Tao Tao DB14 will NOT start tried everything no dice need help

[dudeman2021]

Been riding my whole life so been wrenching on bikes all that time as well. So....my neighbor has a Tao Tao DB14 and it will not start. It was running, but sat for over a year and then would not run. Of course at first thought it must be the carb gummed up. So, took off air filter, hit it with starting fluid and it fired up like a boss. So, must be the carb. I took it off and discovered no service access bolts on the bowl. Said f-that and purchased the wrong carb for it on amazon (PZ20--- the correct is a PZ19) BUT when I bolted it on, it fired right up on the first kick. Problem is, because its the wrong carb, the throttle cable is too short so the slide does not engage all the way down, so the bike idle is almost full throttle. That will not work of course, but it proved the old carb was the issue, next to the starts I got with starting fluid.

So, I said what the heck ill clean up the stock carb. I proceeded to use an EasyOut on the no service bolts and opened the float bowl up and go to the main and pilot jets thinking all I need to do is clean up this carb and the bike will run. I cleaned the jets using tiny wire kit for pilot holes and main. Used my air compressor and carb cleaner also and everything checked out with holes being clear when I sprayed cleaner through. Put it all back together and NOTHING. I cannot even get this thing to popcorn fart. Not even a backfire. I took off air filter tried to kick, played w choke halfway up, full, off, etc. Put air filter on, same routine- nothing.

I am at a loss here guys. Any suggestions? I cannot for the life of me figure out WTF is going on here. Thanks!

[TyGuy]

Been riding my whole life so been wrenching on bikes all that time as well. So....my neighbor has a Tao Tao DB14 and it will not start. It was running, but sat for over a year and then would not run. Of course at first thought it must be the carb gummed up. So, took off air filter, hit it with starting fluid and it fired up like a boss. So, must be the carb. I took it off and discovered no service access bolts on the bowl. Said f-that and purchased the wrong carb for it on amazon (PZ20--- the correct is a PZ19) BUT when I bolted it on, it fired right up on the first kick. Problem is, because its the wrong carb, the throttle cable is too short so the slide does not engage all the way down, so the bike idle is almost full throttle. That will not work of course, but it proved the old carb was the issue, next to the starts I got with starting fluid.

So, I said what the heck ill clean up the stock carb. I proceeded to use an EasyOut on the no service bolts and opened the float bowl up and go to the main and pilot jets thinking all I need to do is clean up this carb and the bike will run. I cleaned the jets using tiny wire kit for pilot holes and main. Used my air compressor and carb cleaner also and everything checked out with holes being clear when I sprayed cleaner through. Put it all back together and NOTHING. I cannot even get this thing to popcorn fart. Not even a backfire. I took off air filter tried to kick, played w choke halfway up, full, off, etc. Put air filter on, same routine- nothing.

I am at a loss here guys. Any suggestions? I cannot for the life of me figure out WTF is going on here. Thanks!

Hmmm...any possibility it’s your fuel filter? Was there fuel in the line to the carb, which made her start intermittently? Once the new carb was on, no more fuel passing the filter? Just taking a shot here, as I can’t see it in person. This happened to me once on one of my cranky old bikes.

[dudeman2021]

Thanks for responding. Fuel filter is clear. If it was clogged it would not of run when I put the other carb on. And of course I wish I could just put another throttle cable on it, but trying to source the correct cable for my carb has been also next to impossible. I even tried calling Tao Tao distributors in the US and nobody answers. I see now, why these are 700 bucks--- you totally get what you pay for

[Moto-N-Metal]

Make sure you dont have too much oil in it. If the float sticks it will fill the bottom end with gas/oil.

[dudeman2021]

ISSUE FIXED! Well.....get this. Of all things, be very very careful with what you inspect, meaning INSPECT EVERY LITTLE PIECE OF THAT CARB. The issue here was the float bowl pin. It was stuck shut. It would not move. The float would move up and down slightly which fooled me but when I looked closer, the float bowl pin was not moving up and down, thus not allowing any fuel delivery into the bowl. DUH. It had so much gunk in it it was hard to pull out. I finally got it out, cleaned it and she fired right the f*** up! This thing runs like new now. Hope this helps somebody else. I am going to put a bunch of search tags below to help anyone else who has this issue as when I scoured the internet for the issue on this bike I really didn't find anything.

And for more info on your Tao Tao I found these resources to help you figure out what carb fits your bike, etc. For the Tao Tao DB14, your carb is a PZ19 which you can buy on Amazon for under 20 bucks. Had I known this going into it, I would of purchased the right carb and been on my way.

https://taomotor.com/products/dirt-bikes/db14/

For OEM parts-
https://www.taotaopartsdirect.com/collections/db14?page=1

This site was really helpful for parts by model and schematics and their prices were half of OEM

https://partskit.com/product/search/schematic?s=100634&query=DB%2014%20and%20110cc%20Kick%20Start%20Engin e%20Assembly




*search tags- Tao Tao carb carburetor fix repair not starting, won't kick over float bowl pin cleaning fix issue DB14 CZ19