Help with my kinroad 150's not starting.

Posts: 20

Hello, and Happy Independance DAY,
I have been reading over the forum this past week trying to find a solution to my problems with my buggys not starting.

I run them in pretty dusty conditions and I have read that I should have been oiling my foam air filters and, i have never.

Well there has been alot of fine dust getting through (probably all the way into the engine) and I have taken the carb apart and cleaned it and there was quite a bit of dust in there. I also cleaned out the air filter box and filter and OILED it.

When I hook the carb back up, and try to crank it fuel is getting to the carb because after I turn it over a couple times and I can drain gas out of the bowl. I cleand the jets and checked the float valve for blockage.

I read on here that when I try to crank it with the gas pedal to the floor, if I pull the spark plug it should be wet with fuel and it is NOT. Is that true? The plug is a little black from previous riding but dry as a bone. I also cleaned the plug and checked for fire and it sparks good.

To me it sounds like the gas is getting to the carb but not getting to the plug to ignite.

I have never adjusted the valves and I wonder If all the dust that may have gotten in there be causing it to have just enough compression to pull gas from the petcock into the carb, but not enough compression to pull the gas from the carb into the spark plug?

THe buggys are a little over a year old and it seems that they all are getting to this same point, where they are getting harder to start and now I have 2 that wont start.

Hopefully some has some info that may help with my buggy issues .

Thank you for your time,

Noel

Posts: 20

I ended up switching out carbs for one I knew worked and it still didn't start, but the carb I cleaned out worked great on my other buggy. so I eleminated the carb being the issue.

My problem ended up being a valve adjustment . I did it and the engine fired right up and the buggy ran better than new. Good thing cause my other kinroad did the same thing a day ago, I adjusted the valves and BAM gave it a little gas and it started up and ran better than new. Now both buggies run great.

I want to contribute what I learned from my experiance to the forum.

Below are instructions for newbies and non mechanics .

I hope this will help someone be able to adjust their valves
with confidence and get back to buggying again.

Kinroad 150cc (Valve Adjustment) Instructions For Newbies!
Very Easy

Tools needed (I used)
1.) socket wrench w/8mm and 9mm sockets.
2.) Phillips screw driver
3.) needle nose pliers
4.) feeler Gauge that goes down to .003 (any auto parts store)

I got my nerve up

1.) Do always with the engine cold, I took the passenger seat out to get it out of the way.

2.) unplug coil wire from the spark plug.

3.) Clean dust and dirt off cylinder cover, unhook the hose that goes from the cylinder cover to the air filter box, and take the cylinder head cover off, which is the silver cover on the engine, right behind the passenger seat. (4 bolts)with 8mm socket. once you take out the bolts , be careful ,and easily take the cover off and set it down, rubber seal/gasket facing up so not to damage the gasket.

4.) Now take the black fan cover off (2bolts)8mm socket, and (2 phillips screws) kind of have to wiggle the cover out towards the back of the engine.

5.) Once the covers are off and the wire is off the spark plug, slowly turn the fan wheel clockwise with your hand and look at the wheel connected to the fan and you will notice a few lines engraved in the wheel. one is labeled "T", one is labeled "F", and a couple of them not labeled at all. Once you find the line labeled "T", then turn the wheel again several times and watch as the valves move.
You will notice as you turn the wheel, the top valve rocker arm moves and then the bottom valve rocker arm moves and then you can turn the wheel one more rotation and the rocker arms dont move at all.
To get the correct position of the valves before you adjust them , as soon as the top arm moves up and down, and then bottom valve rocker arm goes down and comes back up, stop turning the wheel, then look at the wheel, then slowly keep turning the wheel clockwise, and as soon as the "T" mark comes back around and aligns up with the metal point that sticks out on the engine case, stop turning the wheel. And now you are ready to adjust the valves and be in position top dead center.
(very important)or you'll be whats called (180 out) which will not be right.

6.) Once in position top dead center, on top of both rocker arms is a 9mm nut with a square head screw in the middle.
Loosen the 9mm nut with the socket, and then once the nut is loose a couple turns, use the needle nose pliers to loosen the square head screw, and once loose you can turn the screw with your fingers. back the screw out a couple turns..
Then slip the .004 feeler gauge between that screw and the top of the spring plate, then tighten the screw with your fingers until you can slide the feeler gauge back and forth between the screw and spring plate but still have some resistance. leave the gauge between the screw and spring plate, and then tighten the 9mm nut tight, but not too tight.
Once you tighten the nut check and make sure you can still slide the gauge in and out but still have resistance. If so, then slide the gauge out and do the same steps to the bottom valve rocker arm.
Once both arms are set to .004 with the feeler gauge, check it with the .006 gauge and make sure you can not slip the .006 between the screw and the spring plate. If you can, then you need to loosen the nut and tighten the screw against the .004 gauge a little bit tighter with a little more resistance. Once you cannot slip the .006 in there, then you are ready to put the covers back on, reattach the coil wire to the spark plug, try to start the engine while giving it a little throttle and BAM thats all it is and you should be riding again!

One of my buggies started right up with no throttle and the other one needed a few turns of the ignition and a little throttle before it started, but after that man do they run great now...

The suggested gap is .003 - .005 so thats why I did it to .004

Hope this helps
-Noel

Posts: 4335

glad you got them running.. nice job on the wright up

Posts: 114

Nice job Noel.

It's amazing what a difference that adjustment makes. I've got a Kinroad too, and it only took a year or so for it to fall out of adjustment. It happens gradually (by taking longer and longer to start) so it can be hard to diagnose. I thought it was a dirty carb at first also, and was shooting carb cleaner into the air intake to start the darn thing...
Little did I know that one simple adjustment and bam! the thing starts right up every time!

(A buddy of mine has 2 twisters and has never had to do the adjustment over the 3-4 years he's owned them- not sure if it's quality control or luck)

Thanks!