Zinc broke off in heat exchanger - 4kW Kohler

So I was replacing some items on my generator today and when it came to change out the zinc it looks like the old one separated from the threaded cap.

How have others gotten the old zinc out?

I removed the heat exchanger to get a better look at the offending part.

I'm going to do some internet searching before I drill it out.

 

Thanks juggernaut1 ..... I thought the same.

I pushed it in and that's where it's going to stay.

Since the end caps don't come off like some I've seen during my searches ...... I'm going to leave it in there and install the new zinc.

Surprisingly during my flush of the exchanger I extracted 2 rubber fins from past broken impellers. I guess the previous owner or mechanic didn't want to go fishing to get them out. I just put a new one in today to replace an older one that looked good (all fins in place) but felt like the rubber was getting a bit stiff.

I'm going to replace the plugs next since I have them and while I'm in position.

I hope after toping off the coolant and burping the system .... my shutdown issue will be cured.

We will see.

 

Unfortunately the end caps do not come off like some I've seen. It's all copper and it looks as if the end caps are soldered on. I flushed both sides of the heat exchanger with a hose and got a bunch of rust and crap out of the coolant side.

It's all back together and I'm going to wipe everything down and pick up my tools before heading out to get some coolant to refill.

And pick up some pain reliever...... heheheeee... I'm going to hurt in the morning.

 

BTW the spark plugs looked used and abused. The porcelain actually looked discolored compared to the new ones..... it must get hot where they are located.

They were Champion replaced with the alternative NGK per the manual.

 

I've taken a few Aleve to try to word off the stiffness in the AM.

BTW the dam anti slip on the floor has to be like 600 grit sand paper..... my knees and one toe got rashed during my generator play today. ugh. But if everything works as it should ...... it's well worth a few nicks and scratches.

 

This morning topped it off with 50/50 coolant and it started up like a champ.

It's been running now for about 10 minutes so we will see if my shut down condition returns.

I just loaded it up by turning on the AC. Took it like a champ..... just a single blip and then rock steady at 120V.

When I started it up you would have thought I was having a foam party..... I guess I used a bit more dish washing liquid than I thought when I replaced the rubber impeller. Heheheee...

 

My jubilation was pre-mature.

It shut down after about 20 minutes.

I'm going to let it cool and then check for air in the cooling system again.

More trouble shooting ahead.

 

It doesn't come apart. If it did I would have done it.

But I did flush through both sides when I had it off the generator until clear water ran out...... vs the rusty mess that came out.

 

It's soldered on and then it looks powder coated. There's no center screw and gasket like some Heat Exchangers I've seen while searching.

 

BTW I stared it back up and ran w/o the coolant cap in place and added more coolant while the air was being forced out of the system. I was very surprised at how much more coolant it took once all the air bubbles stopped.

But it then turned off again after about 15-20 minutes.

It's not over heating ...... if it was the coolant would have been boiling out since the coolant cap was off.

So how often does the coolant temp sensor or exhaust temp sensors go bad?

Can I disconnect and run the generator to take them out of the auto shut down equation or do I need to do something else to trick the system?

 

Saga continues:

I removed the wires on the exhaust temp sensors because they were very accessable and while doing so one crumbled. I taped up the ends and started the generator back up.

Could this be it? Faulty broken sensor........

Time will tell. Fingers crossed.

 

Dam. Turned off again.

I'm going to order up 2 replacement exhaust temp sensors since one is broke and then continue my quest at a later date once installed.

Enough tinkering for now.