SSR Pacifica 150, engine dies at high speed By dannytroy (Read 899 times)

[dannytroy]

It happened for the first time last week.  I was on a local highway.  Hopped on one exit and got off at the next, traveling about 50 - 55mph, trying to keep up with traffic.  As I exited the engine died.  Pulled over to the side of the road and after some coaxing it restarted.  I attributed it to pushing the scooter a little too hard on the highway, and thought hopefully it wouldn't happen again.

Tonight, while traveling on a local road, at about 40 mph, it happened again.  This time it wouldn't restart, and I seemed to quickly drain the battery down to where it wouldn't even turn over.  Luckily, I have one of those little lithium booster packs stored under the seat.  After hooking it up, it quickly started and ran ok.  

I was half way home when it did the same thing, while traveling about a constant 45 mph.  Once again, I killed the battery very quickly while trying to start it, and used the booster pack again.  It started and I took it easy going home, and it was again ok.

Question:  could this be a battery going bad?  This is not the original battery and is supposed to be a better battery than what it came with.  I have a digital voltmeter on my bike, so I always know what the voltage is, and it appears to fluctuate between 12 and 14 volts, depending on the speed.  Could the rectifier, after heating up, give intermittent voltage and sometimes not enough to run the engine?  It's been warm around here, but I've ridden in weather this warm in the past with no problems.  Any ideas?

[trashtruck12172]

your bike doesn't need the battery to run so that's going to be a completely separate issue. first, check valve clearance. then check for air leaks at the carb and intake. check the gas cap is venting.

the charging system in scooters is marginal at best. voltage output to the battery will vary with rpm's. load test the battery, clean all contacts, get a battery charger.

[crwford]

check you intake for large cracks large vacuum leak I would look for.

[dannytroy]

Thanks for the suggestions.   I didn't think about the gas cap, but that's a possibility.  I only have about 800 miles on it, so it's not like it's seen a lot of use, but I suppose things can happen regardless of the mileage.  I'll probably not mess with the battery and might just replace it with something really good (lithium?).

[dannytroy]

I thought I had it figured out, when I remembered I had the same situation on my last scooter, a Jonway 250.  It turned out to be a bad spark plug on that bike.  I had taken the stock plug out when I bought it, and replaced it with an expensive Bosch Platinum+ plug.  The Bosch went bad in no time.  Put an NGK in and all was well.  This bike had an NGK already, but I replaced it today with a new plug.  I took it for a long ride and thought it was fine.  When I was almost home, it did the same thing.  This time I loosened the gas cap, and it started right up.  I'll take it for a long ride again tomorrow with the loosened cap and see if it craps out again.

What is the recommended fix if it is the cap?  Drill a vent hole, or replace with a new cap?

[jct842]

a drill bit, a small one 1/8 would do just fine.

[dannytroy]

Jul 19, 2016 20:44:31 GMT -6 jct842 said:

a drill bit, a small one 1/8 would do just fine.

Sounds good.  I had it out today with the cap loosened and it was fine.  I'll drill that hole and keep my fingers crossed.  Funny it didn't happen until I had 800 miles on it.  I went ahead and ordered a Lithium Iron battery from Amazon (Battery Tender brand), just in case the battery is on it's way out.  Not a bad year, if the only money spent on the scoot, was for a battery and spark plug (which I probably didn't even need!)

[jct842]

Spark plug life in these small engines Is not great and you will do well to change them fairly often. Sounds like you have things under control. That vent pluggin up is a lot more common than people realize.

[dannytroy]

Jul 21, 2016 23:25:23 GMT -6 jct842 said:

Spark plug life in these small engines Is not great and you will do well to change them fairly often. Sounds like you have things under control. That vent pluggin up is a lot more common than people realize.

Funny story, way back in the late 60's I bought a 1964 Honda Dream (305cc 2-cylinder).  Because it ran so poorly the seller let it go super cheap.  I took one look at the exhaust and had a feeling the owner never had it running on two cylinders.  One pipe was heat tarnished and the other looked like new.  I put new plugs and the thing ran like new.  I wound up selling it and bought a 4 cylinder 750 (first year out) and the person who bought the Dream took it to the Woodstock festival and got good service out of it.

As far as the gas tank vent clogging, it looks like that was the cause of all my problems.  I did get the new lithium battery and was shocked at it's small size.  It must weigh 1/4 of the gel cell weight, and half the size.  IMO well worth the extra money.