NEwin

ok, this sounds exactly right. I'll get to work this week. Where's the best place online to find out about carb settings? My Hayne's Manual is a little vague.

All has been done. Even though the spark seemed fine, I still replaced the ignition coil, HT lead and plug out of frustration. I also replaced the air filter. And replaced the fuel. After all this we tried pushing it along in third gear. Nothing substantial happened. It sort of felt like the engine was firing very very weakly whilst it was being pushed, but it stopped the instant someone wasn't pushing it. This thing is really driving me crazy. The spark seems good, the compression is good (used a compression tester and got around 100 bar, which I'm told is correct) and the carb has been cleaned thoroughly. For some reason I'm still thinking the problem is the carb but i'm far from being an experienced mechanic. Is there any way I can test the air/fuel mix getting into the cylinder directly?

It's been sat about a year. I've already had the carb off, and given it a good clean, and that didn't help. Fuel is definitely getting to the carb, but I'm just wondering if the lack of condensation on the spark plug means that the carb isn't putting enough fuel in the incoming air?

hey guys, I've got a dt125lc mark 3 that's just not starting. I kick it over, and nothing happens at all - no misfire or ignition of any kind. I'm currently working on the theory that the issue is with the fuel not getting to the cylinder. Whenever I've kicked the engine over a few times, and then checked the spark plug after, the spark plug looks perfectly dry (there's a little moisture on the bottom end of the thread, but that looks like grease/oil) - is this normal? I would think that if enough fuel is getting to the chamber, and no ignition is taking place, then some of the petrol would condense onto the spark plug due to the compression - is that right? cheers!

hey folks, so i finally got around to getting a compression tester (i moved house recently so things have been .... hectic), and the results are ..... 100 psi. Is that good/bad/other? cheers.

ok, so we tried the bump start (in 2nd gear actually, in case that matters) and the engine did sort-of start but with almost no power, and it sounded .... pretty weak i guess. Even with the throttle at max, it didn't have enough power to pull away and as soon as we stopped pushing it, the engine died. Any ideas what this means? We're gonna get hold of a compression tester, i think, so I should be able to give more info soon....

cheers guys - I just got back from a couple of weeks in croatia so will be trying all this, this weekend. Will let you know how our (3 man) bump start goes....

ok, will try to bump start, although the nearest hill isn't really that near (especially considering I'll have to push the bike over there) so it'll probably have to wait until early next week. Is it enough to push it along the ground (will this get enough speed up)? Actually, come to think of it, how exactly do you bump start something? Do I just kick it over whilst it's in motion, or do I have to do something with the clutch? with regards to the compression, if the compression is bad, is it just a case of replacing a few gaskets, or is it gonna be something more involved? I'm just trying to determine whether it's worth buying a compression tester, or whether it's just worth assuming the compression is bad, and then doing whatever work is needed. cheers.

hey choc teapot, I can't say I know too much about things myself, but I've found to be pretty good when it comes to spares and replacements. They also have a variety of different 2 stroke oils listed. hope this helps a little!

I haven't tried a bump start - will this work even though the engine isn't igniting at all? I'll check to see if the plug is getting wet. As for the compression, I did what KirriePete suggested. I took the plug out, put my hand over the hole and kicked it a few times. I then added some oil, and did the same. As far as I could tell, nothing changed. Is there any other way of checking the compression?

nope - not a thing. no banging, no spluttering, no half-hearted running. there's not even a hint of some sort of ignition.

ok, so I checked the compression - as far as I could tell, it was the same before and after i added the oil. then I swapped out the old petrol for new, and the thing still won't run. Is it now just a case of giving the carb another clean?

yeah, I checked late last night, and the spark seemed stong and decent enough (although I don't really have a basis of comparison). any ideas?

hey, yeah, we used a multimeter lead with croc clips to make sure it was grounded, and that's when we first noticed the cracking noise, although definitely can't see much (although it was an insanely bright day so maybe that was a factor). yeah, i've got a haynes manual.

ok, as awesomely funny as this has become, does anyone have any advice that doesn't involve me getting zapped?