Modern Vespa

I bought a vespa p200e a while back and it seemed to be running fine until I added some more 2 cycle oil. It has the oil injection. The little see through level thing in front of the seat is full now. Should it have only been half full? Did I mess something up because now it starts but runs really rough and when I go to take off it dies and won't start back up until the next day or so. It really seems to be smoking more than before. I'm new to Vespas, HELP!!

The sightglass should always be full, how far up the filler tube did you fill with oil???

I always filled mine right up to the neck especially when going out on a run, however they advise you not to fill it anywhere near that full!!!
I would advise you to top it up everytime you refuel.
Take the plug out and have a look to see what colour it is, if it's black then that suggests you are burning too much oil.
When you start it up do you use the choke? angain if so then shut it off as soon as the engine is running

As I have understood it over the years, the sight glass should be full, but I don't see why half-full isn't fine. I don't see why the filler tube should be full beyond a full sight glass.

If you're sure about the correlation between adding oil and poor performance, I'd guess it has to do with the oil. NOT the quantity. How about draining it all and starting over?

From the PX Owner Manual:

Fill the engine oil tank with the recommended oil. The sight glass allows you to observe the formation of an air bubble as the oil level reaches the level of the reserve quantity (The minimum oil mark - a molded circle in the sight glass center). When this air bubble is observed, at the next refueling, but not more than 150 KM, top up the oil tank.

There is no mention of how high in the filler tube the oil should, or should not rise. However, one can conclude from the above that riding when the sight glass is half full should be limited to 150 km (90 miles) or less.

Al

What kind of 2 stroke oil was used?

I'm using what the previous owner told me to use. Yamalube. It was only half way up the sightglass when i got it so maybe he kept it low for a reason??? I don't know. Is there a drain plug for the 2 cycle oil and do you think that would help?

I'm going to clean the spark plug up (it's black) and try to start it and see it will keep running. Oh, I meant to ask. I added a lttle reg. gas. not higher octane. Would this be a problem. I didn't add much.

Get something better than Yamalube. Try Belray Si7 or any other two-stroke synthetic. Is there a scooter store near you? They usually have something decent. Or try Scooter Parts Direct or Scooterworks for mail order oils. You'll have to drain it because it's not good to mix two different oils. To drain, find the oil line where it goes into the carb box, pull it off and drain it into a container. Re-attach your line and fill until the oil covers the sight glass. I usually put in about half a quart at a time.

Get three or four new plugs and carry them with you. Use the NGK-B7ES. They're like $2 at Autozone so why not buy a bunch at a time? If your old plug is black, don't bother cleaning it, just pop in a new one.

Also, if the plug is black, you may want to turn your mix screw clockwise 1/4 turn to lean it up a little. The mix screw is on the back, bottom of your carb behind a dime sized rubber plug that pulls off pretty easily.

I run my P200 on the crappy 87 octane with no problems.

Good luck!

Got it started but only for a minute. spark plug comes out with some oil on it. Not black like burnt. here's a pic of the spark plug cable. Is this right? Seem like it doesn't have the greatest contact. Moves around so freely.

Again, this ran pretty great before I added more 2 cycle. I don't get it!

There should be a rubber boot over that (unless you pulled it back for the photo). Did you install a new plug?

Do you know how to clean your jets? It sounds like your idle jet may be clogged.



Open your carb box. Unscrew A and B and clean them with some carb cleaner.

When's the last time you rebuilt the carb? It's really easy, only takes about an hour.

Here is a great tutorial:

http://www.vespamaintenance.com/fuel/carbrebuild/index.html

Also to clarify, cleaning those two jets will only take ten minutes and you won't need any new parts.

The rebuild will take longer.

Hi Calicat, If you wish PM me and i will talk you through anything you need to know This way we are apples and apples.

Cheers, Jim

my best advice? Call Jim ^^^

What am I? Chopped liver?

No Mate You have given great advise. Sometimes it's best over the phone and i am always happy to help with any "Vintage advise"

More so if the person is ready to wrench Apples and apples.

Respectfully.

Cheers, Jim

It's all good, I was just breakin' balls.



I'll definitely defer to your superior knowledge anytime.

BUMP! I have just received your email Please feel free to call as i am in my garage right now

Cheers