Trouble starting (can't decide if its water or cold related)

[cwdavis]

So previously the electric starter was weak (e.g. took a few tries to get more than a putter out of it and get the bike started) but lately its gone altogether. I've been starting for the last few days with the kick starter (I know its only supposed to be a backup) and its been responding great (1-3 kicks max). We had a strong rain storm over the weekend and the last time i rode was Thursday afternoon (3.5 mi commute). I went to start with the kick this morning and nothing. I took the battery out when i got home and put it on the charger but i noticed there was a tiny bit of water underneath the battery and a leaf over one of the fuses above the battery (dont know how the f*** that got in there).

Could the kickstarter not working be related to a wet/shorted fuse? Battery is fine, charged it back up to 100% and reading 13 V. Also drained the float bowl to make sure there was no water in there from the storm. I'm wondering if a weak fuse / bad connection could have been responsible for the poor electric start performance earlier as well.

Its also super cold here (27 degrees currently, 37 this morning) could it be that as well?

Thanks guys!

P.S. Anyone know where to get a cheap replacement for a 2012 50 2-t super 8 electric starter motor in case it actually is the motor?

-C

[zombie]

http://www.ebay.com/itm/ELECTRIC-STARTER-MOTOR-FOR-KYMCO-50-Super-8-2T-09-13-/271636677514?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_101&hash=item3f3ecec38a&vxp=mtr
Italy...

The most likely suspect is condensation from the cold in the float bowl/bottom of the fuel tank.

We have had a couple of hard freeze nights (3), and each morning I could not start the bike.
I drained the float bowl, and sucked on the vacuum line to the petcock (i hate to admit that). In each case I saw water drain from the float bowl. Perhaps a thimble full. A few drops from the bowl, and the rest from the tank.

I keep a flathead screwdriver under the seat, and do this on every cold (35, and under) morning before even trying to start the bike.

If that first link is no good for you, then try Parts for Scooters . com

The other issue is all batteries will lose CCA in cold weather. It's the nature of the beast.

[cwdavis]

which is the vacuum line to the petcock?

[zombie]

There are two lines to the bottom of the fuel tank. The larger one (thicker) is the fuel line, and that goes to the carb.
The smaller (thinner) line is the vacuum line, and that one goes into the side of your intake manifold.

You need to remove it from the manifold, and suck on it to create a vacuum. This will allow the fuel to flow. I open the bowl drain screw, and catch the fuel in a glass jar. Inspect that after a minute or so. You WILL see a layer of water if it is in there. It will be easy to spot if you tip the jar so the water collects in the corner. (corner of a round jar???) Then leave the drain open, and suck on the vacuum line. Allow an ounce or so of fuel to flow, and inspect that.

If you do find water... SeaFoam works great to absorb it in the fuel system, and it is a great preventative maintenance type product. If you never used it in the bike add 2 ounces for two consecutive tanks of fuel, and then one ounce every fourth tank full. It will prevent problems before they occur.

[cwdavis]

Thanks a lot, i'll give it a try! I always put 1.5oz of sea foam in when i refuel so theres already sea foam in the fuel. Will try that in the morning and update y'all

Thanks again!

[cwdavis]

Thanks for the help again! It seems that the combination of slightly weak battery (i cant believe 4 days is enough to cause this), wet, and cold were the culprits. Put the battery on the charger, dried out the connections with compressed air, and siphoned about a shotglass worth of gas from the tank/float bowl (~5% of which was water on the bottom after a few min) and within a few kicks had it running again.

Can you (or anyone) recommend a better cover? The cover I bought was working fine until the inner liner started to flake out (and it no longer was waterproof) and now its a tarp-cover combo that is still kinda sh**ty. Not tryna spend like $100 but something that will stand up to the rain and occasional snow we get in delaware?

[zombie]

I bought one of those cheap nylon covers on ebay 5 or so years ago, and I still have it on my bike today.

Just look up Scooter Cover.

 What water you find will mainly be condensation so 100 covers can't prevent that. It's simply the hot/cold cycles.

[JJJoseph]

I couldn't see in your post if it's a 50cc scooter, or something else.  Regardless, a 50cc has VERY LITTLE surplus horsepower (ZERO surplus hp at idle), so a 50cc can be difficult to start when it's below freezing outside.  It takes every bit of power just to turn the crankshaft.  You can check if it's cold-weather related simply by bringing it indoors overnight.  A 100cc Kymco, in contrast, has lots of surplus power for starting, and it lights off promptly, even down to 10 below freezing, and idles smoothly.