Buddy 50 Idle Problems

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kendoori
Member
Posts: 13
Joined: Mon May 29, 2017 3:39 pm
Location: Sanibel Island, Florida

Buddy 50 Idle Problems

Post by kendoori »

I'm on Sanibel Island in SW FL and the dealer I bought my scooter from is out of business. A local on island mechanic has been helping me get my scooter back in shape, and here's what we've done so far:
  • The scooter sat for an extended period of time and would not start, or would start but die almost immediately. We suspected dad gas/gummed up carb
  • Carb was removed, thoroughly cleaned, and gas tank cleaned and lines flushed.
  • The idle/mixture knob was set back to the original position and carb reinstalled.
  • The engine started easier but seemed to choke itself out and it was difficult to keep running. Once higher RPMs could be achieved, the engine would run, but it was still running very rich and after at operating temp. It was tough to get it to idle without dying.
  • The battery had lost its ability to hold a charge, and we suspected that there was since the controls were electric, that we needed a good battery to ensure proper regulation. We changed the battery out. This didn't fix the problem.
  • As part of further troubleshooting, we removed the air cleaner which showed excess fuel dumping, especially at lower RPMs when struggling to keep running. Multiple attempts at different idle mixture settings were made with no success.
Our thought at this point is that the electric/electronic controlled choke/mixture needle operation is somehow the culprit.

I'm attaching a couple of videos that show what we are hearing/seeing.
https://youtu.be/SD1lOaZG7fM

https://youtu.be/d7Ffe1wJscc

Any suggestions?
Alzero
Member
Posts: 55
Joined: Wed Apr 10, 2019 8:27 pm
Location: East coast waters

Re: Buddy 50 Idle Problems

Post by Alzero »

You said that the carb was throughly cleaned. Can you elaborate on that? Was is run through an ultrasonic cleaner or soaked overnight in carb cleaner or were the jets just poked with a wire?
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