mazdeuce - Seth said:You've confirmed that it won't fire on starting fluid?
Yes. Which makes me think that the timing is way off.
mazdeuce - Seth said:You've confirmed that it won't fire on starting fluid?
Yes. Which makes me think that the timing is way off.
Also, there are no indications that the engine has ever been opened up before, so I don't think that any previous owner screwed anything up.
I have a little bit of experience with mid 80's Honda products. I like 'em because I'm an idiot that can follow directions.
Why not crack open that factory service manual and find the troubleshooting tree?
CrustyRedXpress said:I have a little bit of experience with mid 80's Honda products. I like 'em because I'm an idiot that can follow directions.
Why not crack open that factory service manual and find the troubleshooting tree?
That's where I am right now. There's not an actual tree in there, but at least it explains how to test everything. That's the plan for tomorrow.
Woody said:mazdeuce - Seth said:You've confirmed that it won't fire on starting fluid?
Yes. Which makes me think that the timing is way off.
To clarify, the sound changes once the starting fluid gets in there, it spins over faster, but it doesn't go so far as to sputter and fart as if it's about to start running on its own.
I know you know this, but if it won't fire on starting fluid then there's no reason to even mess with the fuel system. Yet anyway. You're either missing compression or spark. I would bet that you don't have the spark you think you have. Have you physically seen a spark on the plug with it outside the head while cranking over?
mazdeuce - Seth said:You're either missing compression or spark. I would bet that you don't have the spark you think you have. Have you physically seen a spark on the plug with it outside the head while cranking over?
Yes.
Maybe I can get lucky and avoid taking all the plastic off again and just access stuff through the front cover.
mazdeuce - Seth said:Is there a way to check timing with a light?
I don’t know the answer to that but I will investigate.
Woody said:mazdeuce - Seth said:Is there a way to check timing with a light?
I don’t know the answer to that but I will investigate.
I suspect you could pull the stator cover, and paint a mark on the flywheel and the engine case when the engine is at TDC, but other than that, I don't know if there's a way.
I started Googling, not sure if 87 same as 84.
http://www.motorscooterguide.net/Forum/viewtopic.php?t=808
Apparently starting fluid bad.
There are several things that can cause your issues. These scooters have a filter in the tank above the the petcock. It could be plugged. Then there is the petcock itself, it is a vacuum operated fuel valve. It can be plugged or bad. There are two lines to it, on to the intake manifold (the vacuum line) to the bottom nipple on the petcock. When vacuum is applied fuel should flow out the nipple on the side of the petcock. you can suck on the vacuum line and see if fuel come out the fuel line, which runs to the carb. If you have fuel there, the needle can be stuck in the carb, keep fuel from entering the the float bowl of the carb. You can check for fuel in the float bowl by opening the bowl drain screw at the bottom of the carb. If fuel comes out the drain then you at least have fuel in the float bowl. The carb itself can be bad in several way. The main jet can be plugged. The bystarter can be bad as well as the idle circuit can be plugged. You should not have to ever use starting fluid on these engines. First off it washes the oil off the cylinder walls, which means metal to metal, which is bad.
There also appears to be a very large wiki about these things here.
In reply to Harvey :
Fuel filter was removed and cleaned. Vacuum petcock works as it should.
Sprees are two stroke.
In reply to Subscriber-unavailabile :
With Honda bikes, there's all sorts of other acronyms to make fun of such as ATAC and RFVC! Neither apply to this bike though.
So, I’m back home from Maine, I’ve looked at a potential Dog Hauler / Ice Racer / Gastropod Challenge Car (nope), messed with the trailer a bit, and finally popped the side covers off of the scooter again.
I don’t even have to look for the screws anymore; I can just stick the screwdriver up there because I know where everything is.
Anyway, with the shop manual open to the Electrical section, I started by measuring the resistance of the primary winding of the coil.
It was way out of spec.
This is at least a little odd, because I absolutely know that I had spark when I started working in this thing.
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