Honda Spree and Elite 50 Forums

Hey guys

As the title reads, my spree has sat for about a year on my balcony. Today I charged the battery, put a new spark plug in, put a little oil down the spark plug hole, and cranked and cranked and it wont start.

What should I try next? The starter only engages part of the time.


http://s42.photobucket.com/user/wr200/m ... c.mp4.html

Come on.. please?! Just need to get this running. Thanks

does the sparkplug fire?

You need to start at the start. First of all how old is the fuel in the tank, the gauge says empty, so I would look in the tank and make sure the screen is clear and fill the tank with fresh fuel. Then make sure there is oil in the oil tank maybe check the screen there too. Then open the drain screw on the floatbowl on the carb with a drain pan under the line. Then pull the vacuum line from the intake and apply a small amount of vacuum and see if fuel flows out of the carb. Cleaning the carb would be a good idea the little orifice in the float bowl that feeds the pilot jet could be gummed up with varnished up fuel. Then check for spark, check the gap should be 0.025" a new plug could help. Now I would check the water level in the battery top it up with distilled water if any cells are low. The battery may show a full charge but could be dropping down to near zero when the load of the starter is applied. Put a multimeter on the battery while tying to crank the starter see if the voltage drops a lot. Also check the air filter element and make sure its still good and not rotten. Hopes this gives a good start

Pat is right about checking fuel quality and fuel screen ( on inside of petcock) then applying vacuum to the petcock to see if fuel flowing is another great idea. Cleaning the carburetor orifices is another very important item. Cleaning the oil tank screen and priming that pump is another important step. Of course it needs to have spark. Many times the muffler needs to be cooked until clean.
In the last two years I have revived twelve old junk sprees back into perfect running condition, and every one of them needed those steps (some even more). Rust inside the fuel tank is a good indication that you will be plagued with carb problems until all rust is gone. I cut the rusty fuel tanks in two, sandblast the insides, weld the tanks back together, then coat the insides of the tanks with Kreem. I have done that so many times, it really is a shortcut to a good running spree, if the tank is rusty.
After you have done this a number of times, it becomes real easy. There are no shortcuts if you want it to run right.

Thanks!

I will try these ideas when I get home!

Well, I only had a few minutes to work on the Spree today. I put a brand new battery in and it now turns over, but wont start.

So, check these out and make sure everything is hooked up right. Also, when I pulled the lines from the petcock not a single drop of fuel came out despite there being plenty in the tank.





And shouldnt fuel be in here??

Greetings:

Sorry, Dawg, but we can't help with our keyboards. You're just going to have to start dismantling some things. Read and learn if you've never done this, or get some help.

The carb may have either molasses or Epoxy resin in it. It has to come apart for cleaning. "Charging up" an older battery might give enough juice to make a few bulbs glow, but nowhere near enough to fire up the starter. If the kickstarter isn't working, assess and repair. It's just possible the engine itself is the problem - stuck by corrosion or seized from its last ride.

Wheelman-111 wrote:Greetings:

Sorry, Dawg, but we can't help with our keyboards. You're just going to have to start dismantling some things. Read and learn if you've never done this, or get some help.

The carb may have either molasses or Epoxy resin in it. It has to come apart for cleaning. "Charging up" an older battery might give enough juice to make a few bulbs glow, but nowhere near enough to fire up the starter. If the kickstarter isn't working, assess and repair. It's just possible the engine itself is the problem - stuck by corrosion or seized from its last ride.

Wow. Gotta say, I'm shocked to see this kind of post here, and by a mod no less. With all due respect, this is the equivalent of shrugging and throwing your arms up. I don't expect anyone to fix my scooter with their keyboard but I was hoping for some suggestions which Johnnie, Pat, and Dr_Claw superbly helped me with. Thanks guys! I even printed their suggestions for use as a guide.

Anyhow, I was just hoping to add pictures and ask for some ideas and I just wanted to keep the post updated.

I'd pull the braided line from the intake that leads to the petcock and suck on the end very gently and see if fuel flow through the fuel line. You may want to pull the fuel line so the fuel can drain in to a clean container for inspection. White plastic ice cream or similar work really well you can see water and Junk that comes out. I'd let a whole bunch of fuel drain while you are there to make sure there is no water there hiding in the bottom of the tank. Then if you get fuel Flowing pop the fuel line back on the carb and do the vacuum trick on the braided line again with the drain screw opened up on the carb and see if you get fuel flow from there. If not its time to pull the carb and get a can of carb cleaner

patthesoundguy wrote:I'd pull the braided line from the intake that leads to the petcock and suck on the end very gently and see if fuel flow through the fuel line. You may want to pull the fuel line so the fuel can drain in to a clean container for inspection. White plastic ice cream or similar work really well you can see water and Junk that comes out. I'd let a whole bunch of fuel drain while you are there to make sure there is no water there hiding in the bottom of the tank. Then if you get fuel Flowing pop the fuel line back on the carb and do the vacuum trick on the braided line again with the drain screw opened up on the carb and see if you get fuel flow from there. If not its time to pull the carb and get a can of carb cleaner

I'll try that, thanks!

BTW a new battery made all the difference in the world in terms of cranking over. I can actually tell how charged the battery is by the loudness of the horn! lol It turns over pretty well but sometimes gets "Stuck". Anyhow I'll do this and update as needed.

Greetings:

Quoth Wheelman, somewhat snarkily:

Greetings:

Sorry, Dawg, but we can't help with our keyboards

Indignant Justin responds, politely:

Wow. Gotta say, I'm shocked to see this kind of post here, and by a mod no less. With all due respect, this is the equivalent of shrugging and throwing your arms up. I don't expect anyone to fix my scooter with their keyboard but I was hoping for some suggestions

Yeah, that sounded a little harsh. My apologies. Signing up for Sensitivity Class today. And refilling my Abilify. On the other hand...

"Charging up" an older battery might give enough juice to make a few bulbs glow, but nowhere near enough to fire up the starter.

Seems like a suggestion after all. This is confirmed by J:

BTW a new battery made all the difference in the world in terms of cranking over.

Well, glad it all worked out anyway. I still think you have to take more off than the drain screw to get this baby purring. Why do you think the kickstarter isn't kooperating?

Wheelman-111 wrote:Greetings:

Quoth Wheelman, somewhat snarkily:

Greetings:

Sorry, Dawg, but we can't help with our keyboards

Indignant Justin responds, politely:

Wow. Gotta say, I'm shocked to see this kind of post here, and by a mod no less. With all due respect, this is the equivalent of shrugging and throwing your arms up. I don't expect anyone to fix my scooter with their keyboard but I was hoping for some suggestions

Yeah, that sounded a little harsh. My apologies. Signing up for Sensitivity Class today. And refilling my Abilify. On the other hand...

"Charging up" an older battery might give enough juice to make a few bulbs glow, but nowhere near enough to fire up the starter.

Seems like a suggestion after all. This is confirmed by J:

BTW a new battery made all the difference in the world in terms of cranking over.

Well, glad it all worked out anyway. I still think you have to take more off than the drain screw to get this baby purring. Why do you think the kickstarter isn't kooperating?

Its all good.
I'm working another 10 hour day but when I get home tonight I'll put these suggestions to use. Oh, and the kick starter.. well sometimes it has a lot of free play when I kick it down. And it doesn't return up to the start position after being kicked down. I have to kick it back up. And I have to kick it *really* hard. I hope the engine is ok.

Greetings:

The foot starter is pretty tough, but sadly Honda and many others had to go call it a "KICK"-Starter. Really it's more a "Carefully-Move-the-Lever-Down-and-Engage-the-Spindle-Teeth-with-Those-of-the-Outer-Pulley-then-Firmly-and-Swiftly-Depress-the-Lever"-Starter. I guess that last name never caught on... Persons hap-hazardly kicking on it will be cited for Scooter Abuse and suffer premature wear on all its few critical surfaces. That along with Chronos, Corrosion, and Crud conspire to cause Kickstarter Congealing.

Dismantle-age: You don't have to remove the starter lever - and shouldn't at first. There are a handful of 8mm hex bolts holding the cover on. Remove them and it's - ahem - "Easy" to detach the cover from the crank case. (At least if you define "easy" as a 20-minute session of prying with screwdrivers and cussing because you trashed the IMPORTANT-for-CLEARANCE gasket.) There should be 2 or more steel" locating dowels" that like to Galvanically corrode and further bond the cover to the cases. Don't lose them, if they do happen to fall out.

Several posts on dismantling the kicker mechanism for clean-and -lube can be found here, along with the Service Manual with its clear-as-mud pictures of the process. Sometimes a wire brush and thick slathering of grease will remedy the issue(s). Sometimes the parts are too worn out and need to be replaced. It sounds like the starter lever, and not the engine itself, is sticking. That's a good thing. Stop kicking and start fixing.

Justin80 wrote:

patthesoundguy wrote:I'd pull the braided line from the intake that leads to the petcock and suck on the end very gently and see if fuel flow through the fuel line. You may want to pull the fuel line so the fuel can drain in to a clean container for inspection. White plastic ice cream or similar work really well you can see water and Junk that comes out. I'd let a whole bunch of fuel drain while you are there to make sure there is no water there hiding in the bottom of the tank. Then if you get fuel Flowing pop the fuel line back on the carb and do the vacuum trick on the braided line again with the drain screw opened up on the carb and see if you get fuel flow from there. If not its time to pull the carb and get a can of carb cleaner

I'll try that, thanks!

BTW a new battery made all the difference in the world in terms of cranking over. I can actually tell how charged the battery is by the loudness of the horn! lol It turns over pretty well but sometimes gets "Stuck". Anyhow I'll do this and update as needed.

How does it stick? Does the motor cease to turn over after cranking it over after a period of time? Or is the starter sound like its getting stuck somehow. Wheelman is right the cover needs to come off. I wonder if the grease on the starter gear where it spins in the case is all dried up and crusty. When that happens the little space between the pin and the hole it spins is gone making the starter gear very tight budget n the holes. When you pull the side cover the starter gear is towards the front of the motor it may fall out when you pull the cove clean the both ends with some scotch brite and put a little tiny bit of grease on eitherend when you rreassemble. You are going to have to service the kick start so might as well service the electric start while you are there