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Post by niz76 on Mar 5, 2015 20:43:33 GMT -5
I didn't have all the correct tools when I started out either. I'm sure you'll collect some tools over time and it's so nice to have the right tools for the job. You'll see that they make scoot life so much easier and almost enjoyable to work on. Seems like you're headed in the right direction and have been doing some research. I can't advise using instant gasket either but there are a select few products out there that may hold you over until you get an exhaust gasket in the mail. Look for something that is fuel resistant and can handle high temps. I like UltraGray MotoSeal1 but don't know if they sell it in your neck of the woods...
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Post by stevec on Mar 6, 2015 18:36:07 GMT -5
get the exhaust leak taken care of, it can bend the exhaust valve easily. oil and smoke could be the head gasket or the rings are worn if it is oil smoke. have had my share of replacing bad head gaskets on these engines for people. in some cases they just opt for a bore kit instead of just doing the gasket.
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Post by humanshield on Mar 6, 2015 19:15:58 GMT -5
Na i'm up in the sticks in the north-west of England so have been doing everything mail order unfortunately. Ill have a hunt around tonight and if I can make an order soon. Thanks for the advice, I thought people might say that, convenience usually makes things worse... I am really hoping its the exhaust and not something crazy. The large amount of oil being burnt - am I correct in saying its a sure sign the piston rings are on their way out? You've verified it's not leaking oil right? If you're burning oil it's probably worn out valve guides or seals. Rings tend to lower compression more but they do control oil so they could be bad also. Head gasket also. Top end kits for these things are as cheap as $12.00 (piston and rings) Complete top end kits around $30 - $35.
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Post by fangoes on Mar 7, 2015 17:45:57 GMT -5
Progress update and problem solved!
Gasket arrived, installed the exhaust back on all great. Readjusted valves again to 0.1mm in and ex.
Started it up and checked for the mystery smoke - no more smoke, not a mystery at all, as niz76 said it was just a big ol' leaky exhaust. Engine sounded better immediately, no hard starting, great idle.
Warmed it and took for a spin, no tape on air box, usual testing circuit around the back streets. Usual point into the run and no bog, a tiny flatspot at 3/4 and no backfiring. Good power, and looking at the plug its running on the richer side now. NO MORE BOG YES! Could definitely do a bit better tuning wise with the jet size and needle position now but the bog was fundamentally being caused by the air intake manifold O'Ring and of course the terribly poor exhaust install first time which was always going to be a failure without a gasket.
A huge thanks to everyone for their advice, I took it for a good 40 minute run tonight, was running the best I've seen since I've become the owner.
As for the burning oil, yeah I think you're right humanshield. From what I can gather after doing some reading, my smoke reduces as the engine gets warmer and as the oil goes down in the sump, which is more likely to be valve seals than piston rings - the oil when is at its max fill level has a greater chance of spilling over the valves as it gets lower this is reduced...but I guess still could be prudent to check both if I can get some more money together. The price of the kits is great but what about spring compression tools and all that stuff? Ive seen the video of a guy do it with a magnet and a socket, maybe i should hunt down those tools and go from there.
Again love everyones work over here, its great to have found an awesome forum. Thank you so much, I am a happy man again!
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Post by niz76 on Mar 7, 2015 19:01:29 GMT -5
Excellent work! Glad you're back scooting again! Yeeha!
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Post by fangoes on Mar 7, 2015 19:54:09 GMT -5
Just got back from another ride, is running so great! Yeeha indeed. Looking forward to seeing how much more improvement there is to gain with the right carb setup.
Ive got this other trivial problem that keeps haunting me..
The front headlight bulb keeps cracking or burning out on me, just put a brand new bulb in this afternoon, and had to take back streets home tonight cause both high and low beams were gone again. I thought I might have been mounting them in there wrong to constantly be having bad luck with it so I really took care installing it today and made sure everything was locked down and not rubbing or anything. Was really confident I wouldnt need to do that job again for a bit but less than an hour later - no lights.
Too many bumps? I don't recall going over any bad ones. Electrical fault?
Do the LED lights survive any longer from bumpy roads and vibration? Im getting sick of the battle of replacing the bulb, and then wrestling with that stupid fairing for half an hour every time. Takes me less time to do my valve adjustments than putting that bloody fairing back on...
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Post by fangoes on Mar 7, 2015 20:03:45 GMT -5
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Post by blaq on Mar 8, 2015 8:02:14 GMT -5
Check your head light harnesses and your other lights harnesses and look at them and smell them if smell or look like something was burning it is your rectifier recently I notice my head light blows do to loose connection in btwn light bulb and the harness those minor bumps you hit can make the light bulb shake out of place becoming lose in the harness still staying in there but lose enough to the point that you can see different arcs of electricity jumplng from light bulb to harness witch can make your headlight blow out very fast
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Post by humanshield on Mar 8, 2015 8:19:20 GMT -5
Sometimes it does seem like a journey to get everything right. But worth it once you do. Have you ever noticed the bulbs getting much brighter? To test it....Here's what I would do......Use your multitester on AC volts and connect it to the headlight wires from the harness. I use small wires with alligator clip on both ends. Start the motor watch the AC volts. Rev it up too. It should not go over about 14.3 If you see anything much higher than that (like 20vac - 45vac)...you have confirmed two things.... 1). Your stator is working 2). Your Regulator is not In that case, replace the regulator and hope you don't have any other wiring issues like blaq said. Since you were messing around near the valves, and often scoots have a ground there, make sure that ground is in good shape and connected on both ends very good. However, if the voltage stabilizes around 14v, you can stop worrying about the regulator and stator and follow blaqs advice and find the culprit in the harness. I had a pretty long and often frustrating time getting my scoot working just right. But now, I'm having a blast.
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Post by fangoes on Mar 8, 2015 14:25:28 GMT -5
Yeah was watching today, and the bulbs were going bright and dim even at idle. I have a multimeter but its not giving me the expected readings off any of my batteries so I'm assuming the fuse inside has blown or its kaput. Changed the 9v battery but didn't help. The bulb socket looks ok, maybe a bit perished. Could do with getting another one of those too maybe...
It sounds like the regulator might have has died from what you're saying but I'll have to get my multimeter fixed or get a new one to double check this.
Also I had a good look around this afternoon for a ground connection to the frame...couldn't find where it was? Anyone know where it could be hiding?
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Post by blaq on Mar 9, 2015 15:36:07 GMT -5
The ground to frame should be a green wire located on the head of your engine your engine is bolted onto the frame so with that any part on the frame you can then have as a grounding area
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Post by Fox on Mar 9, 2015 15:46:46 GMT -5
Sometimes the main engine ground is green and sometimes it's black. Some scoots have the engine ground attached to the upper left bolt on the fan cover. Just above the dipstick. Some scooter it's attached to the upper left valve cover bolt. Most scooters also have a small gauge green ground wire attached to the frame. Usually it's near the spark plug. Important ground too I would assume or why would it be there right?
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Post by fangoes on Mar 15, 2015 14:53:10 GMT -5
Thanks for all the tips guys. I'm back to being wind blown and cold with a grin from ear to ear from all the miles I've been putting on the bike the last two days. It turned out to be a bad rectifier. I tested with a new multimeter and was immediately obvious after watching a few videos of Brents and what humanshield said. Luckily one of my friends has a scooter in pretty bad shape that he's looking to sell for cheap. I took the rectifier off that, it had four wires going to it just like mine but was bigger, a square, not a rectangle. And the connections were slightly different. I figured if I rewired it on the bike it should be fine considering all the wires are the same. So I pulled all the terminals out of the plastic housing, wrapped each one in electrical tape and pushed each one onto the replacement rectifier. Taped it all up, and then had to relocate it because of its size. By crazy coincidence, there are two bolt holes the exact same size as the rectifier holes, on the front of the bike, right above the cooling intake, so this should keep it very cool and increase its service life hopefully. Tested all the voltages again. Charging system looking good, battery receiving correct voltage at idle and at higher revs. Headlight socket tested good, nothing over 14.2v. Put a brand new bulb in 35W. And managed to get the headlight housing and fairing really secure. Been riding around for an hour at a time, covered around 100 miles in the last couple of days, up some big hills too The headlight has been running perfectly...success! Still mucking around with the tuning now, I down jetted to an #85 yesterday but had to nurse it up to WOT, kept wanting to stall out if I was too aggressive with the throttle. Put a #90 back in today and was much better again... I think the low temperatures have been making it difficult to see consistent results testing though so will hopefully have a bit more luck one the weather starts warming up a bit more. Still got a lot to learn when it comes to tuning so at this stage, I'm just stoked to have a reliable machine. Thanks again!
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