Modern Buddy

Dear Stella 2 Strokers,

Im experiencing a very odd issue and I wonder if any of you have had this problem too?

(Please correct me if my terminology is off.)

The other morning I went to start my 2003 2t Stella and the throttle grip was loose. I checked the cable and it was very loose but it didn't indicate breakage. I opened up the carb and this is what I saw:



From what I could tell the hook should attach to the linkage and create tension so I re-attached and everything worked again!



...until the next morning. Same problem twice today

have any of you experienced this happening?
Is there a missing part?
Should the hook come into the linkage from the bottom or the top?

This is really frustrating and any help would be so greatly appreciated!

Thanks,
Peter

have any of you experienced this happening?
Is there a missing part?

Yes, and nothing missing that I know of. It happened to me several years ago soon after the Dealer during warranty replaced the carb to fix the 2T oil ball valve. I think they bent the cable when they were disconnecting and reconnecting it.

One thing I noticed on mine & is the same on yours is that the 90 degree bend on the cable had flexed out to only maybe 85 degrees, and the cable coming from the sleeve was flexing away from the eyelet. So, I bent mine about 95 degrees to give it more purchase and also bent the cable coming from the sleeve so it didn't want to pull up and away from the eyelet to begin with.

I remember wondering why the design of the air filter's underside didn't have a nylon bushing to prevent the cable from pulling up and away like this.

fisher1 wrote: So, I bent mine about 95 degrees to give it more purchase and also bent the cable coming from the sleeve so it didn't want to pull up and away from the eyelet to begin with.

Ok, that is what I've been planning to try next... didn't have time before work yesterday. Was it a successful fix for the long haul?

fisher1 wrote:I remember wondering why the design of the air filter's underside didn't have a nylon bushing to prevent the cable from pulling up and away like this.

I must agree, really seems like a bad design. At least it's all simple and easy to mend.

Thanks!

Two pairs of needle nose pliers and tweek it just a little bit

A bushing under the air filter would just add more resistance to throttle return an/or make it a pain to remove the air filter.

This is a design that has had great success for decades...as the throttle/rpm increases so does the volume of oil per rev.

A few points about this issue:

First remove the air filter from the carburetor.

1) Make sure that your throttle cable isn't adjusted too tightly. Look down the carburetor mouth and twist the throttle. You'll see a plate slide towards open, towards the throttle cable. Adjust the screw-in fitting on the airbox so that the slide just comes fully open as the throttle hits the full-open stop. If the cable is too tight, it can bend that metal rod and pop it out if the throttle cable/oil pump linkage.

2) The rod that keeps popping out enters the carburetor body through a hole and links into the throttle slide. There is a small rubber ring that fits over the rod and is captured in a slot in the face of the throttle slide housing which the rod passes through. If this rubber ring has crumbled, it will allow the rod to have additional play as it passes through the housing, which can translate into enough range of movement to let it pop out of the throttle cable/oil pump linkage. This could be an issue.

3) If the carburetor isn't bolted down tightly to the engine, it can move enough to allow the rod to pop out. There are two 11mm, long sleeved nuts that hold the carburetor to the engine block; make sure these are snug.

I bent the rod just a little bit and rode it around a bit, no issues so far!

I just bought the scooter used last week so I think I will have the local dealer here in San Francisco do a tune up/check up on everything.

However this little startup issue forced me to dive in and learn a lot which I'm glad for. I feel like I can definitely take care of her myself.

Thanks again for your feedback!