Modern Vespa

Hi All, so a while ago, I was in a rush and haphazardly put DIESEL in my Vespa LX...

After esearch I read that, as long as I remove the Diesel oil it should be ok and wouldn't ruin anything.

So I removed the Diesel oil and replaced with Unleaded petrol. The bike would not start up so I then replaced the Spark plug and removed the Carb to clean it. Upon doing so my intake manifold tore off with the Carburetor!!

So now I had to wait to get a replacement, and then carry on! I've now received it after 2 weeks of my bike sitting

And now it still won't start and after a while, stops completely, I've added a vid, if that helps so maybe someone can guide me!

Any help would be appreciated, thanks!

When did you notice that you put diesel in it? Before you attempted to start the engine?

There is probably some residual diesel still in the system. Did you drain out some petrol while you had the carburettor off? To clean out the line?

Are you 100% sure the spark plug cap is secured?

Last resort go to Halfords and get some Holts Cold Start 400ml. Spray into inlet as instructions on the can. If it fires up but stops you'll have to clean out the residual diesel again from the carburettor, and try again.

If it doesn't fire up. Clean the spark plug again.

Hi Der Blechfahrer, Thanks for replying.

Unfortunately I didn't realise at all and rode off and only noticed when the bike began sputtering and came to a halt, which i then put two and tow together once i went online, as the bike was fine beforehand and had never done this before!

Hey waspmike, thanks for your response!

The way I drained the diesel was by siphoning it from the actual tank. Once i removed the carb and cleaned it some fuel did leak out from it.

How would I go about cleaning out the line with the carb off?

I'll check the spark plug on my break and also go Halfords at some point today, as I do need some of that to have around to be honest.

I'll try what you said and chime back in.

Thanks everyone, really appreciate it... bloody heck that was a quick response!

-https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zt-scqiSV5U-

I don't think siphoning will get out all the fuel. You will likely need to disconnect the petcock and drain fuel entirely from that low point.

With the carb off and petcock / fuel line disconnected, you can also make sure the fuel line is clear.

Hi Berto,

will i need any special tools to remove the petcock? And are there any vids/tips in order to do so?

Thanks in advance everyone!

That looks AMAZING!!... Not sure where the guy will sit, comfortably lol, but it looks the dogs b_llocks nonetheless!! Haha

No special tools.

Here are a couple of threads that might be useful:
Replacing petcock
2008 Vespa LX 150 Fuel petcock replacement

And a video from ScooterWest that looks like it shows what's going on (I didn't watch it, but the thumbnail shows Robot holding the petcock):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xbHgOOLDUvA

sorry, got no solution to add, but i'm wondering does the diesel nozzle fit in the throat of the LX filler? Diesel nozzles are bigger (won't fit in my petrol car)?

If it does, it's a poor design

I would clean the carb again. Remove the float bowl (four screws), spritz everything out with carb cleaner, pull off the fuel supply hose to the carb, and put a vacuum on the petcock vacuum hose so the tank re-drains through the carb fuel supply hose. Reconnect the hose to the carb. Then put a liter or so of fuel in the tank. That should be enough to dilute whatever tiny amount of diesel remains in the system. It'll be smoky for a few seconds once it starts, but it should dissipate quickly.

Years ago I put diesel in my car by accident. It cost me about half a grand to get it fixed.

Diesel couldn't make any damage to gasoline carb engines. Draining diesel out and filling full tank with gasoline, then draining your carb on lower point screw was all what you should to do. After few attempts (10~15) engine should start. Would smoking from beginning but after half minute all.should work like before.
Try to find issue in things what you "fixing" later- spark plug, spark cap, carb.
Check do you get sparks (hold spark to negative/frame/head with cap on and try to start in dark - you should see white sparks.
If sparks OK then put 1ccl of petrol inside piston chamber, install spark plug and cap and try to start...

***normally your engine is 2T so you have to use proper mixture gasoline+2T oil!
Just to avoid some posible misunderstanding

"Filled the Escort with diesel! She died?"

It's an LX 125 and I think it's a 4-stroke engine.

Sorry. In your 1st post you just told Vespa LX so I though it's 50ccm 2T.

LX 50's also come in 4 t's.

Thanks for ALL the help guys... I didn't get a chance to get to Halfords yesterday as the lil'un is under the weather. So I prob won't be able to sort it tonight either if the missus has her way Haha

Haven't got work tomorrow, so i'll sort it then, wish me luck!

But, seriously, I can't thank everyone enough on here for reaching out!

Oh, I used to have a 50CC but I swapped it out for a 125 4T

Also... I see most ppl on here are from, US... Is there a strong Vespa Community where you are, I thought there'd be something like that here in London, but not really, even fellow Vespa Riders in passing don't really give off that vibe, strange!

But I will keep you updated once I start tomorrow, cheers.

Hi everyone,

So I finally managed to try it all out but it still won't start. I drained the tank via the petcock and also, put a vacuum on the petcock vacuum hose, cleaned the carb, and sprayed Holt Cold start in the intake manifold. The Bike start once and then stopped, now I when I try and start it I just get a noise and no starting or revving at all just a whirring sound like in the vid.

The only thing I haven't done is put 1ccl petrol in the Piston chamber as i'm not sure where this is exactly!

Also, when you say try 10-15 times and it should start, should i still be trying to start the engine if all i'm getting is a whirring sound??

Thanks guys!

When you remove the spark plug, you are looking into the cylinder above the piston. However, if starter fluid didn't do the job, I don't think a small amount of petrol in the cylinder would be any more effective.

Cold start spray in intake have same result like my advice with small amount of gasoline in ignition chamber.
You told you try all so you have white sparks on spark plug? If yes then focus to fuel/carb issue.
Goto youtube and search scooter spark plug check

The whirring sound at the end of the video after the engine stops cranking is the starter motor turning over without the Bendix gear engaged.

If all you are hearing when you try to start it now is that whirring sound, then it likely means your battery is too weak to engage the Bendix gear and crank the engine. The Bendix gear is the little clutch on the starter motor shaft that engages the crankshaft to turn the engine over. It relies on sufficient starter motor speed to do so, and won't engage if the battery won't turn the motor fast enough.

So the ignition system /spark plug is OK. More carb. cleaning required and take the battery to be re-charged or connect it to a car using jumper leads.

Persevere.

[quote="waspmike"] Do not start the car.

Hi Everyone,

Thanks again, I'll try all these when i get in from work later.

Now you mention it, it may be a battery situation issue as I've had issues with this battery before!

I'll keep you all posted.

Cheers!

... maybe the scooter was deeply offended and now takes revenge ...

Is it fixed yet?

Hi All, Apologies for the delay. I had purchased a new battery online which took forever to be shipped. I tried this morning and again, it starts once, when I spray Cold start in the intake manifold. But it won't start fully.

It doesn't stop trying to start now though, so that was a battery issue, that is now sorted.

So I'm now going to drain it again from the petcock and the fuel line, and i've taken the carb out to reclean.

The fact the bike starts up when i put Cold start in, i'm assuming that means the Spark plug is ok, is that right??


What i did notice though, was the carb was bone dry, even though i had attempted to start it several times.One thing to also note is there are x3 outs for pipes on my carb, one is the fuel line and the other two, literally do not connect to anything, that can't be right can it?

Do you have a vacuum line running from the carb to the fuel tap?

The only connection from the Carb is the fuel line (circled red) which is green, the other two cables (circled yellow) have shorter lines connected as pictured, but seemingly, the ends of the cables do not connect to anything???

Am i missing something here?

I also just noticed my back light works when i press brakes but not on idle, my floodlight and the light on my dash is also not working!!

The fuel tap is vacuum operated. Engine vacuum opens the fuel tap so fuel can flow. There should be two connections on the fuel tap, one for fuel and one for vacuum.

The yellow circled hoses are OK to be open to atmosphere. One is a float bowl drain. The other is part of the emissions control system (well, it was - it's been disconnected now).

The brass plug on the rubber intake manifold is a vacuum port. This one must be connected to the bottom nipple on the fuel tap in order to get fuel to flow when the bike is cranking or running.

I notice you removed your carb by disconnecting the whole rubber intake manifold. There should be a gasket between this and the engine, and I think it's supposed to be replaced every time you disconnect from there. Normally, you'd leave the manifold in place, and remove the carb by just undoing the hose clamp and pulling it free from the rubber boot.

The multiple burned out lights is troubling. You should test your voltage regulator to make sure it's working as expected. If not, you will soon fry your brand new battery!

EDIT - was your bike running properly before the diesel "incident"? I made the assumption the bike was running well, and there was just a mishap with fueling. But your recent posts make me wonder if the bike has other issues too and wasn't running properly before the diesel went in?

I usually take off the carb by disconnecting it from the intake manifold as you stated, but as I purchased a new one and the gasket is also brand new and unused I assumed it wouldn't do any harm.

Thanks for letting me know.

How do i check the voltage regulator?

Also should the Carb be dry after several attempts at starting the engine?

Do you have a vacuum line to the fuel tap?

Hi All,

So i have a line that connects to the rubber intake manifold... and another line that runs directly from the carburetor to the fuel tap.

The bike was running well before the diesel incident. i had left it for a few weeks outdoors in the cold and then when trying to fix the diesel issue, realised the battery was dead and now the lights are not working etc when idling!

Fuel does come from the line when i used a vacuum pump, so i'm not sure why no fuel was getting to the carb when trying to start it.

i tried to record a vid, but then realised i can't upload vids.

If fuel flows when you use a vacuum pump on the line but not when the line is connected to the manifold, you have a vacuum leak. Is the line connected to the right port on the manifold? Is the manifold secured and sealed to the engine? I think you have found the problem. Should be fairly easy to chase it from there.

Yeah, i think the problem is the gasket as it's nowhere to be seen now! It just seems like one thing after another at this point, but I've now ordered one. Hopefully it comes ASAP!

Thanks for the help.

Hey Everyone.

So a NEW problem now. I waited patiently for the gasket to arrive and it did yesterday. So I installed it, gave it a try and the battery was dead, so i charged all night, with a CTEK charger and reconditioned it. I installed it today and now I'm getting NOTHING at all, no lights, engine won't start, just pure silence!!

I really don't know what's going on! Just yesterday, it at least had electrics going and would start churning at least and now ZERO!!

Any ideas before I take a sledge hammer to it??? lol