Hello. Still pretty new scootist. Doing some "repairs"

[dspendergrass]

(I put a TLDR at the end) Sorry this might have gotten out of control. I don't know if lots of details are helpful when diagnosing an issue over the www? I tried to explain everything. Long story short, I crashed my car and got myself a surprisingly affordable taotao powermax 150. Things were going great then I stared having issues. So far I've punctured a fuel line (on the first ride no less), disintegrated a belt, clogged up my fuel system, and (I'm pretty certain) burned through the battery it came with.

The most recent complications began over a month ago. It was progressively getting harder to start and it failed to start at all a few times after I had taken it to work. It also died a couple times mid ride while I was in motion on it. The first time there was some weird things that I can explain in more detail if anyone is interested but I ended up changing the spark plug and then I got it going again.. but only with the kick start. The electric starter wasn't working except for occasionally and usually only after I'd been riding and briefly shut it off (getting gas sort of thing). I rode it about 2-3 weeks using the kick starter (it was actually riding really good once it got started) but then it died in the middle of commute again. I was going pretty much top speed on it at the time. It died very suddenly but it wasn't overly dramatic or anything. It kind of seemed like what would happen if I hit the kill switch while riding. It just shut off and coasted to a stop. I didn't smell any burning but when I tried to start it again (button, then kick) I couldn't get it going. I had to take it home in the back of the truck and it's not started ever since. That was two weeks ago now. I've been working on it, reading forums, youtube videos, etc... but I have been thus far unable to get it going.

So far I have replaced the battery, purchased a battery charger that I have had to use once already, I've replaced the spark plug cap and wire, and the solenoid. The original seems to work fine in retrospect but it was recommended that I replace it and I had ordered one so I have the new one on currently. Still won't start.

Today I was trying again and I decided that I would finally attempt to do a valve adjustment. I think I may have messed it up. There was very little gap on either one so I figured I would loosen them a little. I started on the top one, loosened the nut and then was trying to get a good reading on the piece of metal that was by my approximation, a good ballpark estimate. I don't know why but I ended up turning the flywheel while the nut was loose and now it seems like my timing is all jacked up. The valves used to alternate evenly between the two but now it seems like they are staggered with a short gap between when the top compresses/retracts and when the bottom compresses. Then the wait from when the bottom retracts and the top compresses once more is longer (I am pretty sure I have that right but it could be the other way round). Hopefully this makes sense. I've not gotten it started yet but I am curious if this will damage anything should I somehow manage to get the scooter fired up?

Also, I should mention that when I tried to start it up after it died the last time, the button start didn't work (no surprise at the time) but the kick start slipped off when I tried. This resulted in the kick start just spinning but not connecting with the crankshaft. I've since gotten the kick start engaging again but still no start.

Finally, when I replaced the spark plug wire and cap, the plug they sent me was the wrong size and I mistakenly tried to install it. This resulted in a stripped spark plug hole. I have installed a helicoil insert (the spring kind) and it seems to be doing the trick. I have it where it's screwed in slightly past flush with the cylinder exterior and the cr7hsa plug I purchased screws in snug. However, I lost a couple of tangs in the cylinder and that situation has spiraled out of control this afternoon. I superglued a piece of magnet to a flexible wire (guitar string) and it seemed to be going well I found a couple tangs but when I was removing my magnet tool I was using a small file for some reason that got jammed and then broke when I tried to force it out. I am fairly certain that a good sized chunk went inside. Undeterred I went about trying to fish the file bits out and lost a magnet. Discouraging but easy enough to find that cause the wire was still attached somewhere inside I assumed. However, I promptly lost another magnet so my question is, what's the best way to get crap out of the cylinder. A follow up question would be, what will happen to my cylinder if it were to start and there were two quite small pieces of magnet, about 4" of a guitar string, part(s) of a file, and possibly an insert tang or two inside?

I am tempted to let the pros handle this one and take it somewhere. I hate admitting defeat though because, before I dropped all that shit in the cylinder, it was turning over and sort of making a cough sound. It seemed like it wanted to start and just needed one good crank. Then I opted to try the valve adjustment and went fishing for that stupid file and got a bunch of other shit in there. Smh I think I've done enough damage for one day. I welcome any and all thoughts, suggestions, criticisms, anecdotes, horror stories, etc.. Thanks a bunch in advance.

So much for long story short TLDR:

Basically, my questions are 1; did I screw up the valve timing (the in and out motion of the top and bottom valves seem unbalanced? How do I fix that if so? and 2; what is the best way to get various items out of the cylinder and, worst case scenario, what would happen if I started it with anything metal in the cylinder?