I ran the engine for a while this weekend to see if anything blew up (literally and figuratively). It starts right up with no hesitation, and seems to run well – very little if any exhaust smoke. The generator light is still on though, and after about 10 minutes of run time, I start to notice some concussive sounds that get slightly louder; the engine hesitates ever so slightly afterwards. Everything seems to get a little hotter than I would expect – although I don’t really know what to expect… Either way, I really don’t want to destroy this engine, and so will start learning how to properly inspect/ maintain this thing asap.
Oh, and I got a little carried away with the camera zoom!
