Answer one question and I’ll send you straight to the right guide.
Start with what your generator is doing right now — the cards below route by symptom. The fix usually starts with the cheapest, most common cause, and works up.
It won’t start at all
No fire, no run — usually fuel, spark, or a gummed carb.
It starts, then dies after a few seconds
Classic stale-fuel carb signature.
It runs fine but no power at the outlets
Electrical end — AVR, capacitor, or brushes.
The engine speed surges up and down
Carb, governor, or fuel starvation.
It’s hard to start or takes many pulls
Fuel delivery, spark quality, or choke linkage.
It’s smoking
Black, white, or blue — each color points to a different fault.
It overheats or shuts off when it gets hot
Airflow, oil, load, or thermal trip.
It shuts down showing low oil — but the oil is full
Low-oil sensor false trip.
It keeps tripping the breaker
Overload, ground fault, or a failing breaker.
It’s leaking fuel or oil
Carb bowl, fuel line, gasket, or overfill.
My standby is showing a red light or fault code
Generac error-code lookup and reset.
Don’t see your symptom? Tell me what it’s doing and I’ll add a guide.