Hi Guys:

I want to start by saying that I've sucked a lot of great information from these forum threads and I really appreciate it! I decided to finally join in the hopes that I can one day help someone else that has had the same issues I have.

With that being said, here's my issue. Maybe you can think of something that I haven't already tried... This is a TaoTao 110cc that my buddy dropped off hoping I could get it fixed... (thanks pal!) Of course this started as one of those "my kid was riding it and it worked, then all of a sudden...."

I'm getting great spark, enough compression to lightly blow my finger off the spark plug hole, I cleaned the carb and jets and I'm getting fuel. However, this thing will crank and crank and never fire. Even if I spray starting fluid into the carb or into the plug hole, it doesn't even burp.

Here's what I've tried so far:
-I've replaced the coil, CDI, Regulator, starter and battery. As I say, I'm getting good spark...
-I checked all the electrical connections, fuses, kill switch, brake pedal switch, tether safety, all are in working order... otherwise I would think I wouldn't have spark.
-I adjusted the intake and exhaust valves to .006". I read that this gap should be between .005 and .009. I made the adjustments when the "T" showed up in the crank view window.
- I removed the air filter and checked to make sure the exhaust pipe wasn't plugged or have something living in there.
-I even tried rebuilding the wires to a thicker gauge going to the coil.
-I flushed out the gas tank and fuel lines and added a fuel filter.

I can ground out the plug and get spark on the cylinder head, so I'm very surprised that I'm not getting any kind of reaction when I spray a shot of ether in the hole.

I'm missing something, I just don't know what it is. The only electrical thing that I haven't replaced on this is the stator and the entire wiring harness, and I might as well order those now just in case that comes up as a fix.... spare parts are good parts right?

If you have any ideas, please let me know. I'm scratching my head here and not sure what else to check. I'm thinking about tearing into the head to check rings and pistons, but for around $200 bucks, I can get an entire new engine for this thing.

Thank you for all the help in the past that you've posted and hopefully help with this current issue.

Greg

 

Make sure the boot between the carb and the cyl. is not cracked or loose or damaged in any way. Make sure you push in on the kill switch above the starter switch it grounds the cdi on some switches I think this shuts down the ign even though it's sparking but you usually get at least a backfire though.

 

Are you sure the parts you replaced were quality replacements. Were they internet purchases??? I've used www.outsidedistributing.com parts that are available through the Marshall Distributings dealer network. Use Outsides dealer locator. Try sending back a bad part to an internet seller......it's not a fun process. Make sure those parts you bought check out as good.

 

Thanks guys for all the suggestions. The parts I got were cheap parts from motopartsmax.com. I've used them before and have never received a bad part. Not that I won't, but so far I've had good luck.

Brumbear, thanks for the suggestion of checking on the o ring and gasket on the intake tube.

I found two issues that I now need to address.
1) I found that the foot pedal security switch that I THOUGHT was good, actually had a broken wire on the inside... so when I was pushing on the pedal and trying to start, nothing was happening. This is probably why I would get spark, but the ignition wouldn't ignite. For now, I just connected the two wires to trick the ignition to fire so I can try and get this thing running.

While checking the O ring and taking the carb and stuff out, I found two thin pieces of metal laying in between the cylinder and head. As I investigated further, these pieces were actually attached at the corners, but broken in the middle. I'm guessing it's part of the head gasket. When I try to fire now (with the ignition working finally) I'm getting exhaust fumes out of that crack where that gasket should be. Also probably causing lack of compression enough not to start.

So, now another week or so for a new gasket set and then we'll try it again. I'll keep you guys posted to see if that actually fixed the issue.

Thanks again for all the help!

 

In the past I have had spark plugs that would fire outside of the cylinder but would NOT fire when it was in the cylinder It drove me nuts. It was a new plug. When I tried the old plug it ran.... I am not saying this IS your problem, I am saying maybe it could be your problem... and it is easy enough to check.

Let us know

 

To the Original Poster, I have been looking for help also with my TaoTao ATV, but I think I have different model than you. I guess they are all the same, because we are in the same boat as well.

Mine is a TaoTao ATA-125F1 and does squat. What it does is crank and crank, and the choke is open, but never fires over or does anything at all. I'm not sure, but it has fuel, oil, and battery. The last time that it started was in May 2013.

What kind of oil have you put in you ATV?

I have been trying to get it started, but no such luck. DAMN IT $1200 CDN Gone to waste.

 

Toss the starting fluid in the garbage when I got my last import. After cleaning the carb several times I could not get it to fire with starting fluid no mater how much I used. I was watching the fuel line and noticed it was full of air. Got a squirt bottle and filled with fuel a couple of squirts later it would fire and stall. I could keep it running as long as I kept squirting fuel. Pulled the fuel line off put a long hose on it filled full of fuel blew into the line and fired right up. Did this a few more times but without blowing in the hose until I knew the fuel bowl was full. Hooked everything back up and fired it up. This time it was able to pull fuel through the line.
Just try using raw fuel I have never had luck with starting fluid for about 15 years

 

Hey Promagstyle you might want to look at Mikuni High Performance Carburetor; 19mm, Upgrade. (50-125cc Units) for your 125. Amazing and cheap upgrade. Talk to the guys at Outside they helped me a lot.

 

Thanks Armagh for the suggestion. When I first got the ATV, it had an autolite plug in it. I only run NGK for my 2 and 4 cycle toys, so I went to AutoZone and bought 4 of them. I constantly change back and forth just to try different plugs.

Zrock, that's a good suggestion with the fuel spray bottle. I'm going to try that. I've been using starter fluid and it usually works, but no luck this time. I'll try blowing into the fuel line just to be sure I'm not locked up anywhere. I've checked the bowl and it free flows fuel, but still no fire.

I received my new head gasket yesterday, so hopefully I can get that installed tonight and get this thing to fire. Thanks for all the great suggestions!

 

Where do I pull the fuel line and blow into it?