Honda Spree and Elite 50 Forums

Hi thought I would jump in here even though it is not my thread but I have a similar problem. 87 elite se50 and it appears there is no petcock at all between tank and carb. Meaning there is a vacuum line that is not being used off the carb. Question is whether that causes the engine to die after bystarter warms up and bowl runs dry. Scooter starts, runs for a bit(just long enough to get me about a quarter mile down the road) and then dies. Will restart after either 5 minutes or manually squeezing the fuel line to force more fuel into carb. (Learned this after about 4 iterations of being stranded quarter mile away and pushing home.) Cleaned carb, replaced in line filter and checked bystarter. Pretty sure bystarter works fine as the engine fires on first kick when cold and no problems until warm when idle comes down to reasonable level. Checked air screw setting and ok. I am pretty sure it is the petcock not being there but haven't seen this situation on any other thread. Bought this bike from a local mechanic who seems to be ok but not really a stock set-up kind of guy. Does engine shutting off seem to be a result of vacuum line not being installed to a petcock a logical place to start? I don't want to go down the wrong road being kind of new to diagnosis of small engines. Also, bought this less than 20 miles ago and it only started happening after getting it home from the mechanic and not interested in going back to his boneyard of broken down machines to let him 'fix' it. Nice guy but is kind of a duct tape is the solution kind of guy.Thanks for any ideas. Sorry to hijack the thread but my petcock issue seemed to be in line with the author's.

Budster.... pin / plug your vacuum. Just get a small 1/8" line with the end of golf tee worked for my petcock bypass issue.

thanks carl. I ordered petcock, installed easily and runs better for a while. still bogs down after 10 minutes of constant throttle babying and will try cleaning carb thoroughly. seems like my other bike is experiencing carb problems too so soon I will be expert in carb cleaning with hopes of quitting my job and relying on carb cleaning business.

"Just get a small 1/8" line with the end of golf tee worked for my petcock bypass issue."

can't tell you how many times I have used a golf tee to fix something.

as soon as the engine quits open the float bowl drain screw and see if any fuel comes out, none means there is not enough fuel getting in, is the oil pump working? Is the screen in the oil tank clogged? maybe you are running lean and soft seizing the thing, Did you clean or replace the fuel line maybe its clogged. maybe some junk got shook loose from working all of the lines and clogged the fuel inlet of the carb had that happen before on golf carts, the carb would be spotless but no fuel flow. did you rinse out the tank spooge when you replaced the petcock? maybe the screen got clogged.

thanks for the reply pat but not sure if original poster has resolved his issue. I am taking the carb to get it ultrasounded as someone recommended in another thread. I am assuming sound waves to get the tiny passages clear. oil line is working well, oil is dripping when engine is cranked. fuel line is probably the issue or just carb cleaning. used to run well so I am sure it can be fixed but getting colder (28 fahrenheit last night) so not much fun out in a cold garage. also gotta get the snow thrower started after last winter's no-show. hope to get the wood burning stove going out there. hopefully won't burn down the garage.

The ultrasonic cleaning of the carb is a great idea. In fact I just ordered my own ultrasonic cleaner last week its on its way from china as we speak. I can't wait to use it on every carb I need to clean. I find a lot of smal engines in the garbage and fix them up so the cleaner will be handy.

My "new" Spree was doing that dying out also, I cleaned out the carb, and found the electric choke plunger was missing. I replaced the electric choke "bystarter" with an Ebay unit and now the scooter runs super smooth with no stalling.
This is my first post here, so I hope I am doing this correctly.
John

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Electrical-Auto ... 23223f5331
If you need a new bystarter cheapest I could find after days of scouring the web last summer. Mine works perfect. Older sprees you have to crimp on some bullet connectors instead of the red plug.

Sent from my SoftwinerEvb using Tapatalk 2

Thee is no petcock on a Spree. It has a vacuum-operated fuel valve. It opens with the engine vacuum when the engine starts. Make sure all the lines are connected properly.

My second spree was hesitating and stalling cold, I found the tiny jet/orifice in the float bowl clogged. It was preventing the bystarter well from filling up. Cleaned that jet and now my second Spree runs as good as the first.
John