Jimi257 wrote:
Hopefully I can fix the wife's 2007 LX 50 today & be the hero. Darn thing won't start, having been totally reliable up to the point of leaving me stranded on the roadside last week. I've been doing a whole lot of Vespa wrenching lately (for me.) Just tackled full service (belt, rollers, oil/filter, air filter, spark plug) for the first time on my GTS 250. A lot of work, but I'm glad I tackled it.
I have the LX cracked open at home right now in an attempt to pin down the problem that caused me to get stranded in the heat last week and what's keeping it from starting. I've cleaned the bendix as well as I could--I think a bodybuilder torqued the variator nut down last time because I couldn't get it off with my 18v impact wrench or with a torque wrench & a towel (I don't have the variator tool for the LX50, so I used the rolled-up towel trick...which totally worked on the GTS, but did nothing but shred the towel on the LX's razor-toothed gears. I had been hoping that it was just the bendix and was not to be thwarted, I covered the belt with the towel & sprayed the gear assembly with WD-40 and then wiped it down the best I could. I then placed the cover back over the transmission housing & tested the ignition. The bendix engaged & turned over the engine, which was an improvement. Repeated attempts yielded no ignition. I removed the spark plug lead and reconnected it (after was unable to get in to remove the spark plug. I picked up a double-drive extenable ratchet set on clearance at Lowe's...looks like it make getting at the spark plug a bit more manageable.
I even removed the top casing of the carb and cleaned it out as best as I could...but I didn't know how to proceed further with it, so I put it back together. I went to bed, got 1 hour of almost sleep and went to work. I'm about to get off, go home, take a nap and then we're gonna clean that carb out. Here's hoping this takes care of the non-starting problem! Time to go...exhausted. Glad work is only 2.5 miles from home.
I have the LX cracked open at home right now in an attempt to pin down the problem that caused me to get stranded in the heat last week and what's keeping it from starting. I've cleaned the bendix as well as I could--I think a bodybuilder torqued the variator nut down last time because I couldn't get it off with my 18v impact wrench or with a torque wrench & a towel (I don't have the variator tool for the LX50, so I used the rolled-up towel trick...which totally worked on the GTS, but did nothing but shred the towel on the LX's razor-toothed gears. I had been hoping that it was just the bendix and was not to be thwarted, I covered the belt with the towel & sprayed the gear assembly with WD-40 and then wiped it down the best I could. I then placed the cover back over the transmission housing & tested the ignition. The bendix engaged & turned over the engine, which was an improvement. Repeated attempts yielded no ignition. I removed the spark plug lead and reconnected it (after was unable to get in to remove the spark plug. I picked up a double-drive extenable ratchet set on clearance at Lowe's...looks like it make getting at the spark plug a bit more manageable.
I even removed the top casing of the carb and cleaned it out as best as I could...but I didn't know how to proceed further with it, so I put it back together. I went to bed, got 1 hour of almost sleep and went to work. I'm about to get off, go home, take a nap and then we're gonna clean that carb out. Here's hoping this takes care of the non-starting problem! Time to go...exhausted. Glad work is only 2.5 miles from home.