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Alright. So. I cut the hose like Alley suggested, and shortened the long vacuum tube, and viola! I have an engine. Now, I hear an audible tapping that I'm assuming is my valves? My acceleration still isn't 100% but I think it will clear up with proper adjustments. My valves were just set to .004". Do I open or close to eliminate the tapping?

Thanks for all the information. The reason I routed it up there was because the factory air box was in that location, but I'll adjust it based on your notes. The long vacuum line shown was actually an adjustment I made after all of the problems started, but I'll fix it accordingly. When it bogs down, I hear a lot of noise in the head, is that normal for where I should be hearing it manifest? I'll try all of this after work!

Hey folks. This is a continuation of my saga with my 2013 Tao Tao 150cc Scoot. My old thread can be found here: itistheride.boards.net/thread/5315/taotao-150cc-problems-start-lugging


I was repositioning my pod filter from directly off of the carb to the old air filter tube which curves up and over a brace in the frame. The filter was rubbing on the frame, causing a vibrating sound for weeks. I unscrewed the intake manifold to get the carb up, unattached the pod filter from the carb, attached the old tubing, checked to make sure everything was connected properly, and retightened everything. 

I started it up, idled fine, went to ride the scooter, got up to 4,000 RPM's and it suddenly lost power and bogged down. It sputtered if I continued to give it gas and I had to turn around. Since then, I've checked everything possible. Removed the intake manifold, carb and filter and reattached it, messed with my air/fuel mix, checked valves (which were off and now are at .004"), put in a new plug, checked that the coil is tight, and I'm still getting the exact same symptom. I had no problems whatsoever prior to moving the air filter, and now I can't get it to go above 30 mph. 

It seems like I'm missing something terribly obvious but I've checked and rechecked everything. While revving it this afternoon, the carb did start spitting gas out of the overflow and then wouldn't run at idle. I took the carb off, drained it, and checked to make sure the float was moving freely, which it was. Reattached and the same symptoms resulted. The kicker to this whole thing was that it ran perfectly fine prior to me messing with the air filter and I'm baffled. 

TL:DR - Scooter ran fine, moved air filter, now loses power and bogs down, sputters at WOT above 20 mph. 

Please help!

Thanks for the response. I'm a 180 lb man with maybe 5 pounds of extra gear on the scoot. Ideally I'd like to replace the carb with a better one, and upgrade some variator parts.

I have no clue where to look for the carb, I've poked around a little and don't know which ones would work with my scooters setup, or what size mine is currently. The carb's float bowl has torque-broken screws on them, I'll drill them out and replace with the correct size if changing the main jet will help and will be cheaper than buying a new carb. The carb seems to be a major issue, as some rides I'll hit 55mph no problem, and other rides it starts really slowing down at 40mph.

When it warms up I'm going to check my valves again. The scooter has 1100km's on it, and this has really been a problem since I first go it with not having phenomenal acceleration, rpm's not getting over 5,000, etc. The cvt has always made a noise like the belt is slapping the cover, and there is a mark on the bottom of the cover from the belt hitting it.

So, I'll check valves, make sure my carb is tuned correctly. If this were your scooter, what would you look at replacing next (keeping in mind a college budget )

Here's some I took the other day, I'll have to take it apart again to get a picture of the CVT.
imgur.com/a/Z5VMn

I'm going to recheck my valves, I wonder if I didn't adjust them right the first time.

Engine is a 157QMJ 150cc GY6

Also, the rattling sound I've been getting when putting the bike under torque is definitely the belt hitting the bottom of the CVT case between the clutch and the variator. I replaced the belt when I replaced the sliders, original was an 835-20-30 and I replaced with the same size Gates Powerlink. However, when the belt was on, there was slack at the bottom and when I pulled the throttle with the cover off, the slack would go away, but come back when not under torque. Is this part of the problem as well? Need a smaller belt?