Modern Vespa

Hey guys,

I got a new (2005) PX-150 about a month ago and it looks like it may be on it's way back to the shop.

The girl and I took it for a ride on Saturday, kept it under 40, made sure to respect the "break in period" for the engine. The scoot was running great, and after about a half-hour ride, we went to a restaurant.

After dinner we hopped back on to go home, and it started and ran fine. We have a large hill near our house that's probably a half a mile steady incline, so I revved up the engine and hit the thing going 35-40 mph. It handled the hill fine, then made it about a half mile past the top of the hill (on level ground) and the engine cut out. I pulled it over to the side of the road. Gave it gas, hit the electric ignition and it wouldn't turn over. Starter sounded great, battery and electrical seemed strong. Thought maybe it was the gas, and was getting nowhere with the electric ignition. I started kicking it over, with little to no gas, fearing that I had flooded it. No dice. Something wasn't catching at all. I wondered if I ran out of gas.Nope. Checked the fuel toggle. It was in the "on" position. It just seemed like the gas wasn't getting to the engine.

We coasted on a downhill slant and tried popping it out of second gear to get it to start that way. Again, the engine sounded good as it tried to turn over but it couldn't catch. I started wondering about the carbeurator, but I'm still a N00b, so I didn't want to make any diagnoses without really talking to an expert. There were only 15 miles on it!

Wheeled it home (not far from where it died thankfully), and haven't tried to start it since. I think I'm gonna try again tonight.

If it doesn't turn over tonight, I'll be calling the good folks at Scooter Originali. The scoots under warranty, but I'm concerned that since it was sitting around the showroom with fuel in the tank that it might be gunked up in there somewhere.

Any thoughts or suggestions?

Any help is appreciated.

Thanks!

Well, the first problem is you were riding two up through hills while still breaking it in.
The first thing you need to do is buy a couple of extra spark plugs and at the first sign of any problem, change the plug. A lot of times problems are nothing more than a fouled plug.
The other first thing you need to do is check to see if it has 2-stroke oil. Also, did you have the fuel tap on? bla bla bla.

Any thoughts or suggestions?

Any help is appreciated.

yeah don't mess with it and let the warranty take care of it. They should be able to fix it.

Scooters Originalli is a good place. If you've knackered something up, I'm sure they'll sort you out.
Yeah, I'm still practicing my british phrases.

If the starter "sounded fine" and the electrics were up to snuff, it turned over. Apparently it didn't fire. Turning over refers to the cranking of an engine. The parts were moving, but you had no combustion.

That's hill, singular. 8)

It has oil. I had the fuel tap on.

I've rode PX's in the past so I went for the usual suspects first.

+1 what Nightwing said. See if you get a spark off of that thing.

Mate if you have 15 mins, a #2 phillips screwdriver, spark plug wrench.

PM me i will talk over a few pointers. I know it's new bla bla..
However, now is a good time to learn

Cheers

Could also be stale gas, gummed up lines or carb. Didn't this get kicked around in another thread?

Yes mate, i believe so......

Okay.

So we've established that it could be two separate issues. The stalling was one thing, and the unable to get combustion on the ignition (possibly bad sparkplug) could be another?

Do spark plugs just crap-out like that? We started the bike without a hitch literally ten minutes earlier...sounds like it is a good place to start, but I'm worried it might be that fuel system gumming issue that has been kicked around in other threads. I think I read a thread about a guy who had to have his entire engine taken apart and cleaned...yikes!

Better call scooters originali...

Mate! My offer still stands. Have you pulled the plug?

Cheers

I don't know anything about the new PX's gas tanks but how low was the gas? Is there a reserve setting as well as on? Did you try that?

Yes, a fouled plug will crap out suddenly in the middle of a ride. As others have pointed out, the odds are very good you just need to replace the plug; take two minutes and try that before hauling the scooter back to the shop. Get some extra plugs from your local auto parts store (NGK B6HS for city riding, B7HS for mixed, and B8HS for long distance riding) and carry them in your glove box. Your warranty probably won't cover a fouled plug; that's a normal maintenance item, not a factory defect.

If you're worried about gas gumups, you might try some Sea Foam gas additive (also available at the auto parts store).

I'd check the spark plug, spark plug wire / cap ( make sure the connections are good ), the wire running to the HT coil ( the PX150 - does it have a single-unit CDI or is the HT coil seperate like on a Stella? )

I'd also learn how to take off your carb box lid, the air filter, and learn to kickstart it while watching down the venturi of the carb to see if you've got gas being shot down into the engine. It's the way i tell if there's a fuel delivery problem or not.


Honestly, it could be a stuck needle in your carburator - you ran out all the gas in the float bowl, and the needle got stuck and didn't allow more gas in. It works like your toilet does - there's a little floaty thing that opens or closes a valve to let in more gas based on the fill level of the float bowl.... shuts off gas from the tank when it's full, turns it on when the float bowl is empty, etc.

If the needle gets stuck you'll just run the floatbowl dry ( in probably <5 miles or so ) and that will be it ...no matter what position your fuel tap lever is in.

It's the kinda thing that just happens - no biggie ..popping off the top of your carburator and jiggling it will set it free again.

Same thing happened to me. It was a loose cap-thingy that goes on the spark plug.