Post by gramstaotao on May 24, 2014 3:43:31 GMT -5
So in Feb this year I bought the new body style of the 49cc Tao Tao VIP Champion. I am without transportation for the next few months so i opted for something new and hoped it to be reliable. Half way through March i noticed my Fuel Gauge was not working so i took my fuel float out and noticed that the floater was missing off the float bar. When I finally fished out the remaining portion of the actual float I noticed it was a styrofoam material which had been broken down and ate away from the gasoline it had been sitting in.. it had basically all but disintegrated but i still managed to pull most of it out. I ordered a new fuel float right away and when it came, of course, the float it was rubber not styrofoam...a completely different material than the one that came factory with the scooter. I changed the filter and added fuel cleaner but ever since the scooter has been going down hill and not in a good way..as in dying a slow death 
..She went from going a top speed of 40mph on straight roads to now about 25 mph or 10-15 on slopes or hills. Eventually she wouldn't even Idle and just would cut off as soon as i came to a complete stop and let go of throttle. Then she started taking very very long to start and after i would get it to start i would have to ride downhill or in circles for about 10 to 15 mins to warm it up or the motor would stall out. I recently came across the tao tao PDI youtube videos which are remarkably helpful!! SO with that guidance I have taken things in my own hands, being their are no repair shops around here wanting to work on scooters. In my heart I really think it seems to be a fuel problem from the beginning... to me is what it feels like because of all the trash from the previous float that was in my tank, in my mind could of made it past the dinky stock filter and into the the factory carb and being that this is a sealed carb I can not take it apart to check the jets of for debris. (I have very few tools and none are power tools) So instead of trying to unseal the carb I ordered a Kei Hin Carb that should be here tomorrow. I am hoping this was a smart idea and i am praying for better results. I already removed the standard fuel petcock that it comes with that works off the vacum hoses. I went to Napa and bought a universal vacum cap pack for hoses and vacum caped the air intake hose that went to the petcock to suck fuel in the carb. I also purchased from Napa some 3 feat of 1/4'' CLEAR hose, a manual fuel valve, ten 1/4'' hose clamps and a nice glass fuel filter. Today before work I removed the old fuel system ..all three lines from the air intake, the carb and the gas tank and as well as the fuel petcock from the scooter. I ran the CLEAR hose line straight from the gas tank to the carb making room for the fuel filter and the manual shut off valve above that so i can change the filter when i need to with out worrying about getting soaked with gasoline. After all was complete I decided to try it out even though my new carb has not arrived yet I wanted to see how it worked but unfortunately the battery was completely dead and would not even begin to start.. now would the kick start..infact i kicked it so hard the foot stand snapped off ...so I picked up a battery trickler today after work and I am charging the battery tonite. The battery I have is a 12v 3amp so tomorrow I think I am going to try to pick up a brand new 12v 7amp battery that will fit. I replaced the spark plug as well last well and went ahead and changed the oil for the 3rd time and the gear oil for the second time since I bought it because I do ride this 15 miles a day 4 to 5 days a week. The only other thing I can think of if its not a bad battery is maybe the ignition coil or the cdi but since the scooter would still fire up I don't think thats the issue. I really want to get this thing running again properly.. I enjoyed being able to keep up with traffic for the most part instead of now hanging my head low as EVERYONE passes me lol. Also its not fun stalling out at a red light because my scooter will not idle. Right now I have my scooter completely stripped because after watching the youtube PDI video there were a lot of things i learned and wanted to check for.
ONE QUESTION that is bothering me that someone should have an immediate answer to is that I did notice that after replacing my vac hoses after I re ran my fuel line is that one vac line runs to a paired connections of two thick hoses in which one of the pair connects under this "S" shaped looking bar under the valve cover BUT the other thick hose out the pair is not attached to anything but there is a clamp on the end thats not attached like it is supposed to go some where but i have no idea to where.. i noticed it had an arrow pointing up as if it sucked in air??? Also it has some sort of filter or cylinder attached then another hose that has a clamp but like i said it is not connected to anything else and i can not find anywhere on the scooter where there is a place to connect it to.. Is it supposed to just be tied to the frame and suck in air maybe?? IS there a purpose for it?? Please help as I am learning and need to know what its purpose is and also I will be getting the new battery tomorrow and if that vac hose is important I would like to know its purpose before trying to start after spending all this money on a new carb and hoses and tools and hose clamps etc. etc. (I am living paycheck to paycheck so not a lot of money to put into parts or tools right now)...ALSO any advice that you can tell me that could explain the engine not running properly, not wanting to idle and also taking a long time to warm up and now not wanting to even crank up??? Hopefully it is just the battery and I am moving in the right direction with changing the fuel petcock to a direct fuel line to carb and purchasing a better made carb with bigger jets. TO ME is sounds like its just not keeping gas in the carb like its to lean ...but I am not a professional and just wanting to learn badly. I have suspected that the standard fuel petcock that comes with the scooter from factory may have become faulty?? I dunno but I need some help PLEASE.. I will update tomorrow after new battery and carb are installed and let you know if it runs "FINGERS CROSSED"
Also I will take some pictures of everything and post tomorrow for all to see.. THANKS FOR ANY HELP.
Here is a pic of the first day I got her..
..She went from going a top speed of 40mph on straight roads to now about 25 mph or 10-15 on slopes or hills. Eventually she wouldn't even Idle and just would cut off as soon as i came to a complete stop and let go of throttle. Then she started taking very very long to start and after i would get it to start i would have to ride downhill or in circles for about 10 to 15 mins to warm it up or the motor would stall out. I recently came across the tao tao PDI youtube videos which are remarkably helpful!! SO with that guidance I have taken things in my own hands, being their are no repair shops around here wanting to work on scooters. In my heart I really think it seems to be a fuel problem from the beginning... to me is what it feels like because of all the trash from the previous float that was in my tank, in my mind could of made it past the dinky stock filter and into the the factory carb and being that this is a sealed carb I can not take it apart to check the jets of for debris. (I have very few tools and none are power tools) So instead of trying to unseal the carb I ordered a Kei Hin Carb that should be here tomorrow. I am hoping this was a smart idea and i am praying for better results. I already removed the standard fuel petcock that it comes with that works off the vacum hoses. I went to Napa and bought a universal vacum cap pack for hoses and vacum caped the air intake hose that went to the petcock to suck fuel in the carb. I also purchased from Napa some 3 feat of 1/4'' CLEAR hose, a manual fuel valve, ten 1/4'' hose clamps and a nice glass fuel filter. Today before work I removed the old fuel system ..all three lines from the air intake, the carb and the gas tank and as well as the fuel petcock from the scooter. I ran the CLEAR hose line straight from the gas tank to the carb making room for the fuel filter and the manual shut off valve above that so i can change the filter when i need to with out worrying about getting soaked with gasoline. After all was complete I decided to try it out even though my new carb has not arrived yet I wanted to see how it worked but unfortunately the battery was completely dead and would not even begin to start.. now would the kick start..infact i kicked it so hard the foot stand snapped off ...so I picked up a battery trickler today after work and I am charging the battery tonite. The battery I have is a 12v 3amp so tomorrow I think I am going to try to pick up a brand new 12v 7amp battery that will fit. I replaced the spark plug as well last well and went ahead and changed the oil for the 3rd time and the gear oil for the second time since I bought it because I do ride this 15 miles a day 4 to 5 days a week. The only other thing I can think of if its not a bad battery is maybe the ignition coil or the cdi but since the scooter would still fire up I don't think thats the issue. I really want to get this thing running again properly.. I enjoyed being able to keep up with traffic for the most part instead of now hanging my head low as EVERYONE passes me lol. Also its not fun stalling out at a red light because my scooter will not idle. Right now I have my scooter completely stripped because after watching the youtube PDI video there were a lot of things i learned and wanted to check for. ONE QUESTION that is bothering me that someone should have an immediate answer to is that I did notice that after replacing my vac hoses after I re ran my fuel line is that one vac line runs to a paired connections of two thick hoses in which one of the pair connects under this "S" shaped looking bar under the valve cover BUT the other thick hose out the pair is not attached to anything but there is a clamp on the end thats not attached like it is supposed to go some where but i have no idea to where.. i noticed it had an arrow pointing up as if it sucked in air??? Also it has some sort of filter or cylinder attached then another hose that has a clamp but like i said it is not connected to anything else and i can not find anywhere on the scooter where there is a place to connect it to.. Is it supposed to just be tied to the frame and suck in air maybe?? IS there a purpose for it?? Please help as I am learning and need to know what its purpose is and also I will be getting the new battery tomorrow and if that vac hose is important I would like to know its purpose before trying to start after spending all this money on a new carb and hoses and tools and hose clamps etc. etc. (I am living paycheck to paycheck so not a lot of money to put into parts or tools right now)...ALSO any advice that you can tell me that could explain the engine not running properly, not wanting to idle and also taking a long time to warm up and now not wanting to even crank up??? Hopefully it is just the battery and I am moving in the right direction with changing the fuel petcock to a direct fuel line to carb and purchasing a better made carb with bigger jets. TO ME is sounds like its just not keeping gas in the carb like its to lean ...but I am not a professional and just wanting to learn badly. I have suspected that the standard fuel petcock that comes with the scooter from factory may have become faulty?? I dunno but I need some help PLEASE.. I will update tomorrow after new battery and carb are installed and let you know if it runs "FINGERS CROSSED"
Also I will take some pictures of everything and post tomorrow for all to see.. THANKS FOR ANY HELP. Here is a pic of the first day I got her..
...Regardless the Petcock is gone now lol ..i have not checked my valve clearance because I do not have a metric gauge to measure and adjust it 
...My new carb came with a new auto choke, I was wondering about that as well and I have checked the plug and it is producing a spark.. I will update in a few hours with some pics and let you know if i get her running ..my battery has been on the charger all nite so it should be enough to turn it over i hope (happy thoughts) 
THANKS FOR YOUR HELP AND SUGGESTIONS 
...just had to have some coffee first 
