I have a 5,500 watt gasoline engine generator that powers the furnace,
refrigerator and water pump during power outages. It's run well for
the last 6 or 7 years but has gotten tempermental lately.

During a 36-hour outage last week I ran it the first evening when the
power went out then turned it off overnight. I started it up at about
6:00 the next morning and it ran well for a while. At about 10:30, my
wife called me at work to say that the generator shut off. She
reported that it started running very fast for about a half-hour, then
quit. I came home at lunch time and it restarted at the first pull,
running well for the rest of the day and into the next day when the
power came back on.

Last night there was a very strong wind in the evening. Right after
dinner, about 7:30, the lights flickered a few times and went off. We
lit candles and sat by the woodstove for a while, hoping the power
would be restored quickly. About 9:00, I figured I should start up the
generator and connect the vital items to the generator circuit. After
I finished that, I sat down by the woodstove and the lights went back
on. Not sure if they'd stay on, I decided to let the generator run and
went to bed. I woke up at 11:30 to find that the generator had gone
off. I repluged everything into the house circuit and went back to
bed.

I plan to tune up the engine on the generator this weekend; replace
all filters, gap the plug, etc. Does anybody have any ideas on what
might be causing these shut-offs?

Paul