What is this part? By scooteroy (Read 825 times)

[scooteroy]

Hi All, new to this board but I've had my Eaglecraft Spider for a couple of years now. www.eaglecraftmotors.com/Spider.aspx I've had a pretty persistent problem with it bogging down when I open up the throttle all the way, basically it just has no power until I pull over and let it sit for a few seconds. After that, I don't go over half way on the throttle and works better but was concerned about not being able to throttle up. Knowing nothing about motors I decided to check the small stuff like hose fittings, etc. so I took out the helmet compartment under the seat to expose the motor. I found a cracked hose at the fuel valve so I cut off the cracked part and reattached it. However, as I continued my inspection, I found this part with one hose going to the fuel tank and the other hose going to nowhere meaning it wasn't attached to anything! The clear hose on the other end goes to the air intake compartment. What is this part and should the hose going nowhere be attached to something??

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[Hammerspur]

The cracked hose you fixed is probably the vacuum hose that opens the fuel valve. Trace the other end, it most likely attaches to the intake manifold.

Does the other hose to the fuel tank attach up top?
If so it's the tank vent to let air in as the gas gets drained.

Sounds like you have 2 related problems causing the poor running:
- cracked hose not opening fuel valve consistenly
- mystery can preventing air freely getting into the tank to replace spent fuel creating a vacuum within tank trying keep fuel sucked in... that would explain why a rest period yields some improvement.

That 'part' is a carbon canister or some other sort of anti-pollution evaporative emissions thing... not needed.

Disconnect hose from the air box and plug nipple with a rubber vacuum cap (available from AutoZone, etc.) and one of the wire clamps from the device.

The hose to nowhere was probably attached to a source of vacuum on the carburetor or intake manifold... look there for an open nipple or plastic Y-pipe leg and plug that too.

Run hose from tank vent down to lower frame area away from exhaust... use longer hose if necessary and secure it to frame along route.

Remove remaining hardware and heave it!

[Bashan]

That's probably a vapor recovery canister and it may be your performance problem. If it feels heavy or has liquid in it that means it's partially plugged. When you build up a vacuum in the tank the scoot loses power until you pull over and give the fuel tank a chance to equalize pressure with the atmosphere. The end going to the airbox is supposed to pull gas vapors out of the canister. Lose the canister and plug the line going into the airbox. Run the line off of the tank up and end it higher than the gas cap, gas vapors sink. Then your fuel tank can drain into the carb like it should but the vapors can't escape so you won't smell them. Rich

[Hammerspur]

Apr 25, 2011 4:52:46 GMT -6 Bashan said:

...Run the line off of the tank up and end it higher than the gas cap, gas vapors sink. Then your fuel tank can drain into the carb like it should but the vapors can't escape so you won't smell them. Rich

I like to run them low so in the event of a tip-over gas doesn't spill all over everything.
Old dirt bike riding habit.

[scooteroy]

Whoo hoo, 1400th, like those round numbers. I'll take it to work tomorrow and test it out. The clear hose with the broken nipple goes into the canister so I glued the nipple back on and reattached the hose. So the connections go as follows:

1) Clear hose - one end to the airbox, the other to the canister. The nut holding the canister is welded to the frame! In my pic, it is right under the zip tie. I note that there were a bunch of black pellets in the clear hose which I cleaned out before reattaching.
2) One black hose is connected to the top of the fuel tank and it appears that there is some other filter prior to going into the fuel tank. Of course the other hose still goes to nowhere as I couldn't find an empty nipple.

I'll see how it runs when I open this bad boy up. I'm hoping that the cracked hose to the fuel valve solved the problem and the canister issue is nothing. I do note that it seems to idle smoother after fixing the hose to the fuel valve. Thanks again for all your insight. The next repair is replacing the horn button which only works intermittently, only when I test it and not when I need it!

[Hammerspur]

Apr 25, 2011 22:54:07 GMT -6 scooteroy said:

The nut holding the canister is welded to the frame!

You'd have to remove the bolt screwed into it from the other side.

Apr 25, 2011 22:54:07 GMT -6 scooteroy said:

I note that there were a bunch of black pellets in the clear hose which I cleaned out before reattaching.

Carbon/charcoal granules to absorb fumes from the vent.

Apr 25, 2011 22:54:07 GMT -6 scooteroy said:

Of course the other hose still goes to nowhere as I couldn't find an empty nipple.

Not sure but I believe the vacuum source that line is supposed to be connected to is what enables tank vent to function... without that connected and granules spewing out I'm thinking that canister may be kaput and continue to cause venting/running woes.
Just my opinion but if it were my bike I'd delete it.

Apr 25, 2011 22:54:07 GMT -6 scooteroy said:

The next repair is replacing the horn button which only works intermittently...

Open up the switch cluster to see how it works... might just need cleaning, but could also be a poor ground or other connection on the horn circuit.

[scooteroy]

So I took it to work today and opened up to full throttle with no bogging issues. One question I have with regards to the tank vent is it should have some sort of valve on it, correct, otherwise wouldn't the vapors create a potential combustion issue with gas fumes escaping from the tank unfettered?

[Hammerspur]

Apr 26, 2011 22:45:07 GMT -6 scooteroy said:

So I took it to work today and opened up to full throttle with no bogging issues. One question I have with regards to the tank vent is it should have some sort of valve on it, correct, otherwise wouldn't the vapors create a potential combustion issue with gas fumes escaping from the tank unfettered?

Not really... The function the vent serves is to let air in allowing fuel to freely drain into fuel line and intake. When not running some vapors may escape due to expansion and such caused by atmospheric temperature variations but it's very minimal.

Before emissions controls all motor vehicles merely vented freely usually through the filler cap,

Take a look at your lawn mower, there's probably a pinhole in the gas cap... that's the vent.