Your generator threw a code. Here’s the verdict.

Type in the fault code on your controller and answer a few questions about what the machine is actually doing. You’ll get the checks a homeowner can safely run — in the right order — an honest verdict on whether it’s a $0 fix or a dealer job, and what that dealer visit should cost. Built from Generac’s own support articles and diagnostic manuals, not guesswork.

Free to diagnose. No email, no account. Covers Generac Evolution & Nexus codes first-class, with Kohler and Cummins Onan equivalents in the kit.

How it works

One code, one branching path, one verdict

1

Enter your code

The number on the controller — 1100, 1505, 1900, 2100, or any other. No code? Start from the symptom instead: clicks, cranks, dies, or just silence.

2

Answer what it’s doing

The same code has 3–4 causes, separated by two or three questions: cranks or not? Natural gas or LP? Battery holding under load? This is the part a code list can’t do.

3

Get your verdict

Sequenced homeowner-safe checks, an honest call — $0 fix, DIY battery/fuel work, or dealer-only — and the typical dealer cost so you know the number before you call.

Loading the diagnostic…

General information only — not professional repair advice. Some faults are dealer-only by design, and this tool says so when they are. See the disclaimer.

The Fault-Code Kit

Everything the free diagnostic points to — spelled out

The free diagnostic works one code at a time. The kit gives you the complete map: every code across controller generations, the battery and fuel deep-dives, the exercise playbook, and the storm-season routine — plus what a dealer should charge for each job, so a quote is something you measure, not something you accept.

Included in the $39 Generator Fault-Code Kit

The full code decoder

Every verified Generac Evolution e-Code and warning — 1100 through 2800 — with causes, homeowner checks, and the dealer line for each. Plus Kohler text faults and Cummins Onan blink codes, side by side.

Get the Fault-Code Kit
Included in the $39 Generator Fault-Code Kit

Battery & fuel triage deep-dives

The battery is behind most no-starts: resting vs. under-load voltage, the charger warnings that mean opposite things, replacement specs. The fuel side: NG vs. LP behavior, tank-level pressure falloff, fuel selection and jet mismatch, regulator freeze.

Get the Fault-Code Kit
Included in the $39 Generator Fault-Code Kit

The exercise-failure playbook

A missed weekly exercise is a failed start you didn’t have to witness. Set-exercise procedures, Quiet-Test, the seasonal failure patterns, and the pre-storm verification run that proves the machine before you need it.

Get the Fault-Code Kit
Included in the $39 Generator Fault-Code Kit

Storm-season readiness checklist

Before the storm, during a multi-day outage, and after: daily oil checks (the mid-outage killer is code 1300), cool-down discipline, LP burn planning, clearance and airflow, and the shutdown order that protects the engine.

Get the Fault-Code Kit
Included in the $39 Generator Fault-Code Kit

What the dealer will charge — the cost map

Service visits average $273 (Angi). Controllers run $440–$659 for the part. The kit maps every common job to its typical range and flags the quote patterns that signal a parts-cannon visit — including an interactive quote checker.

Get the Fault-Code Kit
Included in the $39 Generator Fault-Code Kit

The honest dealer-only lines

Fuel pressure (manometer), transfer-switch internals, alternator excitation tests, live-voltage work: the kit marks exactly where homeowner work ends and why — so a “dealer-only” verdict is a decision, not a sales pitch.

Get the Fault-Code Kit

One-time purchase

Get the Fault-Code Kit

$39 one-time

The full code decoder across controller generations, battery and fuel triage deep-dives, the exercise-failure playbook, the storm-season readiness checklist, and the dealer cost map with quote checker. Less than a seventh of one average service visit. Pay once, keep it — no account needed.

Get the Fault-Code Kit — $39

Secure checkout. After payment you’ll be redirected to your private kit page. One payment, yours to keep.

FAQ

Straight answers

Will this fix my generator?

Honestly: it diagnoses your generator. A surprising share of fault codes are genuinely homeowner-resolvable — a closed fuel valve, an LP tank run too low, a battery at end of life, an aux shutdown switch bumped off, a generator breaker left off after service. The diagnostic works those branches first, in order.

Some codes are dealer-only by design — fuel pressure measurement, alternator internals, transfer-switch work. When yours is one of those, the verdict tells you plainly, names the test the dealer should run first, and gives you the typical cost. Knowing that before the truck rolls is worth money by itself: a service visit averages $273 before any part is touched.

Generac already publishes fault code help for free. Why is this different?

Generac’s support articles are good — we cite them, and for codes like 1100 they’re the source behind our checks. But each article covers one code in isolation, stops at “contact an IASD,” and never asks the questions that separate the causes: cranks or not, NG or LP, battery holding under load or not. GenVerdict runs one branching flow across all the codes plus your symptoms, and adds the two things Generac will never publish against its own dealer network: honest dealer-only verdicts and what the dealer visit should cost.

Which generators does it cover?

Generac home standby units with Evolution controllers are first-class — the Guardian and Next Generation air-cooled lines — and the core e-Codes carry over to older Nexus controllers. The kit also decodes Kohler’s plain-text faults (RDC2 controllers: “Over Crank,” “Spd Sens Flt,” “Volts L1-L2 Low”…) and Cummins Onan’s two-digit blink codes, with a side-by-side equivalence table. Portable generators and commercial/industrial sets use different systems and aren’t the focus.

Is the free diagnostic really free?

Yes. Enter your code, answer the branch questions, get your verdict — no email address, no account. The kit is there for when you want the complete decoder, the deep-dives, and the cost map in one place.

My generator is still under warranty. Should I use this?

Use it to understand the problem — then call the dealer first. Generac-certified technicians routinely warn that repairs beyond basic checks can void warranty coverage, so on a warrantied unit the dealer call is the first move. You’ll make that call knowing what the code means and which test should happen first, which changes the conversation.

Is the DIY stuff safe?

The checks here are deliberately conservative: valves, tank gauges, dipsticks, switches, breakers, battery terminals, and watching how the machine behaves. The tool never asks you to open the transfer switch, measure fuel pressure, adjust a regulator, bypass a safety shutdown, or test live voltage — those are hard dealer-only lines throughout, because on a standby generator the wrong DIY step involves lethal voltage or gas under pressure. If you smell gas, stop and call your gas supplier or a professional — that’s not a symptom to troubleshoot.

What’s actually in the $39 Fault-Code Kit?

The full decoder for 25+ Generac codes and the battery/charger warnings, Kohler and Cummins Onan equivalence tables, the battery triage deep-dive (load testing, voltage thresholds, charger chain), the fuel triage deep-dive (NG vs LP, pressure falloff, fuel selection), the exercise-failure playbook, the storm-season readiness checklist including the extended-outage routine, and the dealer cost map with an interactive quote checker. Everything is sourced from manufacturer support pages, diagnostic manuals, and published cost data.

What happens after I pay?

One payment of $39, and you’re redirected straight to your private kit page — no account to create, no login to remember. Bookmark it; it’s yours to keep.

Free guides

Generator fault guides

In-depth, plain-English guides for the codes and failures that send standby owners searching — usually mid-outage.

Browse all free guides →

More from us

Other diagnostics from us

The same approach as this site — likely cause first, checks in order — for the other machines that break.