Help Please! Scooter Dies & Looks Like It's Not Getting Fuel

[gebe]

I bought a 2004 Diamo 150cc Classic GY6 scooter last summer. I adjusted the valves, the carb, put in a new spark plug and new fuel filter.

It ran great all summer and then I put it up for winter. I took it out a few weeks ago and it was still running great. Yesterday I took it for a 20 mile ride on the highway to the next town which is 10 miles away. It ran perfect on the way up maintaining a steady 60 mph. On the way back about 2 miles from home it just gave a little cough and died.

I tried starting it after waiting awhile with no luck. I had a friend pick me up and we took it home. After I got it home I checked the spark plug which was still in excellent shape and fairly new and then replaced the fuel filter with a new one.

It still won't start. The old fuel filter did have a lot of crud in it and I thought that installing a new one would do the trick. I did notice that the new filter should have had a lot more gasoline in it when I was trying to start it.

Any ideas? By the way, and pardon my ignorance but what is the thing that screws into the bottom of the gas tank that the fuel line connects to?

Any help will be greatly appreciated and thanks so much!

[blueboy5000]

That's the petcock (fuel switch) it's vacuum operated.

But, you state you were maintaining 60mph for an extended period of time then your bike died? Probably over-heated, which is no good whatsoever, and potentially wasted the head.

These bikes should NEVER be driven at 60mph for longer than about 5 seconds at a time.

It is normal for the fuel filter to only have a small amount of gas in it, but you should check your petcock anyway. First locate the vacuum line that attaches to the petcock and disconnect it from the intake (or other vacuum hoses) but leave it connected to the petcock. Then disconnect the fuel line from the fuel filter. Place the vacuum hose in your mouth and suck. Fuel should flow out of the fuel line steadily when you suck on the vacuum hose. If it does, your petcock is fine, if it doesn't get a new one.

And remember! Do not drive your bike around at such high speeds and RPMs! You WILL kill it. These bikes are designed to cruise at about 45-50 mph, with occasional bursts up to 60mph (mine goes 65mph with a TON of mods, and even I don't ride it that fast).

[techie610]

Easier yet, pull the gas line from the Carb, and try to start the bike. Gas should squirt out. If not, take the petcock off, drain the tank, and clean them with fresh gas.

As far as speed goes, if the bike is properly modded, it can do better then 60.
My GY6.150 does 63 GPS verified, and will hold it there for over an hour. My fathers will do 72, GPS verified, for over an hour. That said, they're not stock.. lol

[gebe]

Thanks for the replies folks.

blueboy5000,
I've driven at 55-60 mph for a few miles, (nothing long), many times in the past with no bad effects. I always hold the throttle for a little while at 60 and then back it off to around 50 and then twist it back up to 60 to keep the oil circulating.

Well, today I replaced ALL fuel and vacuum lines with brand new lines. Then I removed the carb float bowl and it looked good as well as the inside of the carb and the float was moving freely.

I then pulled out the jets and cleaned them thoroughly along with the float bowl.

After all that I tried starting it and again no luck. However, this time I could see fuel coming into the fuel filter and it sounded like it wanted to start.

Any other ideas? Thanks much!

[gebe]

Success!!! I thought I had checked for spark but just in case, I went ahead and checked it again. I removed the spark plug and pushed the boot back on. I held it about 1/4" from the valve cover, hit the starter and NOTHING! No spark at all.

I then pulled the boot cover off of the coil and guess what? The green wire was broken off from the connector! Whoever had worked on it in the past had just stuffed the wires into the boot and shoved the boot back on causing the connector to crack. Evidently, on the last ride the vibration and bumps caused it to snap off.

I stripped the wire, installed a new connector and pushed it back on. I checked for spark again and had spark! Installed the plug, pushed the boot back on, hit the starter and it started instantly!

Replacing all the fuel and vacuum lines was a hassle but I'm glad I did it as they're all new and I won't have to worry about them.

Thanks again folks for all your help!

[finaljudgement]

Gebe,

Your experience is a really helpful example of diagnosing a problem starting with one end of the three basic requirements--fuel spark compression. i recently had a similar experience that I was convinced was due to lack of spark. I was testing coil resistance, etc., and finally checked for spark. I had good spark. Took of the left side panels and squirted starter fluid in and it ran. My problem was a clogged fuel filter. I wasted a lot of time because I did not check the end of the process before assuming it was the problem. You did much better than I did.

Finaljudgement