gear


Engine split in half



All in pieces



Missing Stator brush


Engine back together



All done !!

[dschia]

Nice restore... I wish i have the knowledge to do all these. Thumbs up!

[LEDetailing]

Cool story. Wonder how much a small engine shop would have charged to rebuild it?

Your $32.00 generator is quite the steal

[damaged442]

Awesome score!! Great work!!

[Levithan9]

I ran the little generator thru a stress test yesterday. As i was off from my job, I had to remove the drivers seat on my 03 Dodge ram 1500 to replace the cushion. Since it only took me 5 minutes to get it out, i figured, what the hell...so i removed the passenger side, and then the frame. So basically i had an empty canvas to do some detailing on the inside that was long over due.

I used my Tornador mixed with Folex to treat some spots, especially below the cup holder, and then a spray bottle with Folex and hot water to saturate the carpet. Next was a corded drill with brush, and drilled the entire interior carpet. All while i had my Mytee Lite II plugged in as well. Since i was at home, i used hot water to fill the extractor. But when the heater element kicked in, you definitely knew it, as the generator would bog down and then kick up under such a load.

But, I was able to use my drill AND run the extractor with the PUMP, HEATER, and VACUUM on at the same time.

It's a little loud, and i may need to readjust the governor in the future, but i'm satisfied with the end results.