Pressure washer troubleshooting

[scoob8000]

I've got a 2 year old Generac pressure washer with an AR pump.

Just want to get some advice before I start pulling things apart and not able to get them back together or adjusted right.



Was washing the car yesterday and it died on me.. When it died, I didn't even get low pressure out of the wand. Also couldn't pull the rope.

I shut the water off and unhooked the hoses, still couldn't pull the rope. I losened what looks like a bleeder screw on the back of the pump and got a squirt of water. Now I can pull the rope.

Hooked it back up, fired it up and within seconds it died again. Same thing.

I'm thinking the unloader is stuck, does this sound like a fair assessment?

 

[Viz]

Not sure exactly where I read this, but some Generac owners reported a similar problem in that the motor would die repeatedly and the work around (since Generac hadn't provided a true fix) was to loosen the fuel filler cap. That might not be your problem, since you also said you couldn't pull the starter rope, but just passing it on.

Viz

 

[kctyphoon]

This might be a dumb question, but you do know that you cannot leave a gas pressure washer running if u are not using it.. The pump will overheat and seize, also making it impossible to pull the starter rope..

 

[scoob8000]

This might be a dumb question, but you do know that you cannot leave a gas pressure washer running if u are not using it.. The pump will overheat and seize, also making it impossible to pull the starter rope..

Yup. I always shut it off when I'm soaping up etc.

So I ended up pulling the unloader and cleaning it. (It was caked with corrosion mixed metal construction I think).

Put it back together, ran it for a few minutes, then the pot metal of the pump housing cracked. It's junk now.

Sadly it's an AR pump which has a good name, but this one is clearly stamped made in China.

 

[blackedout12v]

Had a very similar problem,mine would almost stall out it had so much load on it when not on the trigger and pump would get super hot. Unscrewed the neck that the water hose attaches to, there was a valve with a slot in it that I unscrewed with a flat head. Valve had a o ring that I replaced that looked visibly worn. Behind the valve was a spring that came out also.when I went to reassemble I couldn't find the spring, so I took apart a ink pen and used the spring out of it ( very close in size) thought what the hell. At this point in time I didn't give a damn if it worked again or not. Fired it up and worked like a champ ever since. Don't know if it was the o ring or the spring that was the problem. This was a troy built from Lowe's with a Briggs motor.

 

[Dodge]

Since it sounds like the OP is "done" with his pressure washer, this probably isn't highjacking his thread. My pressure washer works great, except will not go to idle when I release the trigger on the wand. Always on high throttle. I removed the unloader and cleaned and greased it and it still does not go to idle. Any suggestions? It is a Simpson MSV3100 with a Honda engine.

 

[scoob8000]

Since it sounds like the OP is "done" with his pressure washer, this probably isn't highjacking his thread. My pressure washer works great, except will not go to idle when I release the trigger on the wand. Always on high throttle. I removed the unloader and cleaned and greased it and it still does not go to idle. Any suggestions? It is a Simpson MSV3100 with a Honda engine.

Can you hear the motor unloading when you let off the trigger? Could just be a stuck governor on the motor or something in that area..

 

[Dodge]

The sound of the motor doesn't change at all. I will check out the governor. Thanks

 

[ajudeh1944]

I have a serious problem too with my 2 years old Generac gas pressure washer 3100 psi, 2.7 gpm. It starts OK, but when I try to open the choke all the way, it shuts off. Now if I move the choke about 1/5 of the way towards the open position, it stays running on but with very low water pressure and some exhaust smoke of course. Again it will shut off if I move the choke a little further to the open position.

I did some troubleshooting myself for no positive results; I changed the carburetor, I checked the fuel line, the fuel filter, the air filter, loosened the fuel tank cap and cleaned/greased the unloader in vain.
I hate working on gas machines and don't know what to check/change next.

I will appreciate any hits.