Taotao 125 starting issue

[Keystone478]

I got a 2017 tao tao 125 and it won't start. I put a new carb on, New plug, fresh gas and it will crank, try to start, pop and some. Smoke will. Come out of the muffler and that it.. Any ideas what I can try?

[JerryHawk250]

Valves more than likely need adjustment. Valves are probably not fully seating so you're loosing compression.

[Keystone478]

Thank you. Can you provide any guidance on how to do thie adjustments?

[dirtbkr188]

Click and use .003" for the intake and .004" for the exhaust.

[Keystone478]

Adjusted the valves and have zero compression. Do you you think replacing the head and all gaskets will help? Also, do I need to pull the entire motor to just replace the head and gaskets?

[Bruces]

Without seeing what you have ,nobody can answer that .Pull the top end and see what you are working with ,and be aware that if the top end has been melted down ,the bottom end and transmission are possibly not too far behind because they share the same oil and the metal shavings would travel throughout .But before that ,make sure you adjusted the valves correctly on the correct stroke etc. ,you wouldn’t be the first to mess that up

[TominMO]

Originally Posted by Keystone478

Adjusted the valves and have zero compression. Do you you think replacing the head and all gaskets will help? Also, do I need to pull the entire motor to just replace the head and gaskets?

Since you are new to all this, I have to ask if you are sure you adjusted the valves on the proper TDC, i.e. the compression stroke. If you adjusted them on the exhaust stroke, I could see that giving you a zero compression issue. Never heard of compression actually being zero before. Low, like 50 PSI, yes, but not zero.

If you do have to pull the head and cylinder, that should be doable with motor in the bike. This guy makes some nice videos, like these:

Cylinder head rebuild



Complete Taotao 110cc motor rebuild



If you pull the motor, here is a simple and cheap engine stand you can make: