Honda Spree and Elite 50 Forums

So I 'm having a strange problem with the Spree. I've had the thing running. I even took it on a 20mi or so drive.

The problem is: when starting from cold, it doesn't start unless I take off the bystarter and put my thumb over the hole. If I let it idle for a few minutes this way I can insert the bystarter (while the scoot is running) and it seems to work fine (with some idle adjustments). As I said, I drove it for 20 miles on a hot day, and it started fine upon leaving my destination even after sitting parked for an hour.

Could this be a problem with the bystarter, or a circuit within the carb? I also notice that the air screw doesn't seem to do anything. I.e. I can unscrew it almost all the way, and screw it in until it's fully seated and it doesn't work. I believe it's the air screw anyway... it's not the screw with the external spring, but the one with the internal.

It seems to be running slightly rich... With my finger over the bystarter hole, is the scoot running on full choke?

You have a faulty oring on the bystarter and/or the bystarter is not fully extending to seal off the enriching circuit, so it is allowing excess full in (i.e. rich) You will not know if it is the carb without fixing the bystarter. My guess since with it in it was running rich the idle circuit is not clogged. So it should just be the bystarter.

1) First try a new oring and install....

2) If that fails you need to buy a new or known working used bystarter.

I purchased a rebuilt carb that had the bystarter attached, but I used the old bystarter because I wasn't in the mood for wire splicing (the new carb is an 86, the scoot is an 85).

I'll splice the wires and install tonight, and let everyone know how it works.

Didn't realize the wiring was different from an 85 to an 86. Otherwise they should just be plug and play, no need to splice. The wires are plugged in right by the oil pump area where the starter plug is under the rubber boot.

yes the wiring is different. older sprees have 2 connectors. newer sprees have a single plug connector.

Got it! Thanks for the clarrification

I soldered the new bystarter on to the exising connectors, but I'm getting the same issue. If I hold my thumb over the bystarter hole for a minute, I'm able to insert the bystarter and it runs fine. It'll even restart after being off for a half hour or so.

I'm still leaning towards it being the bystarter, though it's possible that it's a carb thing as well. Which jets are being used when my thumb is over the bystarter hole?

I'm thinking of just putting a cork in that d*** hole and being done with it.

Hate to sound like a broken record... have you checked your idle jet yet? The fact that your air screw isn't doing anything make me think that it's plugged.

Check your bystarter(s) using the test procedure in tech docs.

Are you fully inserting the bystarter? Metal clip should be going on the second notch.

Let us know what you find out.

My apologies if you guys don't like old posts being dredged up. I like to keep everything in one place rather than creating a new thread for every update.

I ordered a new bystarter yesterday, should be getting it on Thurs. or Fri. of this week. After reading some other threads here, I figured it'd be worth a shot. In addition, one of my neighbors from down the street described the EXACT same problem that I'm having, and said that a new bystarter took care of it.

I'll post my findings here, of course.

You may want to take noiseguy's advise and check the idle jet. I was having the same problem and thought it was the bystarter o-ring or the bystarted itself. The scooter was really difficlut to start when cold, it wouldn't idle until it was fully warmed up. Once warm it would start just fine even 2-3 hours later. After replacing the bystarter o-ring and still experiencing the problem, I decided to clean the carb.

It turns out my idle jet was cloged (no light coming through). I soaked the carb overnight and used a can of compressed air to blow it out. It took a while but I finally unblocked the idle jet and everything works fine now.

I'll probably do that, since replacing the bystarter with a new one ($60!) didn't work. The whole frickin' carb is going to soak for a day then I'll blow it out.

ajohn 505

hey i have a post "newbie spree 1985"

i read your problem and pulled the autobystarter and plugged it with duct tape....now my spree runs....and pretty good!!!

what is this "autobystarter" thing anyway

if it runs good without it, why is it there??

just wondering

The bystarter shuts the enricher circuit after 30 seconds. Like a choke. Don't run without it in place.

ajohn

you still have the old bystarter....i need one for a 1985 spree

steve
fenderworks