I got my step son a new 125cc taotao quad, when it arrived we assembled it with the manual of pictures only, lol.

Got it all together it started one time for like 20 seconds and that was it.

& I am lost as to what the problem could be... Any help would be appreciated.

 

please, let's define "no start".
does it crank the engine over and over and not fire up?
or does it just not crank?
if it cranks, have you checked for fuel(in the float bowl of carb and to see if your spark plug is wet with gasoline)?
if it cranks, have you checked for spark at the plug?
so with your post, i'm presuming it cranks. you said it ran for 20 secs. so far, sounds like fuel delivery issues.
i'm curious if that model has the safety interlocks on it? so, just to be on the safe side, make sure the left handlebar brake lever is activated/squeezed to crank the quad.
report back results.

 

I am sorry that I wasn't more specific. I am a 25 year old female and this my first go around with an ATV. I will be proud to let you know that after research and nearly driving myself nuts last night that I got a stronger battery charger and that seemed to get my battery going. The wall charger that was sent with the ATV just didn't do the trick, I've got it started and can start now at anytime but the idle is what is worrying me now. It is REALLY LOUD and I've adjusted the idle screw.

 

if its loud all the time it could be an exhaust leak.. check if there are any holes in the exhaust or if the screws mounting the exhaust to the engine are loose. when its running check for a breeze anywhere around the exhaust, you should find it from hearing it when reving it up and down.

or maybe it is just a fast idle but you should be able to tell if its unusually fast, or an ear piercing loud.

 

I'm a little worried about this. On your new charger: At what rate does it charge your battery? Make sure that it does not exceed 2 amps charging rate. If you are using a car battery charger then most charge at a rate of ten amps or more which will eat away at your battery life.

The charger supplied with the ATV should work just fine. Perhaps it is bad (its a possibility), but another possibility is that something on your quad is sucking the battery dry faster than the normal charging rate of your external maintenance charger.

Here are the key questions:

1) How fast does the battery go dead after you've charged it up with the new charger? If your battery is dead an hour later then we need to look at other issues.

2) When you're back home and ready to hook the maintenance charger back up, unplug the main fuse and then let the charger do it's thing overnight. Does the battery seem charged - i.e. it will crank the starter motor?

3) When your quad is running with the lights off any medium fast engine speed, use a meter to measure the DC voltage at the battery on the 20 volts DC scale. What do you measure?

 

my bad, please don't take that wrong! We all started out not knowing much and didn't know to be specific. not a problem. we're all learning from each other here. now, the exhaust is loud huh? hmmm... exhaust leaks are already mentioned. at first i wondered if you meant that the idle was high and revving up on it's own like the throttle was stuck at midrange(cause you said you adjusted the idle screw). if that's the case, the slide on the throttle cable could be installed incorrectly which would cause a high idle. the idle set screw could be set at the wrong interval. behind the thumb throttle is a bolt/screw that can be adjusted for thumb throttle travel. you'll need to double check that and make sure the throttle cable returns to its normal position. if the carb was taken apart fairly recently, it is quite possible that the slide is installed incorrectly. but a really loud exhaust,hmmm...is that a factory exhaust pipe or an aftermarket? i wonder if the baffles are still in it or if it is now a straight pipe with no baffles and a removed spark arrestor? hmmmmm....

 

if the slide position is hard to understand or whatever, i can take pics of what position it needs to be in to help you out. let me know.

 

Did you try resetting the kill switch? If the kill switch has been pressed by accident, the engine will turn over but will seem dead. You have to move the red kill switch to the middle and push it IN for one second to reset it. I hear a lot of people who would never have known about this if they weren't told about it.

 

Hey guys!!
I just picked up a 125 semi auto 3 speed w reverse tao tao atv
Iv seen it start but now it doesnt... The carb overflows threw the air filter and there is no spark.... I checked the coil with a multimeter and got nothing... And i checked the wires sending current to the coil and there doesnt seem to be any current either... What else can it be?
Thanks

 

carb puking gas back to air filter= stuck float wide open. pull carb apart and clean needle valve. check for proper operation after it has been cleaned.
so with your next statement, i presume that it cranks/turns over cause you say that there is no spark. right? ok, no spark, how did you test it? have you tried a new spark plug? that's only $3. cheap fix that worked recently for a forum member. if that doesn't do it, we'll need to check the kill switches to see if they're grounding out and killing spark. key area, left handlebar area, even CDI area.