Carb issue
 

if you read my taotao thread from the other week, you know I had resolved my hard starting and low power issues with a new CDI, Pod filter (my only option at the time) and some rejetting. I was running a 90 main (upped from 78) with the pod. I took a look at my plug after my ride home and found I was running lean.. The next morning, I stopped by the scooter shop and picked up a 95. I figured I could make the five mile ride to work before installing it but I was wrong and overheated in the last mile, right after going up a long hill. The overheat resulted in catastrophic failure in the form of a shattered piston. It was actually pretty impressive how badly it failed. Fortunately I work near the Denver warehouse of ezscootshop. I emailed them and was able to go pickup a new 47mm cylinder kit, Head, full gasket set and 98 jet for $70. It was a couple days before I could do the work But I've had it running again since last monday. I did a full rebuild to make sure I removed all the schrapnal.

Anyway, It had been running fine with the 98 but definitely on the rich side.. Jet black plug and would sometimes bog down if I opened the throttle too quickly. Today I decided to play with jetting a little and when I opened the carb, I found the float to be half flooded (one side, about 60% full) Im not even sure how it got in there as I wasn't able to get any out.. Anyway, No big deal, I have a spare carb for parts. however after installing the new float, the engine would immediately bog down (lean.. pretty sure) once I gave it gas.. It was almost like the proper float wasn't allowing the bowl to fill up enough. If I let it sit for a little while, I could get a short burst out of it before it would die or try to again. I tried 95&98 jets. After a little frustration, I tried sticking the flooded float back in and voila, It runs great again. Currently running with the 95.

TLDR: Was rejetting after BBK install/rebuild, found I had a half flooded float, tried new float, scoot bogs down with throttle is opened. Reinstalled flooded float, works great. I don't see any obvious ways to adjust the float and don't wanna just start bending things.. I considered adding some weight to the good float (should only need a gram or two) but that is leaving a problem unsolved.

Thanks for reading,

James

The only way I've ever adjusted a float was by bending the little tab that goes to the float needle. Sounds like the old float is sitting lower allowing more fuel in the bowl. So with the new float you'd have to bend the tab down a little to allow more fuel in the bowl. Just remember if you bend the tab and it doesn't work you can always bend it back. Just note the position of the float before you start bending.