
Section 4 — Maintenance
Guardian
•Make sure the piston is at Top Dead Center (TDC) of its compression stroke (both valves closed). To get the piston at TDC, remove the intake screen at the front of the engine to gain access to the flywheel nut. Use a large socket and socket wrench to rotate the nut and hence the engine. While watching the piston through the spark plug hole. The piston should move up and down. The piston is at TDC when it is up as high as it can go.
•Loosen the rocker jam nut. Use an 10mm allen wrench to turn the pivot ball stud while checking clearance between the rocker arm and the valve stem with a feeler gauge. Correct clearance is
NOTE:
You must hold the rocker arm jam nut in place as you turn the pivot ball stud.
When valve clearance is correct, hold the pivot ball stud in place with the allen wrench and tighten the rocker arm jam nut. Tighten the jam nut to 174 in/lbs. torque. After tightening the jam nut, recheck valve clearance to make sure it did not change.
Figure 4.10 - Valve Clearance Adjustment
Rocker
Pivot BallArm
Stud
Jam Nut
Valve
Stem
•Install new valve cover gasket.
•
Start all four screws before tightening or you will not be able to get all the screws in place. Make sure the valve cover gasket is in place.
•
•On
4.9COOLING SYSTEM
Air inlet and outlet openings in the generator com- partment must be open and unobstructed for contin- ued proper operation. This includes such obstruc- tions as high grass, weeds, brush, leaves and snow.
Without sufficient cooling and ventilating air flow, the engine/generator quickly overheats, which causes it to quickly shut down. (See Figure 4.9 for vent locations.)
Figure 4.9 – Cooling Vent Locations
The exhaust from this product gets extremely hot and remains hot after shutdown. High grass, weeds, brush, leaves, etc. must remain clear of the exhaust. Such materials may ignite and burn from the heat of the exhaust system.
The maximum ambient temperature for your
!generator is 40° C (104° F).
4.10 ATTENTION AFTER SUBMERSION
If the generator has been submerged in water, it MUST NOT be started and operated. Following any submersion in water, have a Generac/Guardian Authorized Dealer thoroughly clean and dry the gener- ator.
4.11 CORROSION PROTECTION
Periodically wash and wax the enclosure using auto- motive type products. Frequent washing is recom- mended in salt water/coastal areas. Spray engine linkages with a light oil such as
20 Generac® Power Systems, Inc.