Scooterotica

Spent the weekend fitting an electronic kit (for Li crank) to my Li. Sunday it was up and running and running really nicely. Much impressed. Rode to work today and it was running really nicely. Much impressed. Bought some fuel and it stopped on the way out of the station. No spark.

Went through the check list on the AF Rayspeed site and the stator seems OK as far as I can tell. I have a spare one and the readings are similar. Which means it must be the CDI? Can they really fail within two days? Not so impressed. There's not much else it can be, is there? Don't have a spare CDI.

EddieStone wrote:Spent the weekend fitting an electronic kit (for Li crank) to my Li. Sunday it was up and running and running really nicely. Much impressed. Rode to work today and it was running really nicely. Much impressed. Bought some fuel and it stopped on the way out of the station. No spark.

Went through the check list on the AF Rayspeed site and the stator seems OK as far as I can tell. I have a spare one and the readings are similar. Which means it must be the CDI? Can they really fail within two days? Not so impressed. There's not much else it can be, is there? Don't have a spare CDI.

Anything can fail within two days,one day,in fact I've known new parts that dont even work from the get go.

It's always a good idea to purchase a spare CDI, tape I up in bubble wrap and store in the glove box as a spare. It can just be a cheap Indian one (mine was £5.99).

coaster wrote:It's always a good idea to purchase a spare CDI, tape I up in bubble wrap and store in the glove box as a spare. It can just be a cheap Indian one (mine was £5.99).

Where did you get one for £5.99? I bought a spare for £12.

When my BGM CDI died a sudden death 70km from new I replaced it on the roadside with a cheap Indian repro I had in my toolbox. It's still running 3000km later!


In iron Lambretta cylinders we trust!

Can you borrow another know working CDI to test it? There are a number of other failure points so it may yet prove to be something else.

Adam

I've ordered a CDI, which should be here tomorrow. The LT coil could be faulty, apparently, how can I test it? I have access to an electric drill to turn the engine over, a multimeter and all the skills to use it...

Have you got a copy of Sticky's manual? If so, it is all in there. If not, do a search for 'testing electronic stator' (or similar) and you should find all the info that you need... as failure of electronic kits is a very common topic and has been covered plenty of times.

Good luck getting it sorted.

Adam

PS - I have a feeling that 'testing and electronic stator' might be covered on the Scooter Restorations website too, and perhaps the Cambridge Lambretta website, possibly the MB website, and a whole host of others too.

Can something fail that quick? Yes. We did a PDI (and a bit of a tune) on a brand spanking new, out of the crate scoot. Stator failed inside one mile
Classic Indian Where do you think your cdi was made? Simon.

With the multimeter, do an ohms test. Red wire to white wire is the pickup. should read between 90 and 110. Green to white is LT coil. should read 450-550. (i may be slightly off on the margins, its all from memory.)

Sudden no spark i would think would be a very sudden failure of either. With no precursory symptoms to suggest failure, that would be pretty bad luck.

Dont miss the simple stuff though; cap, lead etc.

FYI the ohms test doesnt necessarily 100% show something is working properly; Anthony Tambs on FB is the man for talking at length about further tests with oscilloscopes by which point I get lost and give up.

Probably the CDI. maybe. maybe not.

Good luck!