DESPERATE! Cant handle rain?

[Guest]

Hello, my names adam, im 16 and own a Rieju RS2 Matrix 50cc. A geared bike, made in 2007, done just over 4000 miles.

I am desperate for help ASAP, hopefully today as i plan on sorting it out saturday and sunday if someone can help me on here. I should also point out whilst i know more than the average 16 year old about bikes, im no way an expert

The problem - its a long story.

I bought the bike about a month ago, in seemingly immaculate condition other than the fact it wouldnt start on the button. The bloke had put a new battery and starter motor in and said the problem laid with the starter solenoid. It bumpstarted and ran fine. On the way home i could hear fizzing, so pulled over only to find watery substance all over the right fairing, the coolant was leaking from the lid and dripping onto the exhaust manifold then evapourating, apparently so. Until i got the lid fixed i was topping up the expansion bottle after every ride and sometimes during it, being careful to never let the bottle be completely empty.

One day at school it rained, the first since i had the bike. I went to start it after school (bumpstart) everything was fine, rode about 200m and then it started spluttering, losing power, and eventually died. Now things were strange, it would start, then find it very difficult to idle, if i revved it it would only go to around 5000 revs and then the next twist of the throttle only took it to 4000, then 2500, and so on until it died again. There was also white smoke from the exhaust. We left it at school as it was unrideable and came back the next morning, to find the same problems. So it went to the garage.

The garage said it was the head gasket becuase the coolant bottle was emptying into the engine. They tried the new head gasket 4 times, (events i wont go into) the garage took around 2 weeks to do this, until we just collected it and took it to a man to fix in his spare time. As each time the garage changed the gasket after a few hours the water had leaked back into the engine.

Today i got the bike back from the man after another week. He replaced the piston barrel and head as they were incredably warped and rubbed. This is because the thermostat wasnt connected, so i didnt know when the boke was overheating, which it must have done due to coolant problems. So this warped the head and blew the head gasket. He charge me £302.78 for parts and labour.

I rode the bike today, seemed fine although a little different. Its been running ok today. Then as i left my girfreinds house it rained VERY hard, 5 mins later it was spluttering as i was riding and losing power until it wouldnt rev above 2000 and died. Once again i can start it but it wont rev, dies, and has white smoke coming from the exhaust.

Any ideas? Is this an electrical problem (there was a slight problem after the episode today when it lost power and went funny again, but i can expand on that if i need too)? Is it due to water leaking in the top of the fuel tank? Water in the carbuetta?

Only proper symptoms i can give is that theres white smoke, and if left idling will rev once up to about 5000, then goes down and down until it dies.

Really need help please, i have the next two days to try out any solutions.

Many thanks, Adam

[Guest]

tl;dr

but basically

man up.

[Guest akey]

Nice post Chris, how about reading the guys thread

Adam, not sure it could be a number of things, the HT lead could be breaking down so in the wet you lose the spark, which would cause all the symptoms except the white smoke.

Have a look around the air filter and carb to see if there are any leaks, it might also be worth looking at the airbox to see if there is a pool of water in there most airboxes have a water trap with a vent pipe, if this is blocked you might get water sucked through (but its a long shot).

Does it run properly in the dry now?

[Guest]

Thanks Akey, well i had to leave it overnight in a Tesco car park :L but the bonus being it cant of got wet. Tried it about 30mins ago and exactly the same, sounds like its misfiring, and still the white smoke.

Now, i opened to fuel cap, to see drops of water clearly along the bottom of the cap! I think water must have got in the petrol tank through a dodgy seal around the tank. If the engine was combusting water aswell, would this produce white smoke?

Im going to drain the petrol down this morning, and replace with new stuff, then try the bike again. Like i say it starts and idles okay, but wont go above 5-6000 rpm, would this also be explained by water in the fuel? But when i put the new petrol in, wont water still be left in the tank, so should i try and flush some petrol through the tank first before i put all the new petrol in?

Finally, could this have gone further, i.e water gone into the carb, or engine, or somewhere else, if i just change the petrol si that the right thing to do.

Thanks again, Adam

[Guest akey]

Changing the petrol might be worth a go mate if you fully drain the tank it should get rid of any contaminants like water. At least you can eliminate one thing at a time and I would always start with the easiest / cheapest.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Guest]

Yep what Akey said. A logical methodical elimination if problems. Something you haven't mentioned, that is worth considering, is water in the electric.

Get some electrical grease and check all the plugs and connections, grease if necessary.

Like Akey said though, HT leads need looking at too.

[polecat]

If there is water in the fuel tank it must have got in through the cap so i would check the seal has not gone missing in the cap .

[Throttled]

I had similar issues with a car. Regular sprays of the engine, (particularly anything with a wire coming out of it) with WD40 did not cure the problems, but it helped a lot.