Carver Owners Forum

First post... First Carver owned.

My Kohler generator has mind of its own. Some days it will run from the time we leave slip to the time return 8 hours later. Other days will run for 15 min and shut off. Some days it runs while I’m cruising, some days nope. Some days it will run when cove’d out and you guessed it, some days it will not. Acts this way whether the gas tanks are full and while their low.

Here is what I have done:
Serviced twice with oil changes and filters
New impeller
New spark plugs
New fuel filter

Next I may try a new fuel pump and new sensors. Any thoughts here... seems to be a guessing game at this point.

Thank you in advance!!! - Mark

Welcome to the forum....my sympathies with the gen.

Have you noticed anything as it shuts down, like surging, or running rough etc or does it just shut off as if you turned it off at the panel ?

It just shuts down as if I shut it down at the panel. Sometimes I have a load on it (both ac’s) and sometimes it will shut off even with very little load.

Welcome aboard.

I would be prepared for the next shutdown with a meter to check all the sensors; oil, engine temp, water pressure, exhaust temp if applicable, and some are equipped with a low coolant level sensor.

Some other possibilities are bad/intermittent controller fuse, failing controller breaker, loose engine harness plug or corroded or pulled out pins, intermittent voltage regulator fault, corroded relay pins, loose connection or failing component in the controller.

Oh and check the Start/Stop switch on both the remote panel and the on-board one.

If all that checks out, ensure the engine systems are working properly such as ignition and fuel delivery, though a sudden shutdown usually eliminates a fuel delivery problem.

Viper has a good list there.......just to add, there is a ground that runs to the case under the engine then to the battery on some of those, check that for clean and tight, also I will also say check the switch.

Thank you everyone... I’ll be at the boat in a few hours and I’ll be checking on as many of these items as I can. I appreciate the help!

I had a lot of problems with mine and it turned out the anti-siphon valve was the culprit. Replaced it and all is good.
FYI, the valve is right at the top of the fuel tank, I believe, just inside the tank.

Same boat, same genset.

The anti siphon valve will be one of the fittings where the hose is fastened to the top of the tank on the outside of it. Depending on the build, there may be one or two fittings visible, one will be the anti siphon valve. From the outside though, it'll look just like a regular brass or aluminum fitting.