Engine Trouble Slightly melted wire, engine pop. Not starting.

[Deleted member 27734]

Out of nowhere my motor popped twice, rather loudly. I turned it off as quickly as I could and noticed the black magneto wire's insulation had slightly melted on the exhaust pipe. I can't get it to start again. I removed to spark plug, and could get it to spark seemingly fine. Although I noticed a buzz in the hand I was holding it. It will sound like it's trying to start after several several tries but I can't get it to start.

 

[butre]

is the plug wire melted or the wire coming off the coil? if it's the one coming off the coil it could be shorting on something. tape it up and see if it'll start. if it's the plug wire it's just held to the cdi by a a wood screw, you can remove it by gripping it with some pliers and twisting it and installing a new one.

 

[Deleted member 27734]

It's the one from the coil

 

[Deleted member 27734]

So after choking it a little, I got it to start. Oddly enough, I've never had to choke the motor before to start it. Once I started going, it was riding really rough and inconsistently. It sounded weird(I'm sorry to not explain it better), and was weaker than usual.

 

[crassius]

read up on crank seals and head gaskets - a backfire might have caused a leak

 

[KCvale]

The black wire is ground, it's OK if it hits the frame.
Sounds to me like you blew a head gasket.
Do you have access to a torque wrench?

 

[Deleted member 27734]

The black wire is ground, it's OK if it hits the frame.
Sounds to me like you blew a head gasket.
Do you have access to a torque wrench?

No, just a socket socket wrench. After further observation today, one of the head bolts is loose enough to move with my hand, and seems to not tighten at all. What can I do to fix/replace the problem parts? My CDI and spark plug seem to still be working, but should I replace those for safety measure anyway?

 

[Deleted member 27734]

Admittedly, a few days after I got my motor I decided to tighten down the head bolts which I presume now to have been a possibly costly mistake. It's just the one that's problematic, and idk what to do if I've stripped the inside of where the bolt is seated.

 

[Deleted member 27734]

read up on crank seals and head gaskets - a backfire might have caused a leak

I found out a head bolt is loose and it won't tighten. I unscrewed it a bit more and it came out and doesn't appear to be stripped. Does this mean I must replace a more expensive part or is there a cheap/free solution?

 

[CrazyDan]

The hole is stripped not the bolt. You'll need to tap it out to the next size and get bolts that'll fit it. Also borrow a torque wrench and tighten the head bolts down to 12 pounds (correct me someone if I'm wrong on this number) 4 lbs at a time in an x pattern.