Engine starts but wont go

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xnicklopezx

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Jul 6, 2011
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Hey Norm, been reading on this forum the past week or so and I'm a big fan of yours already. I have a problem though, I just put together my first engine kit the skyhawk gt2b and its been nothing but problems. Anyways after all the hours of reading and tweaking I have done I have yet to find the answer to my problem. Basically, my engine will not idle even after messing with the screws, but more importantly it just will not go! there is like no power behind the engine, when I hold the back wheel up and start it i can hit the throttle and the back tire starts going racing like it should, but when I'm actually on the bike it goes no where and just dies out and if i pull in the clutch it just shuts off. I feel like ive tried everything. a few things on how it is set now, i recently regapped the spark plug, grounded the white wire, messed with the floats to where i believe its correct...not positive though, the idle screw is all the way in, the gas/air idle screw is a decent way out (was thinking it just wasnt getting enough gas?) and changed the fuel mix from 16:1 to 32:1. What makes no sense to me is when I first got the bike running the throttle pin was stuck all the way up and the bike would race along, after a long time of troubleshooting and fixing the throttle to work properly i guess somewhere along the time of that i messed something else up? I was so aggravated i ordered a basic NT carb which will arrive wed. but after reading more and more and more im starting to wonder if that will really fix much? also the throttle pin clip is on the pin gap furthest from the top (i think i understood that correctly that that makes it more rich? maybe ill try the stock placement tomorrow) but ive spent literally several FULL days messing around with this bike and just want it to WORK!!:-||
Thanks for ANY help
Nick
 

xnicklopezx

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Jul 6, 2011
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also if you need ANY more specs or info please let me know and ill reply very quickly seeing how im on this forum trouble shooting a few hours a day lol
 

Wm Holden

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Jun 1, 2011
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Ventura California
un ground the white wire first of all...thats the kill switch.

if you got it running at wot but it wont idle...did you mix the oil in the gas tank?

more info plz...
 

xnicklopezx

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Jul 6, 2011
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to be more specific my terminology is bad lol by grounding the white wire what i did was wrap it up with electric tape just dangling i dont think thats actually grounding it...idk u tell me, also what is wot? from what i read it seems to mean like at full throttle, but anyways the bike only runs if im just holding up the back tire without me on it when im on it, it doesnt move except for how much im peddling. also i mixed the gas and oil inside a gas can, kinda swished it around then added that to the gas tank.
 

Wm Holden

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Jun 1, 2011
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Ive had to break in few of these now and they don't run by themselves outta the box sometimes....get on it...pedal pedal pedal pop clutch...keep pedaling..pedal harder...play with the gas the choke figure out if it's running rich or lean and work with that till you got several minutes of sorta half assed running...eventually it with start to hold together on it's own if the carb is anywhere near usable...I DID have to replace the CNS with an NT....I know now I could have forced the CNS to get me around the block...but it would have been alot more work...thanks for the grounding clarification...that would not work at all...
WOT is wide open throttle.
 

xnicklopezx

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Jul 6, 2011
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will do, just one thing to help me out, please describe how i know if its running rich, or if its running lean, still not 100% on all this stuff, but damn i sure have learned a lot from this little project lol, its starting to consume my life haha, oh well trying to stay positive. just to be sure your saying just haul ass and keep hauling ass and mess with throttle and choke correct? lol, seems too easy....after all this work haha, i will try it tomorrow morning though
 

Wm Holden

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Jun 1, 2011
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Ventura California
will do, just one thing to help me out, please describe how i know if its running rich, or if its running lean, still not 100% on all this stuff, but damn i sure have learned a lot from this little project lol, its starting to consume my life haha, oh well trying to stay positive. just to be sure your saying just haul ass and keep hauling ass and mess with throttle and choke correct? lol, seems too easy....after all this work haha, i will try it tomorrow morning though
exactly so my friend...
adding choke and it stops kicking...too rich.....turning off choke and stops kicking...too lean.
runs with the throttle open all the way...but not when the throttle is closed...it's rich.
runs with the choke almost all the way on but no throttle...(dies when throttled up)its lean


some where in the middle till it warms up...most likely what you need.

the paint will start peeling off the muffler and i will begin to carry itself and you after that point....
it takes a certain sensitivity to the firing conditions....and oh...keep pedaling
 
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xnicklopezx

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Jul 6, 2011
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awesome man, will give it a go tomorrow morning and let you know how it works out, regardless though im gonna install the NT carb wednesday just seems more basic, and easier, but wow thanks again, fastest reply ive ever had in a forum...and a gas bike one at that, didnt know these things were that popular lol
 

xnicklopezx

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Jul 6, 2011
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well it partly worked lol. started running on its own but only at WOT and full choke and barely kept it going, i was thinking this was way too rich i guess, also when i turned the fuel on it started leaking so i guess i need to adjust the float again right? also the pin was at the richest setting so it took it apart went to move the clip closer to the top back to the stock position and dropped it somewhere...looked for just a min couldnt find it, got kinda aggravated and have work soon so ill have to look later, but i guess help me confirm this was way too rich right? also it still wouldnt idle...is this because of how rich it was? what a headache lol, im at least pretty confident now its all in the carb so hoping the NT will solve this but i would still like to get this one kinda working just to feel like the days of working on it weren't a complete waste of time lol, thanks again for the help

Nick
 

Wm Holden

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Jun 1, 2011
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strange...full choke...means it's running(not running) lean..because you are dumping gas in with buckets with the choke full on...
you gotta find the clip.

full throttle is giving it all the air possible.
full choke is all the gas possible.
so you actually may have been ok with the clip back in stock setting.

That's pretty much what my experience with the CNS has been on new installs.
confusing at best.

did you run it long enough for paint to burn and stink?
 

xnicklopezx

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Jul 6, 2011
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Hah yea man i looked for the stupid clip for an hour and can't find it anywhere I bet it would've worked too lol guess I just have to wait till Wednesday for the new Carb I'm just very impatient but also don't wanna look anymore for it...from now on I'm working in an area without a bunch of crevices dirt etc lol
 

xnicklopezx

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Jul 6, 2011
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yea i didnt really take all the other hints when finding tiny parts and geting extremely lucky several times before lol, but im looking forward to getting the NT, sucks im like going crazy i literally have to hold myself back from looking more for the clip cause i know ill get aggravated lol, but this has been a huge learning experience, i know more about a 2stroke carb than i ever thought i would hah, thanks for all the help man
 

Wm Holden

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Jun 1, 2011
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no prob....do you have a speaker magnet laying around?
I lost some important clips once for my gto in the gravel of my driveway....drug it around till it turned up...and screws and nails etc...
 

xnicklopezx

New Member
Jul 6, 2011
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United States
nah i dont, i was thinking of buying a magnet or something...but i think its just better to wait for the NT ill probably find the clip the day i get the NT too with my luck lol, maybe ill buy a magnet when i feel like taking that mean little carb on again lol, i honestly have no idea where it went tho, i guess a magnet would be the only way to find it
 

Wm Holden

New Member
Jun 1, 2011
358
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Ventura California
excerpt from another thread

"At this point I "wanted" to let the engine idle for the first 10 minute period, but she wouldn't idle. I ended up going to a parking lot and riding circles, starting engine, pulling in clutch and using the throttle to try and hold an idle ( with no load on the engine) Less than ideal situation really but I kept her running for 10 minutes that way. After that I let her pull me a for a few laps, seems I had to rev the engine to keep her going, she did pull me pretty good!

First couple rides went like that, no idle, throttle up and ride went ok, pull clutch or slow too much and she died. Until one day, the ride started out as usual, in a short while the engine just started running great, I could even "almost" get an idle! Then suddenly she sputtered out and died and wouldn't start up again. After a short while I realized, silly me, I forgot to turn on the fuel! So I turned on the fuel, she fired up but ran like s#it again. This got me thinking... Turned off the gas again, short while later she's running great again! This was my second clue that the engine was just swimming in gas, and the carb was way out of whack.

Don't be afraid of the float! Since the float is responsible for the fuel level in the carb, and the engine ran infinitely better after the fuel was turned off and fuel level in the carb dropped a bit, I figured the next stop should be the float. Of coarse there is always a detour, this time its the crappy plastic carb spacer on the CNS carb. I ignored this frustration and kept focus on the float, as I will do here, and will get back to the spacer later. First of all, the CNS carb isn't very difficult to work with, when you open it up parts aren't going to go popping out here and there or anything, so don't be afraid of it. First take the two screws off the top and pull out the cables with the barrel/needle and choke plunger from the carb. Make sure the fuel is off (and hopefully carb drained) and pull off the fuel line. Loosen and remove the carb. Keep in mind there's gonna be fuel in there that will come out (and stay in), I worked on my carb in a little tub to contain the fuel and any little parts that may come out. Flip the carb over, remove the four screws on the bottom that hold in the bowl and remove it, mind your gasket! While the carb is open make sure there is no crap in there, eyeball the jets to make sure they are clear. If they look clogged take a twist tie (that come with garbage bags etc), strip the plastic off and use the wire to poke through the jet. If it doesn't fit you gotta quit! (There's Johnny again! LOL) If the wire dont fit through the jet easily dont force it. On to the float... You'll see the float right there, pretty simple deal. It rotates on a pin at one end, other end floats on the fuel. Near the pin there is a little tab that pushes up on a needle valve that lets fuel in the carb, bend this tab up or down to set the fuel level in the carb higher or lower. Every bike is different, my carb is leaning a little forward, off level, so I bent the tab to lower the fuel level in the carb. Activate the float with your hand a bit, imagine it floating on gas, adjust according to your carb angle and engine needs for more or less fuel in the carb. Once I did this my engine came to life! Finally she idles! The "choke" (extra idle enrichment jet) now works as expected to adjust the idle speed. FINALLY she is running more like I expected, still needing tuning but I got idle, throttle, pull through most of the throttle range and a nice ride!"

included for encouragement