Magnum Stalling -- Check What First? By ellpee (Read 1,454 times)

[ellpee]

No updates except installing it is a real ordeal, Holes of course don't line up, so had to manufacture a bracket with angle iron, then get that bolted firmly into place so I could mount the pump to it. Incredibly small space for any kind of wrench or screwdriver, so that has been a major challenge. Almost done with that and ready to connect the in and out fuel lines and the electric, but those too are difficult due mostly to very limited working room. And to cap it all off, I did something to my knee along the way and have been wearing a brace with ice packs for three days now. So no BIG news, as in does it work, still struggling with the difficult working conditions and the extreme AZ heat by 9 AM every day. Thanks for your interest!

[ellpee]

Got everything hooked up at last and fired it up today. Two ways it could have done me dirty, leaking fuel lines (many clamps involved) or too much pressure from the electric pump, but neither happened. Started right away and runs smoothly, no carb overflow, evidently it can handle the 3-6 PSI that the new pump puts out. I still need to sacrifice a few more knuckles making sure all the various bolts are tight and the wires and hoses are zip-tied out of harm's way, but it's looking good. Also took out the OEM air box while I was at it and replaced it with a bolts-right-onto-the-carb filter, that too doesn't seem to be causing any starting problems, will see if all good once out on the road. There were two ventilation hoses dumping into the airbox, one from the engine and one from the tranny, those are now venting straight into the atmosphere, but hey, I don't live in California. (I did put a small filter on one and will do so for the other next time I get to Autozone or wherever.) So maybe, just maybe, another problem solved. Add that to the considerable list of things I've had to fix on this great and wonderful Ice Bear scooter in its first 1700 miles. Caveat emptor. Lots of others seem to be having good luck with the Magnum or its cousins, but that definitely hasn't been my experience.

[cyborg]

Holy smokes it lives!!!!!! Good job on the resolution,,,now it's time to ride!!!!

[ellpee]

Jun 26, 2018 7:08:36 GMT -6 cyborg said:

Holy smokes it lives!!!!!! Good job on the resolution,,,now it's time to ride!!!!

Yeah, want to think so. Will title and register it in AZ in a couple weeks and take it for some more serious rides, but it behaved reasonably on a short run around our private neighborhood streets this morning. Surprised so little response about ANYTHING these days on the trike forum, even from RapidJim, who used to be all over this trike stuff, especially anything Ice Bear. Hope I haven't invested in a dinosaur, although I just saw the newest Jurassic Park knock off and maybe there's even hope for dinosaur owners. Anyhow, will see what the near future brings, if crap, trust me, I'll be back here venting.

MY ICEBEAR MAGNUM SAGA AFTER ONLY 1700 miles: two replacement carbs, re-jetting for high altitude, two replacement fuel pumps, bad disc brake pads, bad enricher, brittle plastics requiring repairs almost any time removed, poor adjustment of rear drive chains etc., bad right side handlegrip, bad fasteners in general (plastic cracks, poor grommets, luggage compartment fell off in the middle of the road 2-3 times before I gave up), bad latches on both front and rear seat halves, poor airbox-to-carb connection, and above all, NOBODY, absolutely N*O*B*O*D*Y in the Tucson area, metro area of almost a million, who even wants to talk to you about anything made in China. Make your own decisions.

[2stroked]

Glad you got it up and running.

[cyborg]

Yep

[ellpee]

First big road trip today, maybe 15 miles, and scooter ran okay, but when I got back home and had it idling for awhile in the driveway to check for fuel leaks or other issues, it heated up a bit and started losing coolant. Not a freaking-out situation, but guessing a hose clamp somewhere needs to be tightened or a cheapo Chinese hose needs to be replaced. Comments from anybody who has messed around with the Magnum radiator/coolant system welcome, as pretty much everything to do with the radiator is really hard to get at on the Magnum. Felt good to be in the saddle again today, but don't want to burn out the engine somewhere for lack of coolant.

[cyborg]

Glad your back in the saddle

[ellpee]

Topped off the coolant reservoir this morning and then ran it at idle for awhile. Temp gauge, which normally stays in the range of 2-3 bars, went up to 4, or about the 11 o'clock position, but no coolant loss. Will take it on the road again and see what happens after some real driving, but hoping it was just a loose radiator cap.

(I topped off, by the way, with regular automotive antifreeze, 50/50 premix; hope that's right, didn't even think about it until afterward.)

[ellpee]

The latest: tried to take it out for a run to check on the coolant thing, but it wouldn't run at idle -- engine missing, popping sounds at the exhaust. Runs okay once above idle. Not sure if I inadvertently loosened some wire, or if it's a carb thing again. So more investigation needed; darn, got one decent run out of it and now back in the workshop. Ideas welcome. Plan to first check plug for carbon and plug wire for good, consistent spark, after that

[cyborg]

Geez Louise ,,,may have a bit of debris in the idle circuit

[ellpee]

Easy one. At one point I had drilled a small hole in the intake manifold so I could spritz in some starter fluid, and closed it off with a piece of tape. That tape had come loose, so vacuum leak in the intake. New tape -- GORILLA tape this time -- and all is well. Also no coolant overflow after a pretty good five-mile run up and down hills; temp gauge rose to third bar, or about 11 o'clock on the gauge, but in Tucson in July that came as no particular surprise. So I'll keep an eye on the coolant thing for awhile yet but all appears good. If no relapses in a couple weeks, will close out this thread.

[cyborg]

Yip de fkn yay!!!!!!! Wow that was painful,,if the gorilla tape lets go get a button plug from any parts store ,,,end of story

[crwford]

Boy if I had his luck I would quit. I have 3 Zodiac's by Ice Bear 1 has 10,000 #2 7,000 # 3 2,500 miles never had all his problems and valves never been touched I believe if it works leaves it alone and great oil 10w 40 amsoil

[ellpee]

Aug 6, 2018 11:29:37 GMT -6 crwford said:

Boy if I had his luck I would quit. I have 3 Zodiac's by Ice Bear 1 has 10,000 #2 7,000 # 3 2,500 miles never had all his problems and valves never been touched I believe if it works leaves it alone and great oil 10w 40 amsoil

Agree. You've had a much better experience. Was out on a run this morning, all seems okay aside from some rattles, need to tighten some screws and plastics I assume. But at barely 2000 miles I've had to invest a LOT of time, effort, part shopping, and general aggravation to get to this point. Okay, I'll say maybe ordering the Magnum to use at 7500' altitude may have been a bad idea. But some of the many things I've had to deal with had nothing whatsoever to do with altitude, just with poor QC and poor quality materials. So I stand by my position: avoid Chinese if you can afford it, and DEFINITELY avoid anything where there's no dealer in your town unless you yourself are a very capable small engine mechanic with lots of tools and a good home workshop.

As to "if it works leave it alone," what if it DOESN'T work? Have been tempted more than once to just send this $4500 machine to the crusher, with lots of encouragement from my wife. Only reason I haven't done so is "if it doesn't work, fix it!"