Pocketbike Engine Has No Crankshaft Timing Key!!!

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5-7HEAVEN

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Been having trouble starting up my "mystery pocketbike engine" I bought on ebay. It had been sitting for years, so I installed a new carb and sparkplug, then went on a goped site to pick up helpful tips. Some riders advised to check ignition coil gap with a business card, so I removed the pullstart and cover and checked that.

Absolutely no spark at the plug, so I pulled the flywheel to check if the woodruff key had sheared off and moved the ignition timing.....

The flywheel had the slot for the timing key, but there was NO TIMING KEY!!!

Then I checked the crankshaft snout...and there was NO SLOT FOR TIMING KEY!!!

Now how the heck do I set timing? There are a few homemade scribe lines near the flywheel's magnetic pickup. They might be the new timing marks that align to some spot on the engine block. The crank snout is a tapered shaft, so that might keep the shaft from spinning off and changing the timing. The crank is an aftermarket "stuffed" crank with extra counterweight for high revving.

This engine has a high-output aftermarket coil/pickup. It should provide a powerful spark, but has nothing. What I will do is keep moving the flywheel on the crank snout until a spark is produced.

Any ideas, fellas?
 
being out of timing will not cause no spark. As long as the flywheel spins it will spark, just at the wrong time if your marks are off.

Can only be a few things, ignition failure, ignition is grounded out, plug wire/plug, or pickup spacing. Check continuity through the system with a multi-meter and see where the break down is located :)
 
A lot of small engines have the key cast into the flywheel. It is possible that the previous owner buggered up the flywheel, and just stuck it back on the engine when he sold it to you. Sounds like a new flywheel might fix your timing problem - but as Ed pointed out, you should still get spark even if the key is missing.
 
When I finally get spark, I will have to solve the problem of...



the engine crankshaft not ever having a slot for the timing key.:whistle:
 
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