** Carb Grabbing at Start **

[HeadSmess]

ok, defintions needed...grabbing; a sudden engagement, snatch... slipping; not engaging...

you have slippage.

a new engine...hmmmms.... welll... could just be oil on the clutch plate...clean it or its a deeper more fundamental problem! such as the cables too tight? non? move on... time to possibly dismantle something

the clutch operates with a spring n stuff, and in behind the clutch plate, theres a bearing, with a bush and a nut and so forth...sometimes these protrude slightly too far due to lousy tolerancing, and the clutch plate cant move in far enough, hence it slips on the lil runbber friction pads, it never really engages, and it can never be fixed...

unless you grind the bush/nut/thread back slightly only 1/16 or so!

 

[motorpsycho]

When I say that it is " grabbing or pulling " it is when I get it going I pop the clutch and it just seems like the clutch isn't making the engine turn over it just goes " chug, chug, chug "...like it is trying to engage. I peddle it again pop the clutch again and gradually give it gas and it catches up to speed then fires up.

The oil to gas ratio that I am using is the 16:1 ratio. I get so darn confused what the actual ratio should be. I read other topics on this forum and the other MB forum and everyone has a different opinion on what that ratio should be: Some say that I need the 16:1 for the first gallon as I am trying to break in the engine with as little ignition combustion as possible and also with that high oil mixture, it seats the gaskets; Then some say that you never go above 20:1 and that if you do, you can blow your engine...

This ratio topic is kind of an odd one...like what to do with the " white wire " that comes out of the engine. All I know, concerning this issue, is that I want to peddle a few feet, pop the clutch and have the sucker fire...THE FIRST TIME. I see videos all the time where this happens.

Thanks guys for all of your advice and tips...they are helping me greatly.

--Eric--

yes, the oil/gas ratio will always be a huge debate. for me, 32:1 works and that's what i'm sticking to. I personally have never seen or heard of a 2 stroke engine "blowing" by running the wrong oil/ gas ratio. I have seen pistons lock up tho from lack of oil in the gas.

with a high oil/gas ratios (like 20:1) it's not to seat the gaskets, but to seat the piston rings. Gaskets are to keep oil inside the engine, and if you were tryign to seat the gaskets with oil, it would be leaking oil all over the place.

I don't knwo what to tell you, but i think headsmess is right...you may have a clutch problem.
seriously tho, getting one of these engines to run and go shoudl not be this difficult.....I think you may have gotten one that was built at 4:45 on a friday evening.

 

[vintage97302]

I think you guys are right. I do think that it is the clutch, so did the guy to built the bike for me. There is a guy in our motorized bike club here in town that has had the same exact problem...he is out of town for a week or so...therefore I was trying to find out the solution on my own.

It runs great once I have it up and running. Pulls me right down the road very, very quickly and I am 285 pounds. It doesn't die on me anytime unless I hit the kill switch. I just think that the clutch needs to be adjusted or do some " grinding ". I can tell you this, since I changed the park plug from the stock Chinese plug to a NGK B6HS and then put in the new ethanol free gas/Lucas 2 Stroke oil mixture in...it does take less to get it started.

My funds for gas and oil are limited right now...very limited, so I have to burn through the gallon of 16:1 mixture before I can move up. Thanks to everyone for your advice. I will let you know if and when it gets right...and I will pass on what I did to correct it...if anything.

 

[motorpsycho]

one thing i forgot to ask you...does your carb have the primer button on the top of the float bowl?
if so, are you pushing it in every time you try to start the engine? how many times do you push it? you could be pushing too much gas into the engine which will actually hydrolock the piston and the clutch will just slip no matter how good it is adjusted.
if you are using the primer button, try starting it a few times without using it and see what happens. On my 66 c.c. with the primer button on the carb, all i need to do is push the primer button once to get the engine to start when cold.
I found that if i pushed the primer button 2-3-4 times, the clutch will slip when i try to start the engine and the engine will not turn over. (coasting my bike down the driveway and popping the clutch).

 

[vintage97302]

one thing i forgot to ask you...does your carb have the primer button on the top of the float bowl?
if so, are you pushing it in every time you try to start the engine?
if so, you could be pustting too much gas into the engine which will actually hydrolock the piston and the clutch will just slip no matter how good it is adjusted.
if you are using the primer button, try starting it a few times without using it and see what happens. On my 66 c.c. with the primer button on the carb, all i need to do is push it once on a cold start, and i never have to touch it again.

It does. To be honest I push it once at the beginning some times, not all the time. It has gotten better, but today is was around 65 degrees and it still did it. When I peddle it and pop the clutch...it is like it runs very low, then putters off and stops. I repeat the process all over again, pop the clutch then it runs low then POW!!! it fires up. I run it for a while and then engage the clutch fully and it is good from then on.

It is bizarre I can tell you that.

 

[motorpsycho]

this one has me stumped

 

[vintage97302]

It is just annoying is all. I have really built up my leg muscles from all the hard peddling I have been doing. It doesn't take away from the enjoyment I have been having this last week of riding.

We shall see what I come up with. Thanks for all your help and suggestions and advice. If I get it fixed I will make sure to post what it was =)

 

[Rayde]

You could check the grounds, and all electrical connections to the CDI, magneto, plug, etc.

If you're getting a bad ground, it make take a few revs for it to finally ground to the frame, and the CDI to kick in and give you power.

I'm a welder, so good grounds are always on my mind.

 

[TucsonDIrect]

Ok keep it simple, use your first tank of gas for the breakin period,
Then JUST follow what your supplier recconmends, if you live in a colder area you can reduce the oil a little, if you live in a hotter climate like tucson give it a little more oil to help cool the engine and keep things lubed,

if you ever do endup overheating and seixing your engine, Immediately turn the engine over a couple of times, and you should be ok, best to let it run for awhile and just let it cool down on its own. And not much harm done

 

[vintage97302]

It stopped doing it...no adjusting, nothing. It has warmed up here a bit and I switched from the break in 16:1 ratio to a 20:1 ratio...no problems!!! All is good. Chalk this one up for an X-Files episode...quite weird...just wanted to update everyone on it.