Foretravel Owners' Forum For owners and Fans of Foretravel Motorcoaches September 15, 2025 ...

Generator rough start

October 04, 2016, 04:30:39 pm

Why does my generator sputter and smokes when starting. After start up runs great.  You can smell the diesel fuel burning off.

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Re: Generator rough start

Reply #1 – October 04, 2016, 04:54:50 pm

Check your glow plugs

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Re: Generator rough start

Reply #2 – October 04, 2016, 05:01:18 pm

John,

Can you give us a little more detail as this will help narrow down the possibilities? 
Which power unit do you have? (like Isuzu or Kubota)
What color is the smoke?

Smoke could be caused by several things like bad glow plug, faulty glow plug circuit, bad injector, air in fuel (bad fuel line) so the more info you can give the better some of our members will be able to help diagnosis the trouble.

Pamela & Mike

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Re: Generator rough start

Reply #3 – October 04, 2016, 05:12:33 pm

I have the kubota.  I am just assuming that it is due to the cold evenings.  Didn't have this problem in the summer.  It would be white smoke and some diesel smell after starting. After starting it runs great, smoke clears up fast.  Would let it sit for 30 minutes and it would start great.

John

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Re: Generator rough start

Reply #4 – October 04, 2016, 05:26:27 pm

Yup, glow plugs are the "most likely suspect". Start by verifying power to them on cold start (i.e. fuse and relay functioning).

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Re: Generator rough start

Reply #5 – October 04, 2016, 06:42:53 pm

I found this glow plug test I will try out.  Check each one for resistance.  Also review what is on support page. 

Generator Glow Plugs

Easy and Complete Glow Plug Test - YouTube

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Re: Generator rough start

Reply #6 – October 04, 2016, 07:56:48 pm

I had that problem with our 320 in very cold weather. It had the auto start feature. I found that if I turned on the gen switch but turned it off just before the generator started (once or twice) it would run perfectly. Turns the auto start into a manual glow plug switch.
jor

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