Buddy dash lights dimming and weak acceleration - HELP

[Rockbuddy]

I've been dealing with this problem for months now and still no fixes - even after visits to three dealers. Rode my 2015 Buddy 125cc through beginning of winter without any problems. Had to drive home in snow one night and after sliding through patch of snow (no crash), after one mile, scooter power slowly went down, had tough time accelerating and then stalled. Over next month, it would start to cough/putter unexpectedly and sometimes suddenly fall in speed from 55mph to idle - would be hard to accelerate until letting rest. Now, after some fixes, it still sometimes stalls out in idle unless I give it some gas and feels like there's a drag through acceleration.

First mechanic said spark plug issue - false. Next one said bad batch of fuel and I had oil in fuel line. Cleaned out and it doesn't stall at high speeds (thankfully), but it feels week and still potentially stalls (especially in the cold) during idle. Dash and headlights dim slowly and idle gas goes to a slow putter. He says the carb is fine and it's just the cold - but I was driving (for better or worse) in freezing cold temps in December/January and this NEVER happened. Something's wrong. HELP! I want my old buddy character back!

[Clydeo]

I am certainly no mechanic, but based on my own experiences over the years, you might want to check the following things:

-are the vents in the gas cap blocked? If they are, then a vacuum can form in your gas tank, causing fuel starvation/stalling.

- is you battery fully charged? Cold weather usually discourages long trips, causing the battery to discharge over time. The bike depends on the battery to run at low idle speeds, and under certain circumstances insufficient juice in the battery will result in stalling.

- how long are you letting your bike warm up before riding it? If the engine is not properly warmed up on a carbureted engine, it cdan result in stalling. That seems unlikely as it wasn't stalling in February, but it is a possibility.

- have you checked for water in the float valve bowl?

- when was the last time you adjusted your valves?

Those are all easy things to check for that you can fix yourself. If none of those work, try another scooter shop. Scooters aren't all that complicated, and it shouldn't be that hard to figure out what's wrong.

[Rockbuddy]

Clydeo--

-- I can definitely check that, but I feel like the mechanics would have done this...
-- How can I check if it is fully charged? I feel like it is given that I've never done anything to deplete its energy. As I said, I was driving it in pretty cold weather during Dec./Jan. and had virtually NO problems.
-- I'm letting it warm up and run through the full warm up cycle.
-- Haven't checked for water there. Perhaps during the snow storm, when I slid, some snow/ice got in there? How would I check that?
-- And I've never adjusted my valves. Again, slight novice will all this.

Your help and suggestions are really appreciated! Just trying to figure out why on THAT night, these issues seem to have started. I have a feeling it's beyond simply being cold out (which is what the three shops tell me), since that was never an issue.

[Clydeo]

In regard to the gas cap, yeah, you would think that the mechanics would have checked that, but twice I have had friends with stalling issues that shops couldn't figure out, and in both cases the vents in the gas caps were clogged. I guess it doesn't happen all that often, so the mechanics aren't looking for it.

In regard to the battery: others know more about this than I do, but in my experience, if a bike is started using the electric starter, and is not run at speed for at least 20 minutes, more battery power is used than is replaced. In normal winter usage, I end up putting the bikes on the charger several times to maintain a proper charge. Batteries just don't work that well in Winter.

In regard to the float valve bowl: I haven't drained the float valve on my Buddy yet, but my other non-FI bikes have a little drain on them which is opened and closed using a small hex wrench. Water and other contaminants tend to collect there: the bike runs fine until it starts sucking the water/gunk out of the bowl, and the bike stutters and dies abrutptly. When I am having fuel problems, I drain the bowl first, because it is quick and easy. But I am sure the mechanic did that when he cleaned your fuel system.

If you have a Bit of mileage on the bike (a couple of thousand miles) the valves should be checked. It is unlikely that's the problem, but it's a part of thevregular maintenance. My Buddy is s 2-stroke (no valves) but most bikes require a valve check as a part of their initial servicing at less than 1000 miles. You might want to check your owners manual to see if it is due for one.

Don't let all this bother you too much. Buddy's are very easy to work on! And all of the instructions for maintaining it are free on line. I do my own service because i can't afford to pay a shop to do it. On a Buddy, that's easy! And sometimes glitches like you are experiencing just sort of disappear over time.

[Clydeo]

In regard to the gas cap, yeah, you would think that the mechanics would have checked that, but twice I have had friends with stalling issues that shops couldn't figure out, and in both cases the vents in the gas caps were clogged. I guess it doesn't happen all that often, so the mechanics aren't looking for it.

In regard to the battery: others know more about this than I do, but in my experience, if a bike is started using the electric starter, and is not run at speed for at least 20 minutes, more battery power is used than is replaced. In normal winter usage, I end up putting the bikes on the charger several times to maintain a proper charge. Batteries just don't work that well in Winter.

In regard to the float valve bowl: I haven't drained the float valve on my Buddy yet, but my other non-FI bikes have a little drain on them which is opened and closed using a small hex wrench. Water and other contaminants tend to collect there: the bike runs fine until it starts sucking the water/gunk out of the bowl, and the bike stutters and dies abrutptly. When I am having fuel problems, I drain the bowl first, because it is quick and easy. But I am sure the mechanic did that when he cleaned your fuel system.

If you have a Bit of mileage on the bike (a couple of thousand miles) the valves should be checked. It is unlikely that's the problem, but it's a part of thevregular maintenance. My Buddy is s 2-stroke (no valves) but most bikes require a valve check as a part of their initial servicing at less than 1000 miles. You might want to check your owners manual to see if it is due for one.

Don't let all this bother you too much. Buddy's are very easy to work on! And all of the instructions for maintaining it are free on line. I do my own service because i can't afford to pay a shop to do it. On a Buddy, that's easy! And sometimes glitches like you are experiencing just sort of disappear over time.

[dasscooter]

Drill a tiny hole in the top of the gas cap.

[jd]

If you're riding a scooter at 55 MPH in the snow, maybe it's just trying to save your neck by slowing down since you evidently don't.

[Rockbuddy]

Clydeo-- thank you for the help! I'll look into working on these fixes.
dasscooter-- thanks!
jd-- wasn't going THAT fast in the snow; not that crazy. But I'm NEVER driving in the snow again, I'll leave it on the street if I have to.

[paracer]

It sounds electrical to me. Do these bikes ever experience issues with the stator wearing out/cracking/etc.? It could cause a weakened charge for the ignition and lighting.

[87PGOSTAR50GUY]

Strator going out or pickup coil.

[babblefish]

Dimming lights at idle is an indication of a weak battery, as at idle, your electrical system is running off the battery. This could also potentially cause the engine to die due to not enough voltage for the ignition system. The cause for a weak battery could be due to several things;

1) the charging system has a problem (regulator, stator, or electrical connection). This is easily checked with a voltmeter on the battery. With the scooter on it's center stand (to get the rear wheel off the ground) and the engine reving at around 2,000 rpm or more, the voltmeter should show around 13.5 - 14.5 volts.

2) the cold temperatures is affecting the battery output since freezing temperatures and batteries don't get along very well. Do you store your scooter outside or in an unheated/uninsulated garage? The only real fix is to plug a battery tender onto the battery everytime you store the scooter overnight in the cold.

3) the battery is on it's way to battery heaven, or wherever it is that batteries go at the end of their life. I wouldn't expect your battery to be bad though since your scoot is only about a year old. Batteries generally last at least 4 years.

And, even though I have none experience with riding in snow since we don't have any of that white stuff around here, I've heard that a fuel additive such as Seafoam helps, especially if the gas in your area has ethanol in it. Helps keep the water (that ethanol attracts) from freezing in the fuel thereby plugging up the jets and killing the engine.

[87PGOSTAR50GUY]

Electric stratpr battery and pickup all one circuit. Dimness is or clock goin out is common as alternator in automobiles, this case would be a strator which is the alternator the pickup is concidered a voltage regulator diode in an alt.


You could also have dog sh## built up on your pulley as rust near the pickup thus making your electrical act like its recieving s shitty spark.

When alternators go bad ie (strator) it makes your vehicle feel like it died at 55mph which means after sparks cut the internal cyl fires off stored heat making it run like a diesel but silent.