Water in the oil???

[Randyjaco]

I have a Generac 22KW natural gas generator. Today I was doing my annual maintenance and discovered that the oil was milky brown. I naturally thought coolant in the oil, until I realized that it is an air cooled Kohler motor. Anybody got any Ideas on why the oil would look milky? There is really no way that water should be getting to that motor.

[Shade Tree Welder]

Originally Posted by Randyjaco

I have a Generac 22KW natural gas generator. Today I was doing my annual maintenance and discovered that the oil was milky brown. I naturally thought coolant in the oil, until I realized that it is an air cooled Kohler motor. Anybody got any Ideas on why the oil would look milky? There is really no way that water should be getting to that motor.

It's water. It does not take much water to make it look bad.

https://testoil.com/program-manageme...ection-limits/

Likely a leak somewhere and rain water is getting in or less likely but possible,
condensation. Particularly if you have been passing through the dew point
quite often. You know with unseasonably cold weather and all...

When was the last oil change?

Solution:
Run the engine get it warm. Drain the oil.

Refill.

Run the engine, sample and run the crackle test. If it fails. Drain and refill.

You should change the oil once a year at a minimum.

[Norm W]

Condensate will form in the crankcase in a warm engine. If it isn't brought up to running temp, for a long enough time to drive the moisture out, it will collect. It boils down to how long and how often do you run it?

[Randyjaco]

Thanks guys. I change the oil once a year. The unit starts itself once a week and runs for @ 5 minutes. Luckily or unluckily we never lost power this year, so it has not run for any long periods of time, and it is probably condensation. The oil was changed immediately and looks normal now.
I do live near the Texas Gulf coast, so there is lots of humidity and temperature changes. Any thoughts on preventing the condensation?

[milomilo]

Originally Posted by Randyjaco

Thanks guys. I change the oil once a year. The unit starts itself once a week and runs for @ 5 minutes. Luckily or unluckily we never lost power this year, so it has not run for any long periods of time, and it is probably condensation. The oil was changed immediately and looks normal now.
I do live near the Texas Gulf coast, so there is lots of humidity and temperature changes. Any thoughts on preventing the condensation?

The only way I know of it to run it for 30 minutes every 2 months to remove the moisture. Dry here but I do it anyway.

[slip knot]

Can you increase the run time on the exercise cycle? I usually run mine for 30-45 minutes, less if your transferring a load on it. It needs to get hot.

[Lew Hartswick]

A crankcase heater BUT it will add to electric bill .
...lew...

[Barks]

My 20 Generac runs about 20 minutes weekly. No oil problems after ~10 years. Not far from Texas Gulf Coast. Logged about 15 hours intermittent run time during the snow/freeze/power interruption last month.

[nelstomlinson]

Originally Posted by Lew Hartswick

A crankcase heater BUT it will add to electric bill.

You only have to keep the motor warmer than the dew point. Generally just a few degrees above ambient will do the trick.

[Windy_Acres]

So, every last Generac Air Cooled stand by genny has milky oil. Ive never serviced one that did not. Unless it was brand new. I dont think I ever changed the oil on one, and after running it, cleared up the oil. There is too much moisture in the crankcase. I suppose if you get it hot enough long enough...

The exercising does that, they run frequently but never get hot.

End of story.

Ive had this with every forklift Ive owned as well, due to infrequent use. I suppose if you lived in a desert this might not happen.