need help identifying issue...

kmrcstintn · Post by **kmrcstintn** » Sun Dec 02, 2012 4:57 am

a few weeks ago I winterized the scooter, including fogging the engine until it died and then squirting some more fogging oil and using the kickstarter to distribute the oil throughout the cylinder; I also took this chance to drain the conventional 2T oil from the tank and replace it castrol synthetic blend 2T oil (after reconnecting the oil tubing I twisted the throttle 6 or so times to prime the tubing and get any air out)

last weekend I started the scooter to get it ready for a parade today...it started, spewed a lot of smoke, and idled for a few minutes; I shut it off and restarted it a while later, letting it idle, and intermittently twisting the throttle, and shut it off after 5 minutes;

today it wouldn't start & I found a fouled spark plug, replaced it, started the scoot and ran it for over 50 miles today with several successful starts; I guessed the fouling was from excess fogging oil that didn't completely burn out last weekend;

meanwhile, I soaked the fouled plug in some fuel system cleaner to clean it and when I started to scrub the crud off I got the usual carbon and what appears to be TINY METALLIC PARTICLES suspended in the solvent...

I took a bar magnet and dipped it in the solvent, but NOTHING STUCK TO THE MAGNET...now I'm confused

what could the fragments be? did I have a hard dry start? did I experience a 'soft sieze'? what the heck is going on with my engine?

Stitch · Post by **Stitch** » Sun Dec 02, 2012 12:14 pm

Aluminum?

vantage · Post by **vantage** » Sun Dec 02, 2012 10:36 pm

Did the spark plug have a little gold or metalic decorative stripe or lettering on it? Perhaps something like this fell apart into the solvent.

Dooglas · Post by **Dooglas** » Sun Dec 02, 2012 11:57 pm

About the fogging. Probably a good idea for a scooter that will be stored 2 or 3 years. Certainly not necessary for 2 or 3 weeks without running, and not for 2 or 3 months either in my opinion.

jimmbomb · Post by **jimmbomb** » Mon Dec 03, 2012 12:14 am

If you drained your oil tank via the hose that connects the carb??
Then after re-filling..... I would run my first tank of gas thu as "pre-mix".... Better safe than sorry.... It won't hurt and will surely help until the oil gets flowing into the mixer and cylinder.
Good luck

kmrcstintn · Post by **kmrcstintn** » Mon Dec 03, 2012 12:22 am

the spark plug (that was fouled), an NGK B6ES, is intact; in fact, I reinstalled it and the scooter SEEMS to be running fine...took a jaunt for @ 15 miles with several stops for errands, to wash it, and grocery shopping; the other spark plug (the one I swapped the fouled one with) looks good (no fouling, just some coloring from ignition); might be burning a bit hot, but I've been running 89 octane since I used the same gas stash for both the Stella and my motorcycle...

back to the metal particles...I inspected the spark plug hole...no signs of stripping or crossthreading; I'm wondering if I had a hard, dry start and ended up with piston scuffing (I'm guessing it's made of aluminum) or the crank bearing got damaged

for now, I'll keep a look out for any degradation in engine performance and just hope everything is ok; on the flip side, suppossedly my crank or crank bearing will fail and cause a hard sieze and catastrophic damage between 1000 and 1500 miles; just hope it happens before the warranty runs out

Stitch · Post by **Stitch** » Mon Dec 03, 2012 2:33 am

Do you have metal in the tranny fluid?

kmrcstintn · Post by **kmrcstintn** » Mon Dec 03, 2012 3:16 am

when the shop did the initial tranny drain-fill there was metal present from break-in, but that was over 600 miles ago...

what relation is there between the tranny fluid and the metal particles in my engine???

kmrcstintn · Post by **kmrcstintn** » Mon Dec 03, 2012 7:36 pm

I took a ride out to my dealer to tell them my concern about the metal particles that I found when I changed spark plugs...they feel it's piston scuffing and that it is occasionally seen during 2T engine rebuilds; they also said to ride it normally since the scoot is running well (over 75 miles so far since I discovered the issue on Saturday; they educated me on properly priming the line before reconnecting if I ever drain the tank again (also introducing some oil into the nipple to reduce trapped air);

while I was there I treated 'Bettie' to a transmission service and some metal was noted, but nothing the tech found alarming...just some stuff seen normally from break-in & normal wear (used up my in-store credit); Amsoil 10w-40 synthetic motorcycle oil (which also specs for use as an 80w-90 GL-1 gear lube) is what I had them use at 225 miles and again at 850 miles...shifting smooth as butta!