Engine has a hard time starting and chokes out

[shuffle831]

Hello,
I currently own a 2011 Taotao ATM50-A1 stock and have recently been having some trouble with it. Most of these mornings I've been riding it to work and it has a hard tine starting and staying running. The engine clicks like it wants to start, the second time turns over and won't fire, and the third time it has a weak fire, but starts. Once running it wants to drop horribly in speed and then picks up, only to shut off once stopping.

These mornings I've been operating it has ranged between 34 degrees F to 58 degrees F, and have done all of the oil changes according to the manual, and the odometer reads 750 miles on it. What do I do, oh gurus of moped wisdom?

[shuffle831]

Its almost guaranteed on cold mornings, its hit or miss on warmer afternoons. It acts like it has a hard time letting fuel into the engine.

And will the oil have any negative effects on my engine? I'm not meaning to knock you down or anything, I ask a ton of questions because its all a new aspect for me lol

[millsc]

Adjust your valves and keep your battery charged with a battery tender or low amp charger, and turn your a/f screw if you have one out a 1/4 to 1/2 turn, that is to the left, these scoots need more fuel in colder weather. If you can open the carb on the bottom there may be screws if your carb isn't sealed, you can put in a bigger main jet they often come lean from the factory. You can look up videos on valve adjustment on youtube, its not difficult.

[beachbum]

I would start with what millsc said. Adjust valves, adjust fuel mixture screw to enrichen it. Counter clockwise-- 1/8 turns at a time and listen for it to pick up. You probably only need a half of turn in totality.

Stock scooters come out really lean, and cold weather just makes it worse.

[shuffle831]

I pulled it apart yesterday to check the carb for an a/f adjustment, but didn't find one. And on top of that, the bolts/screws used to disassemble the carburetor all have the heads shaved off... any tips to fix that?

[millsc]

got to take a dremel with a cut off wheel and slot the flat heads and remove them with a flat head screwdriver, and drill the flat plug off the a/f adjustment screw.

[scootnwinn]

Get a new adjustable carb if you count the time it takes to derestrict your current one it's cheaper that way...

[prodigit]

Sometimes the auto enricher does not provide enough fuel in the beginning. Set your idle to faster.
Also, what helps is, the auto enricher works for about 5 seconds. During this time, it doesn't matter what you do to the throttle. As soon as the engine started, throttle open or close, the bike won't accelerate anyway. Just open the throttle, 'till the auto enricher stops working.
When it does, you'll see all of a sudden the scoot responding to the throttle.
Usually a 2 second ride with WOT, is enough for the scoot to stay alive (at least around here).
Maybe you need a little longer because the weather over there is a lot colder than here!

[rae4180]

Put a 20 mmcarb on that thing and you well be all good......... watch your self fly.............

[earlwb]

shuffle831 stated he got his answer, so he wanted me to lock the thread.