Stale Fuel in gas tank

If it has been sitting for awhile since last used, this is a common problem. The fuel has sat and gummed up and clogged the fuel passage ways through your carburetor.
One trick to clear the passages is to try to get fuel into the generator when starting by spraying carburetor cleaner or starting fluid into the air intake of the generator. Sometimes if you can the the motor to run it will suck on the fuel line hard enough to clear out the gummed up fuel stuck in the lines. Caution: if you use starting fluid, just give it small puffs from the can. Too much can blow up the engine or flood the spark plug.

If you filled the fuel tank with gasoline enhanced with ethanol the fuel may be bad and caused the carburetor to gum up. Also Honda engines have a low oil sensor and from your description of the oil, can cause problems with the sensor and the engine won't start. Try changing the oil first and then adding a small engine gasoline additive that helps with stale gasoline starting problems.

If its stale possibly. If its carbureted and the stale gas has sat all winter with no stablilizer- quite likely the carb passages maybe gummed up and blocked- seen this myself..Drain old gas and refill. if fuel injected there may be another issue it should at least fire if the fuel is getting to cylinders and theres a spark.. if a Carb.. the same.. so if carb and no fir or no smell of fuel from exhaust- carb passages clogged or petcock..

These are all symptoms of a lean condition. Most likely cause is dirty carburator passages and jets. This could be from sitting up for a long period of time causing a build up of gum and varnish or it could be a gradual thing if unit sits for shorter periods between uses(4-6 weeks). The ethenol content in todays gasoline is such that each time the carb dries out in those short periods of inactivity it leaves a corrosive buildup in the carb. Over time this can cause clogging to the extent of a running problem such as you have. Im afraid a thorough fuel system(tank to carb) flushing-cleaning- adjusting is in order.

The float in the carburator is not working the needle & seat. Probably stuck from gumming & trash..Try tapping on the carb with a small object ...If this works put some carb cleaner in the fuel & run it for a while... This problem is caused by letting old gas stay in the tank & carb. If that doesn't work take the carb apart & clean the needel & seat area.. Good luck

Fuel will go stale if left for a long time. Drain and clean fuel tank and also drop float bowl on carburettor to remove any old fuel. If there is any sediment in the float bowl a carby clean could also be necessary.

I hate to ask,is there oil in it?There's a shut off for low oil level,it's to save the engine from starving for oil.

Gasoline goes stale after sitting a while and makes starting hard. Three years worth, it's more like jelly! You need to clean the tank, lines, filter, and carburetor. Run it for a while on a little fresh fuel after cleaning, then let it run out of fuel. That will remove most of the fuel from the carburetor. When you want to run it again, add whatever fuel you need, but allow it to run dry again. That's not prefect, but workable.

I had the exact same problem. There a few things you need to do first.
1) Make sure the fuel line knob is turned to the Open position; this knob is located under the gas tank.
2) Turn the power switch to on : it is a little red switch located near the pull-handle on the front of the generator. It needs to be on 'I' not on 'O'
3) Turn the choke lever on: it is a little steel lever with an arrow at the tip. Move the lever in the direction the arrow is pointing.
4) Make sure you have gas left in the tank: it may have evaporated or gummed up if you did mix in a fuel stabilizer before putting it away for storage.

If none of these things work , then you carburator may be full of water and gas lines gummed up.
These Gens need to be started up at least once a month to make sure they keep working properly.

Fred