Scooter can't go past 20mph, hearing spitting/quiet backfire
by: mdrnac - Aug 24, 2014 21:43:13 GMT -5
Post by mdrnac on Aug 24, 2014 21:43:13 GMT -5
Hey there everybody,
My name is Andrew, I'm new here. I've been doing countless Google searches for my scooter problem and I've been trying all sorts of things but I'm still not running right.
I'm in dire need of some assistance. I've got school starting this week and my TaoTao 50cc Maui Dreamer scooter is the only mode of transportation I've got. I got it in Nov of last year (2013). It's got 4800 miles on it.
So, let's see... The trouble basically began this past Thursday evening. I'd been at work and we had some rain, my scooter was out in the rain for a bit. I rode home later, it was a slight mist outside. I was about a mile and a half away from my home, going about 30mph, when all of a sudden I heard this little rubber pop sound and then a light flapping, I lost the ability to accelerate beyond 15mph. When I tried going past that, my scooter would make this sound like it was trying to get gas, basically a spitting and a quiet backfire sound. My engine was bogging down really bad and hesitating something fierce.
Fastforward to when I get home;
-I thought that maybe I had popped a gas line going to the carburetor, so I checked it. It was fine.
-I checked the CVT belt which is new, it was fine. I went ahead and pulled off the variator and the clutch, stripped the hose dust off of it, got everything so clean that you could eat off of it and I put it back on. Problem was still there.
-I checked my air filter and found that there was a buildup of grime and oil along the bottom edge going up about an inch, so I cleaned that off and also cleaned the inside of the box and flushed the line running to the carb, that didn't help.
-I drained my oil to change it and was ticked that my oil had dropped pretty low, I thought- oh, maybe that's it! Nope. I got that flushed out and changed, didn't help at all.
-I called a mechanic who said I probably fouled the spark plug, so I changed that- got it to the correct gap and everything (.006). I thought maybe the carb was running too rich or something and the plug had a nice caramel color to it, so that's okay.
-I drained the gas and put some high octane in there with some ISOHEET, problem is still there.
-Let's see, I took the carb out and checked every single dadgum hose on it and it's fine, no leaks anywhere, no cracks. The carb was clean inside but I went ahead and flushed it out with Seafoam. I reconnected everything and the problem is still there.
-Then I talked to another mechanic who said that I needed a valve adustment. I thought 'While I'm here, let me do a timing adjustment.' I noticed that on my bike, the stupid holes on the drive chain don't line up correctly to loosen the valves when I turn the air cooler to the F or to the T. I've literally got to do one more turn before the three holes line up with the posts, then the valves loosen and I'm able to adjust them. I adjusted both valves to the recommended .003 with my feeler gauge. I threw a little RTV high heat gasket maker on the head before placing it back on, also made sure to put the little gasket on that chrome pipe before buttoning it back up. After this point, I was able to go 10 miles faster, but I'm still getting the same sound, same hesitation and bogging.
-I checked the ignition coil, it's nice and clean and connected tightly.
-I checked the CDI and it's clean and tightly connected.
-I've checked the fuse by the battery and it's fine (my lights all come on okay anyway and there's no dimming), I also made sure that both terminals were nice and snug.
This is about all I know to check right now, so for your listening pleasure, I've included a video of the sound my scooter makes for startup, idle, and going from 0-20 including some deceleration and towards the end, you can hear the spitting sound. I can take another video if required and I'd be happy to take pictures of anything you want, including my vintage record collection (Def Leppard anyone? :^P)
Please help me to find out whatever else I can check, I'll be up for awhile (it's 10:37 EST) and I'll literally go right outside and do anything you need. I'm about ready to go run into traffic if I can't get this fixed!
Here's the YouTube video link:
Many thanks,
Andrew
PS: Other notes-
I noticed that when the bike is up on the stand, I can hold the brake and throttle all the way up and the engine sounds smooth and it seems fine, until I get on to ride it. It starts fine and idles fine. I also noticed a tube running from the ignition coil area that is about 1/2" in diameter, runs down to the front of the engine and is just open with no clamp on the other end. I do have it's mate connected to the underside of the engine, it's got a brass clamp. But yeah, this one is just out- doesn't smell like gas or oil.
My name is Andrew, I'm new here. I've been doing countless Google searches for my scooter problem and I've been trying all sorts of things but I'm still not running right.
I'm in dire need of some assistance. I've got school starting this week and my TaoTao 50cc Maui Dreamer scooter is the only mode of transportation I've got. I got it in Nov of last year (2013). It's got 4800 miles on it.
So, let's see... The trouble basically began this past Thursday evening. I'd been at work and we had some rain, my scooter was out in the rain for a bit. I rode home later, it was a slight mist outside. I was about a mile and a half away from my home, going about 30mph, when all of a sudden I heard this little rubber pop sound and then a light flapping, I lost the ability to accelerate beyond 15mph. When I tried going past that, my scooter would make this sound like it was trying to get gas, basically a spitting and a quiet backfire sound. My engine was bogging down really bad and hesitating something fierce.
Fastforward to when I get home;
-I thought that maybe I had popped a gas line going to the carburetor, so I checked it. It was fine.
-I checked the CVT belt which is new, it was fine. I went ahead and pulled off the variator and the clutch, stripped the hose dust off of it, got everything so clean that you could eat off of it and I put it back on. Problem was still there.
-I checked my air filter and found that there was a buildup of grime and oil along the bottom edge going up about an inch, so I cleaned that off and also cleaned the inside of the box and flushed the line running to the carb, that didn't help.
-I drained my oil to change it and was ticked that my oil had dropped pretty low, I thought- oh, maybe that's it! Nope. I got that flushed out and changed, didn't help at all.
-I called a mechanic who said I probably fouled the spark plug, so I changed that- got it to the correct gap and everything (.006). I thought maybe the carb was running too rich or something and the plug had a nice caramel color to it, so that's okay.
-I drained the gas and put some high octane in there with some ISOHEET, problem is still there.
-Let's see, I took the carb out and checked every single dadgum hose on it and it's fine, no leaks anywhere, no cracks. The carb was clean inside but I went ahead and flushed it out with Seafoam. I reconnected everything and the problem is still there.
-Then I talked to another mechanic who said that I needed a valve adustment. I thought 'While I'm here, let me do a timing adjustment.' I noticed that on my bike, the stupid holes on the drive chain don't line up correctly to loosen the valves when I turn the air cooler to the F or to the T. I've literally got to do one more turn before the three holes line up with the posts, then the valves loosen and I'm able to adjust them. I adjusted both valves to the recommended .003 with my feeler gauge. I threw a little RTV high heat gasket maker on the head before placing it back on, also made sure to put the little gasket on that chrome pipe before buttoning it back up. After this point, I was able to go 10 miles faster, but I'm still getting the same sound, same hesitation and bogging.
-I checked the ignition coil, it's nice and clean and connected tightly.
-I checked the CDI and it's clean and tightly connected.
-I've checked the fuse by the battery and it's fine (my lights all come on okay anyway and there's no dimming), I also made sure that both terminals were nice and snug.
This is about all I know to check right now, so for your listening pleasure, I've included a video of the sound my scooter makes for startup, idle, and going from 0-20 including some deceleration and towards the end, you can hear the spitting sound. I can take another video if required and I'd be happy to take pictures of anything you want, including my vintage record collection (Def Leppard anyone? :^P)
Please help me to find out whatever else I can check, I'll be up for awhile (it's 10:37 EST) and I'll literally go right outside and do anything you need. I'm about ready to go run into traffic if I can't get this fixed!
Here's the YouTube video link:
Many thanks,
Andrew
PS: Other notes-
I noticed that when the bike is up on the stand, I can hold the brake and throttle all the way up and the engine sounds smooth and it seems fine, until I get on to ride it. It starts fine and idles fine. I also noticed a tube running from the ignition coil area that is about 1/2" in diameter, runs down to the front of the engine and is just open with no clamp on the other end. I do have it's mate connected to the underside of the engine, it's got a brass clamp. But yeah, this one is just out- doesn't smell like gas or oil.
