We have quite a bit of snow and freezing temps now, so I went to winterize the Buddy 125. Filled the tank with fresh gas treated with stabil. Ran the scooter about 5 min. or so. Turned it off. Went to drain the carb. and the gas just kept coming and coming. The PETCOCK is faulty--AGAIN. I replaced it a month ago because of flooding engine problems. I'm beginning to loathe the vacuum/fuel system. I don't know what to do as you can't open the petcock and fix it and I need to empty the carb.
I wish I had a simple lever to turn off gas flow as in the old Hondas back in the 70s. Any suggestions? thank you. I feel like I'm always messing with gas in bitterly cold weather. Is it just me?
Do you think warming the petcock with a hair dryer would help?
Darn faulty petcocks
Moderator: Modern Buddy Staff
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ucandoit
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PeteH
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Inline petcock: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00D9GY13O MotionPro makes good stuff.
Just add one downstream of your faulty vacuum petcock. There are a gazillion of 'em out there.
Just add one downstream of your faulty vacuum petcock. There are a gazillion of 'em out there.
Feel da rhythm! Feel da rhyme! Get on up! It's Buddy Time!
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ucandoit
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Are the vacuum petcocks often unreliable? Are many others having this problem? Do you think it's the freezing temps? I'd like to understand why they fail (esp. so soon) & wonder if it's my particular scooter. I have a new part ordered so will once again replace it, but will probably add the in-line manual one if there is room and if I can reasonably access it. Thank you for your suggestions.
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PeteH
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I think you might be out there in the 99th percentile. You won't find much here on MB about defective vacuum-operated petcocks - for almost everyone, they just seem to work without incident. The fact that you've had two bad apples puts you way out in the outlier range.
Feel da rhythm! Feel da rhyme! Get on up! It's Buddy Time!
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Tocsik
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Vacuum petcocks have advantages and disadvantages (like almost everything) and one disadvantage is the membrane can fail and cause all sorts of issues.
The vacuum petcock on the Buddy is pretty reliable. The factory vac petcock on my S40 is a known issue and most of us have replaced it with a Yamaha Raptor petcock. It decreases the amount of reserve gas just a bit and it's best to shut off the fuel supply when you aren't riding but it eliminates the problems of the rotten factory petcock.
The vacuum petcock on the Buddy is pretty reliable. The factory vac petcock on my S40 is a known issue and most of us have replaced it with a Yamaha Raptor petcock. It decreases the amount of reserve gas just a bit and it's best to shut off the fuel supply when you aren't riding but it eliminates the problems of the rotten factory petcock.
.::I know the voices in my head aren't real, but man do they come up with some great ideas::.
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ucandoit
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The mechanic at Scooterville Minneapolis kindly explained that while winterizing the scooters it is common for the petcock membrane to stick because of the freezing temps. He suggested detaching the vacuum hose and add a short hose and blow into it, which may unstick the membrane. I tried it and it didn't work, so I ended up kinking the fuel hose off and went ahead and drained the carb. Come Spring I'll see if the petcock is still sticking. If I decide on an inline manual petcock, he suggested using the little plastic ones sold for lawnmowers as the heavier metal ones will flap around while riding.