Honda PA Troubleshooting
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Let's Talk Troubleshooting
As Moped Army members had asked question, it does seem that some issues are covered over and over again. In response, this page was put together. This page is intended to cover the most-common issues, and is NOT the end-all of all troubleshooting instructions. Let's get to it.
No Start Issues
With a two stroke engine, if you've got fuel, spark and compression - it will run. So, this is a good starting point.
No Spark Issues
The absolute-simplest wiring for a (points) Hobbit is:
Run the black wire from the alternator (e.g. the black wire coming out of the engine) to the ignition coil (mounted to the pedal-chain side of the subframe). If the coil is grounded, you should have spark.
If you do not have spark, your spark plug boot might be loose, your coil might not be grounded, your points might not be opening, or one (or all) of these components might be faulty (in descending order of likelihood).
It is also worth checking your spark plug itself. If it's caked with a lot of carbon or the spark gap is too wide or narrow, it won't work properly. A spark plug that is caked with carbon may indicate that the carburetor's mixture is set too rich.
No Fuel Issues
Put gas in the fuel tank.
Once accomplished, check: 1) that your fuel hose is not crimped or pinched by it's torturous route across the top of the engine. 2) Remove fuel line from petcock, turn briefly to run and reserve, some fuel should come out for each, if not, your petcock is clogged (probably with rust from the gas tank). 3) If fuel is coming out of the petcock, reconnect your fuel line. If you have a fuel filter disconnect the fuel line after the fuel filter and see if fuel comes out when the petcock is turned to run. If not, replace it. 4) Remove the fuel line at the carburator, turn the petcock to run and see if fuel comes out, if it does you know fuel is making it to the carburator, but is it making it to the engine? Remove and clean the carburator, pay special attention to if there is gas in the float area, if there is you probalby just need to clean the carb, if there isn't, the needle valve that allows the fuel into the float area is probably stuck, remove and clean it very well, along with the rest of the carb.
You should now have fuel!
Compression issues
Low or no compression is not a good sign. Checking this can be a little tricky because there is no easy way to manually rotate the crank shaft. without taking stuff apart (a little bit)
Method 1
1) With a cold engine, remove the spark plug.
2) Cover the hole that the spark plug once occupied with your finger. Make sure that you don't get dirt in there. That would be bad.
NOTE: The next step is easy if you have a kick start or a manual clutch. But the Hobbit doesn't...so you're going to have to remove the alternator cover and rotate the crank with your hand) The alternator cover is that round chrome thing on the right side of the crank case. There's a screw on the top and on the bottom.
3) With your finger securely covering the spark plug hole, rotate the engine's crank shaft. It'll only start creating a seal after it clears the ports. If you don't feel anything, keep turning.
4) An engine with good compression should create a vacuum or pressure against your finger when the crank is rotated. If there is weak pressure/vacuum, or the pressure/vacuum decreases over a few seconds...you may have some problems. Make sure that your finger is making a good seal against the hole. If you think that you have compression issues, move on to method 2.
Method 2
1) Get yourself a metric socket and take the head and head gasket off. There are 4 long bolts on the front of it.
2) Push the piston down to bottom-dead-center and inspect the cylinder walls. Look for scratches. Scrape your fingernail against the inside and feel for scratches. It should be quite smooth and uniform. If all looks well, all is probably well. If not, you should probably do the rest of the steps, because it's messed up anyway.
NOTE: this next step may destroy your cylinder gasket.
3) If you tried method 1 and it seemed grim, you may want to pull off the cylinder and inspect the piston and piston rings. You may have to bang on it a little if the paper gasket is sticky. Be gentle. As noted before, you run the risk of tearing the gasket if it's stuck to the case and the cylinder. Get a new one, they're cheap.
4) Look at that piston and those piston rings. Are they shredded? Yes? I'm sorry. Now's a good time to get that performance head kit that you've been eye-balling, eh?
Why did this happen?
You got crap in your engine. Did you run it without an air filter? Did your filter element dry out, crumble, and get sucked into the cylinder? Is the inside of your muffler/expansion chamber rusted or covered with epic carbon? Were you tinkering with the engine/carb and got crap in there? All of these things suck and can ruin your engine. I'm sorry.
What can I do?
Well...if you're handy, you can get a new piston and rings. Then either buy a new cylinder or buy a brake cylinder honing kit and hone those scratches out. It depends on the damage, really. If it has anything other than fine, subtle scratches...you're better off buying some new big bore kit from treatland.tv or whoever. Remember to clean out your crank case first! It's probably full of metal flakes and sadness.
Low Power or Low Top Speed Issues
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