Modern Vespa

Gidday!

So I bought a PX after looking in vein all year (couldn't justify a purchase until now) and have been blatting around town on it and absolutely loving it!

However....

There is a small oil leak coming from somewhere...so I took it to my local Vespa garage....AND...they thought there was a slightly funny noise coming from the engine, potentially an issue within the crank case. Hearing that was not music to my ears.

They informed me I was looking at 1000+ for the to diagnose - source parts - replace parts - get it running again. Half of which will be labour costs. Of which I cannot afford right now.

SO, I am thinking I will embark on the journey of diagnoses etc myself. I am very keen to get to know the Vespa engine intimately anyway so what better way than this?!

I am wanting to know if there are any important tips/tricks I need to know/watch out for before I embark on this journey.

Found this guide here that looks pretty informative

http://www.vespamaintenance.com/engine/teardown/

Thoughts?

Oil...

First thing is to try and work out where it's coming from. Clean all that gunk off and go for a ride and see where it's leaking from.

Try simple green or purple power if its hear you.Spray on and wipe off with paper towels .

simple green foam, brass brush or still nylon

Gloves please

Looks pretty normal. Oil leaks for me most often seem to turn out to be coming from the carb box or clutch breather. A lot easier to see once you've cleaned it as has been pointed out.


I wonder how often that gets business.... new owner comes in to workshop, professes ignorance... suddenly the thing is ready to explode and only a large injection of cash can cure it. Sometimes I guess that may be true. But...

Cleaned it as well as I could with what I have at home (will get some simple green and a metal brush and do it properly asap) and it appears to be coming from quite far up ie the casing has a fair amount of oil between the grooves....how worried should I be?

Mmmm yes I did wonder how much of his on-the-spot semi diagnosis was accurate. But better to err on the side of caution I reckon! Although happy to put the labour in myself and learn as I go.

I will give it a proper clean as soon as I can an report back!

Cheers

Another point to note:

Occasionally when kick starting the lever will get "stuck" when I go to kick. Normal?

Hello

+1 on the clutch breather and by the way when you pull the clutch lever in it sometimes sounds dreadful.


Good luck

Grumpy

That looks just like mine. I've been meaning to have a serious look at it for the last 5000 km or so...

looks like a head or base of the barrel is leaking

you can fix that with a new gasket set and / or lapping the head to make sure it is flat

could be the oil tank since they leak at times at the oil sight glass and / or rule lines hose clamps or tap

pull tank and take a peak

I reckon you're probably right spiderweb. Mine gets grotty at the back end - I think from the carb box as Ginch said. Never at the front like that. As far as the kick start goes it could be the return spring or mashed up rubber buffer in there. Probably not worth splitting the cases for.

+2 on the clutch breather.

But as suggested. a can of engine degreaser from repco and a dish brush (2 dollar shop) to remove gunk. You could also get yourself an extension dentist mirror from repco and once clean and ridden, use a torch and see if you can find where it leaks or check if its coming from the clutch side.

Who did you go to for diagnosis?

Cheers for all the responses, looks like a good clean is in order. Went to Scootling.

Uhhh, isn't there a hole in the case? Or am I just seeing things?

Please don't say that! ha

grscum, where abouts on the case are you looking? I will go back to the car park and check it out in a minute..

torque it down at the head

In the picture, look to the left and a little bit up of where the clutch cable is in the clutch arm gizmo lever. I see what looks like some clean aluminum and to left of that is a big black spot that looks like a hole. It could be an optical illusion, but right now it looks like a hole.

Just edited on my computer

i think that's just pooling oil.

Yeah just oil, sorry whole thing is filthy. This weekend I will give it a proper go over.

I wouldnt apologise about a dirty scooter. I reckon 90% of peeps on here have scooters as close to this state or worse. No one cares man, cos its not there scooter

Ive been to scootling and found them helpful.
Geurtz at scooter emotion is the guy to go to for a decent second opinion. Can be difficult to make time to see you though and your scoot cant hang around as he hasnt the room. And avoid retro scooters at all costs unless you want to be made to feel like a pain in the ass.

Where abouts are you in orks man?

im out west, if youre close and you dont have anybody to help you diagnose, ride out one day and ill buzz it round the block for you. Itll be free at least.

Degrease the engine as other posters advise then, to help identify exactly where the leak is coming from, dust the engine cases with talcum powder. After a couple of days there'll be a tell tail trace leading to the exact spot.

Hello

And the engine will smell nice


Grumpy

Ah good, better than having a hole in the case.

Clean it up, track down the leak, fix, and enjoy!

My former P series, and Sprint did that as a normal course of use.

Tighten airbox, carb etc. and wipe engine frequently to remove film before it grows into goo.

Totally part of the 2T experience.

I'll throw in on this with:
Clean, ride, clean, ride more, forget the cleaning keep riding.

I got all worked up over the dirt on my first rig and spent more time cleaning than riding it. After a bit of time I found that Vespa are two cycle and two cycles throw oil about. I park on a piece of cardboard to keep the garage floor clean and make sure to change that once a year or so.

^^^this^^^

Well, some of us OCD can't "not clean"

Pull the wheel and hub. Clean everything!!!!! I'll bet ya got some grease in the brake area and even if you didn't its worth the time to pull it and check. You will then be able to clean the backside of the engine.