How to Change the Oil in Your Generac Generator. 

My husband passed away recently and he was a diy guy like yourself. I wish that he made youtube videos like this because he often liked to show me how to do these things. He was 54 so his passing away was unexpected. Thanks for all the details and helpful hints. I saw that the service light was flashing this morning, so I hope this is all it is. Now I know what to buy from the store as far as oil & filter when his friend comes over to help me change the oil. I just wanted to explain how much I appreciated your video! THANK YOU! 👍

Thanks so much for this video. I wouldn’t have even tried this without your detailed explanation. I knocked out my first oil change in an hour this morning and it went perfectly.

I used a disposable aluminum pan under the oil filter...worked great. Thanks for the video!

Thanks for a really helpful and concise tutorial! Some great tips regarding the old gasket, prefilling the filter and using cardboard. I had carved out about three hours today to complete service on my generator for the first time and after watching your video I finished in half the time. I'll drink the first beer to you!

That was perfect. Thanks man! Had to change my oil out after Hurricane Beryl. 👊💯

Excellent video, made the process a snap. One tip I discovered to save a bit of mess - when filling the oil filter, you can just puncture a hole in the foil covering the hole of the oil bottle with a nail. Then you just get a very narrow stream that's very easy to control when you pour it. Thanks and great work.

Great tips. i use a Solo cup for the filter. Once I break it loose, I put the cup over it and squeeze to unscrew. All of the oil is captured by the cup.

Just got mine doing the 8 hour first oil change. Excellent job on the video thank you.

Good tutorial. Thank you. Just prep’ing for its first oil change.

Glad to see you care about your engines too. I changed the oil in my push mower, yet I couldn't find an oil filter.

Very informative ! Changing my Generac 24Kw today with your help !! Thank you !!!

Just got mine so it will be a couple of days, weeks and months so I hope I remember. Thanks a heap for the demo.

Well presented. I like the ingenuity of the oil bottle, and cardboard, resourceful like a certain Jay I know...

Sir, just want to let you know very very well illustrated and explained thank you so much

Good video. I would like to add, run the engine before you change the oil. Hot oil drains faster and more is removed. Also if the oil is hot contaminants are suspended in the oil. With cold oil they can settle to the bottom of the pan.

Thank you so much for your detailed instructions. Really appreciate it!!

Tip; on mine the pins at the top where they fit into the slots rattle when the unit is running. I got a 3/4" rubber grommet and cut it in half and used the halves in the slot where the pegs go. Nice tight fit and NO rattling!

Nice video. That oil looked overdue for a change to me. A couple things I can add. As an ADDITIONAL safety measure I would also recommend turning off the gas supply when servicing the engine. I was surprised that you are not using an oil filter heater. If you live where it ever goes below freezing an oil filter heater will help the generator start in cold weather. I would definitely change the oil once per year, I would not go 2 years. Also, an oil filter strap wrench is better than channel locks to remove the oil filter. Keep all of your receipts for your oil changes. I have read a number of comments about people not being able to get warranty service. If your generator is no longer under warranty this doesn't matter. Change the air filter at least every 2 years, and replace the battery every 3 years. If your generator is compatible, consider using an AGM type battery. Having a good battery is vital. You don't want find out your battery is no good in the middle of an ice storm. Make sure you have the updated firmware that gives you a 12 minute exercise time on the generator. A 5 minute exercise time is not sufficient to remove water from the oil unless you're living in a very dry area. Oil will absorb water. Part of the purpose of regular exercise is to get the oil hot to drive the water out. Unless your generator is being used in an actual back up mode frequently, make sure it exercises for 10 - 12 minutes once per week.

Thanks bud. Gotta change my mom's. She ran 191 hours without checking the oil from the hurricane outage, lol.

Cover your platform base too so to avoid oil drips on the cement. You can buy a funnel with a flexible shaft or buy a long pouring spout that screws onto the oil bottle for easy pouring. Oil won’t hunt your skin but wipe it off with a rag then wash your hands with a grease cleaning soap. I’ve been changing car lawn mower engine oils since 1973 and am still alive. 😂

excellent video. you are very detailed with your explanations. very good. glad to hear two years as fortunately I dont have to run mine enough to change on hour requirements. also, filling the filter is something I never thought of before. sound like a good reason to fill it.

Thanks for the commercial-free video that actually helped me. A+ By the way, you oil was awfully dark. Mine's been on stand-by with some usage for five years and the oil doesn't look brown yet. Changing it anyway due to age.

With what's headed your way, I'd say you got it changed just in time. Stay safe everybody, hopefully it's not too bad.

Don't forget to do the plugs and air filter at the same time and maybe even valve adjustments to spec. Mine is 2 years old and valves needed adjusting, which is common.

Good job. Only thing I'd add is that in addition to manually setting the generator switch to "Off" (2:40), there's a 7.5 amp fuse underneath that rubber cover by the control panel LCD that I remove when I work on the unit. Removing the fuse will keep the generator from starting if you (or a gremlin) should accidentally turn the main switch on. There's also a secondary shutoff switch on the side of the black housing (facing the engine) where the control panel is that disables the generator. Turning the generator disconnect to "Off" (2:50) won't hurt anything, but it won't keep the generator from starting/running. After I've replaced the filter and filled the generator with new oil I leave the top open and front panel off until I've started it up and checked for leaks (13:50) as it's easier for me to get a look at things before it's all buttoned back up.

Thanks for the video. I'm getting ready to do this myself.

Very well explained. I'm going to try doing this today.

I use an old Tupperware container for draining. Enjoyed this video good job.

Very straight forward and informative

Great video. Very helpful

Thank you for this video very helpful

The specs on MY 22kw call for 5w20 full synthetic oil.

Thank you for all this good info

Thank you for posting this!

Excellent video. Thank you so much.

Great video..... so well explained and filmed...I am looking into getting a Generac of my very own....long power outages Suck...you can get funnels with long flexible necks...thats what I will do...Thanks Very Much for this...well done!...what size generator is yours?

Great video,you juat saved me some money .Why should I pay to have it done,when i can do it myself.Thanks

Helpful video. Thank you !

Great video . Thanks for uploading. One question, After running 15 mins do I have to open the oil cap the water vapor to escape ? While running 15 mins can I keep the top and side cover open or close ?

Great Thanks. looks like the exact model I have as well.

Use the old air filter to catch oil from oil filter

Couldn't see the oil filter part number. Thank you.

Great Tutorial. Thank you

My Generac 10kw doesn't seem to have a separate oil fill cap -it looks like oil is added to the tube that houses the dipstick. Would this be correct?

I have a brand new 10kw generac generator.. my exercise timer is set for every 2 weeks. When I change the oil do I have to reset the exercise timer. Or will it automatically stay at every 2 weeks.. excellent video

Awesome video!!

Question. Do you need to do anything with the inverter before running the generator? Getting ready to change oil on my 24KW Generac today, and I know the unit/inverter is intuitive i.e. it won't send power to the home if there's no outage however was not sure if I needed to make sure the inverter was off or not? Scratch that, I see where you killed the breaker. Great video!

Well done. I take a drink every time you say, "go ahead" - makes it qjkd very khlkjd and jkgut for sllekg so enjoy!

@Sharkie626 - about to change the oil in my 24KW… but am wondering whether to get Generac oil or just any 5W-30 full synthetic? I’ve read that the Generac oil has special additives that make it more compatible with generators. Any truth to that notion?

Hey NICE JOB! thanks.

Oil got all the vitamins and dinosaurs in it!

You did not show how to run the generator for 5 mins? Can you use the panel or do I need to turn off the power?

Great video. Thank you. Generac manual is terrible.

How do you reset the schedule A maintenance screen

My Generac 24K is just a year old. Between a few short outages and the weekly test run I have a total of under 10 hours of run time on it. I was told even though I haven't met the 200 hours, I should still change the oil because the original oil is break-in oil. Is this true?

I hope you’re hunkering down for the hurricane headed your way! I have a friend that lives in CT as well. He has no generator and thinks he is too good to get one. Maybe this hurricane will teach him better. -_-

Do you have to turn off any breakers in the house before running the generator? I'm going to do the oil change on mine soon. I want to make sure I don't miss anything.

no reset on signal light? you'll soon be back inside doing so

What is the best oil since I see some people use 5W-20 and some people use 5W-30? There is some misleading information every time I look because some people say for a mobile generator, it is 5W-20 and if it is a standalone one, it is 5W-30. Any ideas??

I plan on having one installed soon. Does Fram make a oil filter for this? The orange 'made in india' filter is a turn off.

I have a Generac 16Kw unit which runs on natural gas. The installer says the oil will be whitish ( not dark ) when it needs changed, AND that I will need a pump to pump out the old oil when I'm changing it.........is that true?

I just did the electrical hook up for one of these 24kw generators today. I also filled the new generator with oil as well. I found the oil capacity specification of 1.9qt in the manual, but decided to check the oil level after only adding 1qt just in case this capacity specification was somehow wrong, or for a different engine. Upon checking the oil level after only adding ~1qt, it appears to be reading very much over-full. I don't understand how that is possible. (I can link a photo of the level on the dipstick if you'd like, youtube sometimes flags comments with links as spam) I ran the generator for a few minutes to circulate oil through the filter and oil cooler thinking it would bring the level down, but it remained the same. I let the generator sit for half an hour before taking a final level reading before leaving the jobsite. The level was the same. I'm wondering if I'm either misreading the dipstick, or either the homeowner or gas fitter added oil before me. That said, I checked the dipstick before adding oil and I'm almost certain it was bone-dry

Thanks!

Is it safe to use any other oil brand?

When replacing a faulty high temperature sensor switch, do you need to remove the oil first?

What about the air filter and spark plug ?

Ok my generac generator is showing a code 1505 what does that mean.

This guy is funny

About how many quarts of oil capacity?

Why would you recommend running for 15 minutes after changing oil when the automatic bi-weekly exercise run only lasts 5 minutes? If you're rationale is correct, Generac would have made the exercise cycle longer

You don't have to turn breaker off

You hammered that oil, it's way too dark. The output breaker is not an on / off switch. Shutting off the breaker has nothing to do with it running. Don't fill the oil filter with oil. We always start the engine with the gas off and it will prime the oil pump and pressurize the engine with oil, then open the fuel and let the engine start. This should also be done on a new engine or new generator on the first start up. You also should have reset the maintenance reminder.

Valves sound loose

You’re using car oil ?

Pump the oil out

paper bowl.

Too much talking the audience is not a bunch of 5 year olds? I did the annual maintenance today and it takes two quarts of oil and you should have filled up the oil filter halfway instead of spilling it? Also you need to put in two spark plugs according to the maintenance kit and an air filter! This guy should have been more informative because you have to reset the amber light indicating the oil change or maintenance is required and he didn't mention anything about checking the valve clearance which is also something else that's recommended

Generac generators are junk

Good video thanks!