Moped will not start


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Old 03-25-07, 12:18 PM
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Moped will not start

I have a moped that I let sit in the garage through the winter, and now it will not start. It tries to turnover, so I do not think it is the battery, but maybe the alternator?

I am not sure where the battery is even located, but I will be looking for it so I can attempt to check its charge and charge it if need be.

Anyway, anybody have any ideas? I might be able to supply the make/model or whatever if that would help....I think it is a 50cc that can only max out at 60 mph.....any help would be awesome.
 
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Old 03-25-07, 01:37 PM
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I think I need the spark plug now.....the battery was right under my nose, and it has a charge of 11.92 volts out of 12, so I have it on a trickle charger as we speak.

Now if I can find the plug, I can go from there. I have the seat off, but the plug is not so obvious......at least not yet.
 
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Old 03-25-07, 01:42 PM
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the plug will be on the motor itself. big black wire running to the head, with some form of rubber cap on ot to protect it.
did you turn off the gas valve when you parked it?
did you drain the gas?
make and model would help
 
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Old 03-25-07, 06:14 PM
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I located the plug, and man is it hard to get an angle to get it out of there.

I did not know to drain the gas before putting it up for the winter.....I charged the battery an dput it back in, and that wasnt it, so I am hoping its the plug.....I think I have to take off the side panel to get an angle on it...I will give it a shot and I will try and find the title for the model
 
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Old 03-25-07, 07:15 PM
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its a Zebra 40-50

I changed plugs, and still same result....starter or alternator???
 
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Old 03-25-07, 08:35 PM
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I have pulled out the starter solenoid and will try and get a replacement tomorrow.

After that, everything else would just be a shot in the dark......I could hear the solenoid click, but never anything else, so hopefully its it.
 
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Old 03-25-07, 09:02 PM
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Drain the gas tank of that old fuel and refill with a FRESH tank.
Do not use what you laying around in the can.
Fuel that sits espescialy over the winter destabelizes and must be thrown out.
If it was your starter it would not crank so it's not your starter.
Clean the plug you just replaced and go with fresh fuel.
 
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Old 03-26-07, 08:03 AM
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What is the easiest way to drain the fuel tank? I heard something about a screw being on the bottom of the carb, but I have not checked yet.

I will put the starter solenoid back in and go from there.

Thanks
 
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Old 03-26-07, 09:20 AM
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You can also get a can of starting fluid and spay a shot or two in the carb and then try and start it.
 
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Old 03-26-07, 11:09 AM
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I never heard of an electric starter on a Mo-Ped. I thought the whole point was that you pedel it to get it started. Likewise, I never heard of a 60 MPH Mo-Ped. Is this for real?
 
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Old 03-26-07, 05:27 PM
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Every fuel tank has a nipple were the fuel line attaches, disconnect the fuel line and drain it into some kind of collection can then safely dispose or dump it into some other internal combustion engine that has a large tank and can dilute it and use it up.
Make sure you do it outside and away from any form of ingition and disconnect the battery first.
Safety allways !
 
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Old 03-26-07, 09:33 PM
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I stand corrected; It is a scooter, although it says motorcycle on the title. Sorry for the confusion.
 
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Old 03-28-07, 03:35 PM
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it would never turn over using the starter? or it just would not start?
 
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Old 03-28-07, 04:22 PM
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If there isn't too much gas in the tank, I would give a few squirts of starter fluid in the carb. That will get it started. Then fill the tank with fresh fluid.
 
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Old 03-29-07, 09:40 AM
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After getting the new plug, new battery and squirting some carb cleaner in the carb, it is now continuously turning over, but will not start. It will keep turning over until I let go of the accelerator/red button mechanism but for whatever reason, it will not fire.

It did start once, however, and I immediately shut if off to put the rest of the body bak together. 45 minutes to an hour passed by until we were done and then it just would not start again. A buddy of mine thinks its a short in the starter solenoid and I think some more carb cleaner might do the trick.

Any ideas?
 
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Old 03-29-07, 04:36 PM
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if its turning over then its either a fuel or spark issue. do you smell gas when you are cranking it?
try pulling the plug out, attaching the wire to it, and then holding/setting it close to something grounded, and see if you can get a spark to jump. if you can, then put a little gas down the hole before you put the plug back in...a spoonful. see if it trys to start. did you set the gap on the plug when you put it in?

if it was running fine when you parked it, it is probably a fuel issue, may need the card taken apart and cleaned. try the starting fluid.
 
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Old 03-29-07, 06:00 PM
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I do not smell any fuel when it is turning over. The gap was set identical to the previous plug by the guys at AutoZone.

The plug is not exactly easy to access, so I will try putting some more carb cleaner or starter fluid, then go from there.
 
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Old 03-29-07, 09:50 PM
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God I love scooters. They like to gum up the carb if you let them sit with old gas in them. The gas turns into a gel and plugs up the tiny little jets that the fuel needs to spray through. I think you just need to get the thing to fire, then it will start sucking gas again. Also, on my Zuma, if I even let it sit for 2 weeks, all the gas will dry up and the carb will need time to refil before it will start.

Go easy on the electric start. They are pretty light duty and dont like to crank for more than a few seconds at a time. You can burn them out trying to get it to fire up.

I would try taking out the plug and dropping like a teaspoon of fresh gas down the hole. Then replace the plug and try it. If it has compression, it should run till that gas is burn up then die. If you try that, it might get the gas sucking again.

Most scooters have a vaccum operated fuel shutoff. When the engine is running or cranking, it produced vaccum through compression. That opens the valve or fuel petcock and lets the gas flow.

There should be a screw at the bottom of the carb that will drain the fuel bowl.
 
 

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