Salt air= busted bolts. Can ground this elsewhere, yes? By olivertwisted (Read 1,912 times)

[olivertwisted]

So, it seems that my rescue scooter has been out in the salt air for long enough that I may run into a lot of this...
While taking off the fan cover to get familiar with my timing marks and to adjust my valves (Which were both at between .002and .003, and now happily at .004), the bolt at the top of the fan cover twisted off, even after letting it set lubed for a full day. I don't have a screw extractor set and even vice grips onto the remaining post can't budge this thing with the leverage that I can manage to get. Probably, I can get ingenious about holding that cover on well enough but, there was a ground wire mounted on that nut. Can anyone confirm that it is okay to mount that ground wire elsewhere?
I'm just going to move onto doing my oil changes until I hear from my "scooter scoolers"

 

[tvnacman]

its ok to mount that wire else where. Left handed drill bits.

John

[olivertwisted]

Thanks much , John!

[Alleyoop]

WOW! that thing is rust city, Just hope you do not have to take to many bolts off because of the looks of things they will break and or get stripped. Now on that one that the HEAD broke off you can try and Hit it a good whack to push it in and break the grip on the threads inside then you maybe able to use the vise grips to unscrew it out.

The ground wire IF that is the one from the battery then you can find a bolt on the FRAME make sure it is nice and clean. Same with the ground wire from the motor(USE A VALVE COVER BOLT) then to the frame.

[olivertwisted]

It IS! Alleyoop The more body panels that I remove, the more I'm wondering how far I want to go here. After finding that the front brakes probably have to be replaced from handle to rotor and seeing these rotors at about $50 in addition to everything else I'll need for this bike, I'm starting to get really nervous about this journey. :/
As regards the motor ground, do i get ya correctly, to in a sense "Hopscotch" the motor wire to attach under a valve cover bolt then from there to the frame? But strait to the frame with this loose ground wire IF it traces directly to the battery? And, thank you !

Also,I just ran into another question too, I was about to change the gear oil and found that the sticker was still on the bike specifying "Use only GL-3 gear oil". I bought an 80-90w GL-5. Is it okay to use this or, should I not?

[Alleyoop]

Yes on the ground wires, you want the NEGATIVE POST ON THE BATTERY to go to the frame then a GROUND wire from the motor to the frame as well.
To try and get that broken bolt off you can also try heating the aluminum around the bolt get it a couple of good whacks and it hopefully should come loose. As far as the oil goes GL-3+ is all good in other words nothing lower than 3, higher is ok.

Now before you go and spend more money on this I would check what needs to be replaced and price it out. You may find it is not worth fixing this one and for a couple more bucks you can find one in running condition and just us this one as a parts scoots.
Alleyoop

[olivertwisted]

Thank you very much, Alleyoop .
Yes, good advice again. I have been hunting for the best prices on parts and taking inventory. I've got the purchase price ($75), DMV, a battery, voltage regulator, minor supplies and fluids amounting to about $150-$175 at this point. I'm thinking that after changing the oils, if it isn't at least running nicely (It does already run), it could be a waste to go further as it needs a seat, full brake system up front, a tire and possibly the rotor in the back too. The tail light assembly works but is very brittle and I only see it out there for about $75, yikes!. It does need other smaller things so it could nickel and dime me to death here.It's possible that this girls scooter dream could be over . I think that you linked me to the best price on the seat at Scrappys and I'm hoping that I can still use the rotors but, they don't look so great either.

[olivertwisted]

I probably did jump the gun on buying this. I bought it as a backup because my old 1992 Nissan Pickup has been great to me but has really started acting its age this last two years .When I have to repair the truck, I have no ride to the parts store, lol! I may have just dug a deeper hole while trying to secure a backup, sheesh, Leave it to me! We'll see. It will always be a rust bucket but, maybe, I'll get a couple of years out of it

[cyborg]

Use it as a spare,,,getting parts for the truck and such and when the truck is good sell the scoot for what you have in it and get a cleaner one,,,you can go deep into the rabbit hole with these,,,next round get a gently used Sym or Kymco,,,,something that hasnt been dunked in the ocean

[olivertwisted]

LOLOL! "Dunked in the ocean", lolol!

[olivertwisted]

Okay folks, I tried everything at my disposal to get that stud off of there but no can do, I don't have a torch. Now, the black wire traces backward to the plate on the frame where the regulator sits (PIC below),then a separate one goes from that plate back to the battery negative. Forgive please, my need to double check this but I really don't want any of my own potentially wrong assumptions to mess anything more up here. Since this wire traces to that spot on the frame already, then all I need to do is relocate the loose end now to the valve cover bolt, yes?


w

[Alleyoop]

Your are correct it was a ground for your motor so just bolt it onto one of the bolts on the valve cover.
Alleyoop

[olivertwisted]

Awesome, Thanks!Alleyoop I hope to fire it up this eve after the valve adjustment and fluid changes. That oil was black but, no shavings in there. Hopefully, she'll be happier on the interior than she looks on the exterior Oh and I found some info on using apple cider vinegar or molasses to help me with some of this rust

[Alleyoop]

There you go, if it starts and runs good you have a winner. You can just buy some spray paint to cover over the RUST..LOL

[olivertwisted]

Ha! Yes, believe me, I have cans at the ready!