Generator Repair and Maintenance Guide
In This Guide
A generator has one job, and it always has to do it on the worst day. Generator repair is unusual because the machine spends almost all its life switched off, waiting, and it is precisely that waiting that breaks it. This guide is the hub for everything we cover on generators: why they fail, the specific faults and their fixes, what repairs actually cost, and the short routine that keeps a generator ready. Each section links to a deeper guide.
Why Generators Fail (It Is Almost Always the Same Reason)
Understand this one thing and most generator faults make sense. A generator is bought for an emergency, then left in a shed or beside the house for months, sometimes years, between times it is actually needed. The petrol left sitting inside it degrades into a sticky varnish, and that varnish blocks the fine passages in the carburetor.
So the machine that lets you down is nearly always the one nobody has started since the last outage. It is not worn out. It is gummed up, and that is a completely different and far cheaper problem.
The Most Common Generator Faults
Generator problems fall into a handful of categories. Here is the map, with each linking to its own full guide.
| Symptom | Usual cause |
|---|---|
| Will not start at all | Stale fuel, blocked carburetor, dead battery, old spark plug |
| Runs but no power comes out | Loss of residual magnetism, tripped breaker, failed AVR |
| Starts then dies | Blocked fuel flow, choke, clogged carburetor jet |
| Will not stay running | Fuel starvation, low oil shutdown, dirty carburetor |
| Runs rough or surges | Partial carburetor blockage, stale fuel, dirty air filter |
Notice how many trace back to fuel. That is not a coincidence, it is the theme of generator repair.
Won't Start
The most common call of all. A generator that cranks but will not fire, or does nothing at all, is usually a fuel or a battery problem rather than anything serious. Stale fuel, a blocked carburetor, a flat starting battery, or a fouled spark plug account for the overwhelming majority.
Our full guide walks through the checks in order, from the fuel valve and choke to the carburetor.
Runs But Produces No Power
This one alarms people because the engine sounds perfectly healthy, yet nothing works when plugged in. The engine is fine. The problem is in the electrical side, and the most common cause is loss of residual magnetism, where the generator has simply forgotten how to make electricity after sitting too long.
It sounds catastrophic and usually is not. Our dedicated guide explains the causes and the fix.
Starts Then Dies, or Won't Stay Running
A generator that fires for a few seconds and quits, or runs a while then stops, is almost always being starved of fuel. A partially blocked carburetor lets just enough through to start on the choke, then cannot sustain the engine once it warms.
These two related faults have their own guides, because the fixes differ slightly.
What Generator Repair Costs
Most generator repairs are far cheaper than the panic-buy replacement people reach for during an outage. A carburetor clean is inexpensive, and even a failed voltage regulator is a modest part.
Our cost guide breaks down every common repair with real price ranges, and helps you judge when a repair is worth it and when a generator has genuinely reached the end.
Keeping a Generator Ready: Maintenance
Generators reward a small amount of routine care more than almost any machine, because the alternative is discovering a fault during an outage. The essentials are running it monthly under load, changing the oil, keeping fresh or stabilised fuel in it, and storing it correctly in the off season.
Our maintenance checklist and service schedule cover the full routine.
When to Call a Professional
Rather Have a Real Technician Handle It?
A Wildwood technician comes to your home, diagnoses the generator on site, and gets it running, usually in about an hour. More than 10,000 repairs completed since 2019, with flat rates quoted before we arrive so there are no surprises. When you need power back, you need it back now.