Houston...We Have a Problem!

It was hot, very hot; and as muggy as a shower room. The sun was beginning to beat into the open garage door. Somewhere a radio was playing classic rock 'n roll. My brother Mike and I had been working on his inherited generator for a while. What started out as an easy hour and a half task, was becoming a grueling test of patience and endurance.

"That's It!' Mike shouted (after we had reassembled the generator's carburetor for the third or fourth time with no successful starts). "I've had enough of this F__KING thing.

"Easy dude! We can do this." I said

"Screw it, I'm gonna put it out on the curb with a sign that says 'FREE' on it!"

"Come on bro, take it easy, this is a pretty nice generator, we can make it work!"

It took a little more persuasion than that, but Mike finally agreed to give it one more shot. We got back at it.

The previous day he had mentioned that he had a generator that one of his neighbors had essentially abandoned after Hurricane Ike several years before. He said that it had never run great, and had been sitting (with fuel in it) for at least six years. Sounded like a fun and rewarding project...it wasn't turning out that way.

Mike smokes a good sausage, while I photo bomb him as
Teri looks on!

We started in the 80 degree relative cool of morning by draining the old gas out of the tank and carburetor, wiping things down, and cleaning it up a bit. With fresh gas, we attempted to start it. Several pulls on the starting rope indicated that that wasn't going to be enough. So we partially disassembled the carburetor and used a small brush and some carb cleaner to get the gummed up fuel off. After we got things clean, we put it all back together. It was getting warmer, and we both opened a chilled Coors Light Silver Bullet.

No luck after 15 or 20 pulls on the starter in the sauna heat, so we tried some starting fluid. Vrooom! The thing fired right up... then died after about 2 seconds. We did this several times, and then decided to check the fuel line. It was clogged with gummed up fuel, easy to clean though.

Once again we reassembled the machine, and once again.. no luck starting it. We did notice that it was getting easier and easier to take it apart and put it together. We tried the starting fluid again, same deal. Time for another "Bullet".

We tore it down again, and this time disassembled the carburetor as much as we thought prudent. We found a few more gummed up parts, cleaned them up and reassembled it (it was a snap this time).

By now it was probably in the mid 90's and about 70 percent humidity. Another beer, and several pulls on the starter didn't get us any closer to fixing the damn thing.

One of Mike's neighbors suggested spraying a product called "Sea Foam" into it after we got it started (with starting fluid). It is purported to be the miracle cure for all ailments automotive. Doing this made the engine run for as long as we continued to spray the stuff into it, while creating huge clouds of stinky white smoke, that billowed out into the alley. I'm sure it was doing some good inside the engine, but I was worried someone would call the fire department. It got so bad we stopped and beat a hasty retreat from the garage. This didn't help our mood as the the blazing Houston sun beat down on us..

That was when Mike lost it. After he calmed down, we decided to take a trip to the parts store for some carburetor dip. I had used it successfully in cleaning my old truck's carb years ago, and convinced my bro to give it one last try. At the store, we collected all the stuff we needed and were standing at the counter ringing it up when it occurred to me that perhaps a new carburetor could be found for a reasonable price online.

As the thought struck me, I realized I could check by Googling on my phone.  I typed in the make and model of the generator, and added the word "parts" at the end. Bingo! The first hit I got was "new carburetors". so I checked the price as mike signed the credit card slip for $32. A new carb delivered to Mike's front door was $24 with $10 shipping.

Mickey Moose!

This put a whole new light on the situation. Baby Bro and I talked it over on the way home and decided to do some more checking on the internet when we got home. Sure enough, it turned out a brand new carburetor cost only a couple of bucks more than the stuff we bought to "maybe" fix the old one. We had the receipt from our recent purchase and decided to return it. Mickey placed the order, and we celebrated with another silver bullet! Isn't it wonderful when life delivers up a real "no-brainer".

Kim and I took off for home before the carb arrived. However, the report from mi hermano was muy bueno: "Put it together and it purrs like a kitten!"

So it was a successful and rewarding project after all (a little short on the fun however). A final note" Mike did mention that taking the old carburetor off, and installing the new one was so easy he probably could have done it blindfolded. Hmmm...I guess practice does pay off!

That's All!