Help! I laid my Buddy down and now it won't start

ajslagle · Post by **ajslagle** » Thu Aug 23, 2012 1:18 am

I am new here and this is my first post. I found you all while trying to figure out what to check on my scoot. I had a mishap this morning at my friends house. I was walking my buddy over an obnoxiously high curb to get into her driveway and when the back tire caught, it took off. The buddy and I ended up in her shrubs taking out a solar light. It ended up laying down on it's left side. Cosmetically just a few scratches for both of us and the shrubs were relatively soft, but I can't start the scoot. I smelled gas afterwards, like when an engine flood. I let it sit all day while I was at work, but it still won't start. And somehow, I'm not sure how, but I got woodchips in the intake area. I took off that cover and cleaned it out but still no start.

Any help or suggestions would be so appreciated!

Amanda

Robbie · Post by **Robbie** » Thu Aug 23, 2012 1:49 am

Amanda,

Sorry you had a weird incident but no real harm is a good thing.

I suspect your machine, while lying on its side, flooded the engine with raw fuel.....and you did smell it.

Remove the spark plug and stick it back into the plug wire.
You will have to hold the wire with plug attached to any metal part (this to provide a ground) and have a helper crank the engine while grounding the plug.
You are trying to blow the excess fuel out of the cylinder by cranking with the plug removed.

You only need to crank for about 5 seconds to dry it out.

Now, remove the plug from the wire and dry it off as best you can.....use a cloth and maybe shake the excess off and out of it.
I then hold a lit lighter under the tip to finish drying it.

Screw it back in....BY HAND.....these cross thread easily and if you cant screw it by hand it likely is crossthreading.....try again.
Once seated, use socket and add one eigth of a turn to tighten......if you decided to replace the plug, add one quarter turn once seated.....this is for new plug first install only.

OK, make sure the kill switch is in the 'run' position and have at it......based on your description it should fire up.....may run funky for a minute or two but let it warm up and it should dry itself out nicely.

Good luck,

Rob

PeteH · Post by **PeteH** » Thu Aug 23, 2012 3:43 am

Another possibility is that the lay-down flooded the charcoal canister in the emissions plumbing, which compromises air intake on the carb (not the fan intake underneath). I think it eventually dries out, but I don't know how to accelerate the process.

phatch · Post by **phatch** » Thu Aug 23, 2012 5:30 am

PeteH wrote:Another possibility is that the lay-down flooded the charcoal canister in the emissions plumbing, which compromises air intake on the carb (not the fan intake underneath). I think it eventually dries out, but I don't know how to accelerate the process.

Pete, where is this canister?

iMoses · Post by **iMoses** » Thu Aug 23, 2012 3:03 pm

Don't forget to check your air filter. If it got soaked with gas you will have to replace it.

A few years ago I laid mine down on the left side, only thing I replaced was the air filter has run like a champ ever since.

PeteH · Post by **PeteH** » Thu Aug 23, 2012 5:14 pm

The canister, I believe, is back near the gas tank. Should have a hose or two. It's not visible with the pet carrier bucket in place - this would need to be removed.

Robbie, I'm pretty sure it's hard to direct-flood a Buddy, as the fuel valve at the base of the tank shuts off if the engine isn't pulling a vacuum. Yeah, the contents of the fuel filter and the carb bowl could theoretically head for the engine if the angles were right, but that's a lot to go wrong. However, maybe it's possible for gas to get out of the top of the tank through the emissions hoses and into the airbox / carb in a lie-down situation. I've not yet pulled the bucket and panels to investigate this possibility.

Robbie · Post by **Robbie** » Thu Aug 23, 2012 10:02 pm

PeteH wrote:The canister, I believe, is back near the gas tank. Should have a hose or two. It's not visible with the pet carrier bucket in place - this would need to be removed.

Robbie, I'm pretty sure it's hard to direct-flood a Buddy, as the fuel valve at the base of the tank shuts off if the engine isn't pulling a vacuum. Yeah, the contents of the fuel filter and the carb bowl could theoretically head for the engine if the angles were right, but that's a lot to go wrong. However, maybe it's possible for gas to get out of the top of the tank through the emissions hoses and into the airbox / carb in a lie-down situation. I've not yet pulled the bucket and panels to investigate this possibility.

Yeah, I am kindof going on the carb bowl dumping its contents into the manifold causing a severe floodout.

iMoses brings up a good point as well.....the carb dumping its contents into the manifold but going the other way and saturating the air filter.
This would make the cranking vacuum so high the carb would flood the engine as well.

Rob

Post by **ericalm** » Fri Aug 24, 2012 12:11 am

All of the above!

The first and easiest things to check are the spark plug and the air filter. The plug may dry out itself if left along for a day. The air filter probably won't.