Starts sometimes and won't idle..???

[littleredhen]

Hello,
I bought a used Chinese scooter that wasn't running. The man I bought it from said that it was running fine then he let it sit for 6-8 months and when he tried to start it he said it would start then die. He had tried to fix it and got as far as taking parts off. I know nothing about scooters or how to fix them, I thought it might be a fun project and learning experience. I replaced the coil and CDI and now it looks like we have spark, yay. I replaced fuel lines, cleaned the carb and put all the parts back on. I got it to turn over but the scooter only starts sometimes. It seems like it starts when it is cold, the first try, and it will run for only a few seconds and then die. I have tried to keep it running by revving the engine and that doesn't seem to work well. I was able to get it started once and my husband kept it going by giving it gas until he eventually let go and it died immediately. While he had it going I tried adjusting the screws on the carb but that seemed to have no effect. Any ideas of what I should look at next? Thank you in advance for any help.

[scosgt]

Did you put in fresh gas or use what was in the tank? Gas goes bad in time, and also you could have water in the gas which can cause simimar symptoms - when first started, it runs, when you apply throttle it sucks up the water in the bottom of the bowl, and it then stalls out.
Try using some Seafoam, it will cure small amounts of water.
But first, drain the carb bowl and let the gas sit a few minutes. If there is water, you will see it on the bottom of the glass.