2009 Zuma 50cc won't start, I did some troubleshooting

[cropduster]

Hello, everyone.
I just inherited a 2009 Zuma 50 (2-stroke) from a friend. It has been sitting outside for around 3 years, but used to run really well before.

Here's what I did to it:
- drained the gas tank, filled with new gas.
- drained the 2T oil tank, filled with fresh oil. Bled the autolube pump.
- replaced the air filter.
- replaced the spark plug.
- replaced the battery.
- disassembled, cleaned and reassembled the carburetor.

Here are the symptoms, after all of the above was done:
- The electric starter fires up, a single time, and then all I hear is clicks.
- The kickstarter pedal feels stuck, except every 10 or so kicks, then it moves but won't start.

I removed the spark plug again and it was covered in fluid. I got compression (put my finger over the plug hole). I was thinking the engine might be flooded. With the plug off, I can move the kickstart pedal and I can see the piston moving freely.
The new spark plug might have been contaminated by foul, so I'm probably gonna replace it + the coil. The reeds look pretty old, and since they are cheap, I'll probably get new ones. Or should I just test for spark beforehand?

Then I removed the reed valves and syphoned out just the tiniest bit of fuel from the case, and I can't see much more. With the reed valves off, I can't move the kickstart pedal at all.

I'm currently thinking the exhaust might be plugged (since the piston moves when the spark plug is off). I'm thinking about removing it and seeing if any oil will pour out.

Any other suggestions?

[aeroxbud]

Definitely check to see if you have spark before replacing parts.
If it's been sitting outside. It might be worth undoing the coil wire from the cap, and checking for corrosion. You can cut the last quarter of an inch off to get a clean connection if it's corroded.

[cropduster]

This might be a noob question, but bear with me. I was a little afraid of testing for a spark outside of the engine head (because if the engine was flooded, there might be a lot of gas fumes around). Will this work if I touch the spark terminal into a different ground (not on the engine or frame -- which is painted)? I can probably pull an alligator clip from a different ground (a car, etc) and test it if so.

[aeroxbud]

Just ground it on the chassis away from the plug hole.
If you think the engine is flooded. Take the plug out and kick it over a few times.

[cropduster]

I actually dropped the exhaust yesterday and there was like a pint of oil inside of it. No wonder I couldn't turn the engine over. This explains the "flooded" symptoms. I'm gonna leave it draining and put a new coil and spark plug (since they're cheap anyway) and try again.

[pili]

After you drained the oil out of the exhaust, did you check that you can blow through it? I’ve seen plugged cans on 2T’s that sit a while. You should be close to firing that thing up soon.

[cropduster]

No, I haven't had time to do that yet! Here's the next steps:
1- See if I can blow some compressed air through the exhaust
2- Test for spark with the current plug (that touched a lot of oil and gas) and coil
3- If 1&2 go well, I'll just reassemble the intake & exhaust and try to fire her up. I'm assuming it will take a few tries (carb might be empty), but I can always remove the air box and throw some brake clean in the carb directly to help the first try.

I'll report back when I try that, probably over the weekend.

[cropduster]

It runs!! Thanks everyone!

- I blew through the exhaust and air came on the other end.
- Tested for spark - got it!
- Assembled the reed valves, carburetor, exhaust.
- Pulled alligator cables from my truck battery (I knew I'd have to crank the scoot for a while).
- Put some brake clean directly through the spark plug hole.
- After some 1-2 minutes of cranking and a few tries, it fired right up!

I take it the main problems with this scoot were the exhaust being full of oil (and essentially locking the piston, as air had nowhere to go), plus the old gas and gunk on the carburetor.

[pili]

I wonder how that happened in the first place. Oil seepage, enough to fill the combustion chamber and leak into the exhaust doesn’t sound right. That said, glad you got it running.

[cropduster]

No idea. But it has been sitting outside (on a heavy foot traffic area) for more than two years. Maybe a mix of someone kickstarting it every now and them with a tiny leak with someone injecting something into the exhaust? Anyway, I am really happy it's running.