New member with a troublesome Xciting 250i 2007

[szabgab]

Dear all!

First thank you for letting me in I have just bought a 250AFI Xciting, imported from Italy. The odometer says 25000 kilometers, the outside is nice and she was running fine on the test run, but now I start to see, why people tried to tell me, not to buy an imported bike from a dealer, poor bike has got rust everywhere underneath the tupperware and the engine was most likely neglected all it's life. Every rubber part or hose is hard as a rock (is this a Kymco ailment, or the seaside air hardened everything, whilst rusting the metal?). Now I have changed all the fluids and the main air cleaner, and the spark plug. Whilst replacing the plug, I have noticed, it is completely white, e.g. running very lean, but I did not pay much attention to an old plug. Upon replacing it with a brand new item the bike is still very lean, and as it is not a carbed bike this should be impossible, right? Also with a carburettor bike I would simply enrichen the mixture, but here I do not have that option. I did spray some brake cleaner on the air intake boots of the throttle body, air filter box, etc. checking for leaks (this used to work on carb leaks), but there is no change in pitch, so I guess the vacuum is good. Also this cold spell made the bike start extremely hard to start - meaning 20-30 cranks with no luck, this happened with the new plug, the fuel pump is pumping all right, but I wonder, if I have low fuel pressure? If I prime the engine with the kill switch and waiting for the fuel pum to pressurize 3 times, the bike starts nearly immediately. If I do it twice, I need to crank even a hot engine for 5 seconds, again with only one prime I am looking at long crank times. I somewhat hoped, there is a clogged fuel filter, but there is no fuel filter on the fuel hose leading from the fuel tank (and pump) to the injector. Also strangely enough even though the bike is running ultra-lean, it still smells of unburnt petrol and my fuel economy does not seem to be that great (I do not have a large enough sample, only one fill-up, with 50 or 60 km's with the old clogged up air filter, so I suppose this does not count).

Any idea, what should I check? I disconnected every connector, I could find, sprayed contact cleaner on them, resetted the sensors (with the 8 second full throttle thing), no change...

Thank you!

Regards,

Gabriel

[CROSSBOLT]

Fuel filter is on pump intake. You have to remove pump from tank to check. Running that lean not good but you know that. Another common problem with all modern scoots is a sticking fuel tank vent valve which usually kills the engine. A partially blocked vent would also make the engine run lean without killing engine. You will have to keep checking things to eliminate possible causes.

[szabgab]

Fuel filter is on pump intake. You have to remove pump from tank to check. Running that lean not good but you know that. Another common problem with all modern scoots is a sticking fuel tank vent valve which usually kills the engine. A partially blocked vent would also make the engine run lean without killing engine. You will have to keep checking things to eliminate possible causes.

Dear Crossbolt,  thank you for your reply.  I half suspected a blocked valve too,  so I have taken apart the fuel cap and sprayed the little ball,  spring assy and everything else inside.  The rubber seal is again hardened and the side,  where an oil seal type spring is located is detoriating.  I wanted to order a new one,  but could not find the bloody part number.  Also there is no Kymco dealer in Hungary anymore,  so everything will have to be ordered from abroad What I did not try to start the engine with the cap open,  anyway,  is that little bearing ball inside the  cap the release valve?  Also,  is the fuel filter cleanable,  or do I have to replace it with a new item?

Thanks!

[CROSSBOLT]

Not familiar with that gas cap. However, if opening that cap makes no difference in your problem then that vent is not the cause. Where are you in relation to Gyor? Peter Kapitar (Arrow76) lives in Gyor and rides a Downtown 300i, is very smart and knows some very smart people. Please keep posting each step you take in solving this problem.

[szabgab]

Not familiar with that gas cap. However, if opening that cap makes no difference in your problem then that vent is not the cause. Where are you in relation to Gyor? Peter Kapitar (Arrow76) lives in Gyor and rides a Downtown 300i, is very smart and knows some very smart people. Please keep posting each step you take in solving this problem.

Hi Crossbolt,  thanks again...  I have taken the fuel pump out of the tank,  the strainer on the bottom is black with rubbish.  I did try to clean it with carb cleaner and soaking it in kerosene,  a lot of the black stuff came out,  but it is still full.  I should havr but did not try to put the pump back in without the strainer to see,  if that helps,...  Long story short,  this cleaning did not help.  The pump is a Quantum one,  and I'm pretty sure that a lot of other bikes use this setup,  but did not succeed to find a suitable replacement filter.

The release valve in the cap is free of debris (it is as I thought a ball bearing without a spring just resting on the hole,  I guess if the pressure would build up inside,  that would push it up) ,  started the engine with it open,  it did not change a thing. Also thanks for telling me about Peter,  I will get in touch,  as I'm sure he knows,  where to source Kymco parts in these woods

[CROSSBOLT]

 

[szabgab]

OK, so I have taken the strainer out and run the engine without. It does start on 3-4 cranks after one prime, so I guess, the strainer is clogged up too, now it is sitting in acetone, as I could not find a new replacement part, just the whole shebang of the fuel pump assembly for like 500 Euros! I must say, the acetone was full of soot even after like 30 minutes, so most definitely the strainer needs a  bit of TLC. The engine seems to be running smoother, I did not have a chance to check the spark plug, as the bike did not run for long enough, but what I have noticed, that whenever I kill the engine and want to start it again, it reprimes itself every single time. Is this normal? Should the bike not hold pressure for a reasonably long time?

Thanks!

[CROSSBOLT]

Yes, that "reprime" is a function of ECU programming. Additionally, you may have the injector tested at an automotive repair station to make sure it is not plugged with any of that stuff in the screen. You may want to clean that tank. I think you are making progress!

[szabgab]

Thanks for the encouragement

I had a chance to ride the bike today for 7 miles so I could  check the plug.  It is not white but still lean,  the tip is without any residue whatsoever,  and it is metallic grey.  Given,  that the screen,  even though cleaned will somewhat restrict the flow, something else needs doing too,  I guess the next in line is the injector. If that doesn't help,  then I guess sensors.  The reason to buy an injected bike was to forgo fuel line problems,  what a naive tosser I am

[CROSSBOLT]

We all have had this happen. You are not the only one. You will have an excellent ride when you get it all sorted out. Do not quit!

[Forbes1964]

Before you replace the injector, you might want to try some Sea Foam if they sell it over there. If not, there should be something equivalent there. I used some when I had my fuel injected Xciting 250i. It was stumbling especially under hard acceleration. Treating 2 tankfuls with Sea Foam in the ratio recommend on the label seems to have done the trick. It’s worth a try. Some people treat their fuel with Sea Foam every month or so.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[szabgab]

Crossbolt - Oh no, I'm a resilient type and love my bikes even if I have to spend considerable amount of time wrenching on them (as long as it is in my garage and not on the side of the road). My wife actually thinks I rather enjoy this and the only reason, I've sold my '82 Honda CB400 was, that it was working too well already

Forbes1964 - We can't get Seafoam, but I have thought of getting a can of STP or Chevron treatment, but given, that they cost 6-7-8 USD over here and getting the injector professionally cleaned is 15 USD I have taken the injector in. Will see, how that pans out, they said, that the injector is clicking, but barely opening, so it must be full of crap.... Fingers crossed

[Stig / Major Tom]

Novice mechanic here....
"Hard to start...25,000km"
First thing comes to my mind is valves need to be checked.
Also, EFI engines are often sorted by using the serv. manual fault steps, incl. Kymco diagnostic tool ....but doubt incorrect valve lash would be uncovered by these steps.

Maybe....

Stig

[szabgab]

Novice mechanic here....
"Hard to start...25,000km"
First thing comes to my mind is valves need to be checked.
Also, EFI engines are often sorted by using the serv. manual fault steps, incl. Kymco diagnostic tool ....but doubt incorrect valve lash would be uncovered by these steps.

Maybe....

Stig

Stig, thanks for your reply... Yes, I am inexperienced, but brave, which often leads to broken parts and no skin left on fingertips Unfortunately this is an imported bike form Italy, dealers over here are known to somewhat fiddle with the odometer, so most likely this is going to be 50-70000 km... Given the state of the engine bay (extremely dirty and neglected looking) I am sure, nobody ever touched anything in there.

The valves are also on my list, unfortunately I will have to take nearly every body-cover off, to access the head, although the shop manual called for extensive break down of parts, when they were easily accessible through the cavity of the luggage box (injector for example). I do not have the Kymco diagnostic tool, which would, I am sure, unearth some interesting things (and as they are no dealers or Kymco repair centers here, it is going to be very hard to find one too).

[CROSSBOLT]

Where is the connector for the Kymco analyzer tool and what does it look like?