Hello. My name is Joe. I just bought a used TaoTao 110 ATV for my youngest son. I put a brand new battery on it, a new carburetor on it also. Charged the battery and it fired right up. My son rode it for a few minutes and it was awesome. We cranked it today and went riding. After 30 minutes it just died. We pushed it home and charged the battery. It cranked right up and ran for about 15 minutes and just died. Pushed it back to the carport and it won't fire. After it cools down it'll crank?? The only thing I've done is tie the brake safety switch wires together cause the switch was bad. I'm wondering if I didn't let the battery charge enough...I would appreciate any help!!

 

Good background info! I got a used Fushin / Fuxin 110cc 2 months ago that was made in 2007 and I brought it back to life.

From what you describe almost for sure you have an issue with that brake safety thing OR the remote starter / alarm module.

Try removing the spark plug wire out of the 90 degree boot on the spark plug and put it to the frame, crank the motor and see if you have spark.

Does the press the brake lever and make sure the brake light comes on before trying to start too - the switch corrodes and will prevent the starter from cranking.

post results.

 

Thanks so much for responding!! I did what you said.. I was mistaken..It must ot be an electrical problem.. I charged the battery fully!! My son rode it for 30 minutes.. It died...I restarted it... It idled funny and died when I gave it gas. I heard air?? I tightened the bolts holding the carburetor on cause I replaced it earlier in the week. It cranked up...ran great!! For about 30 minutes...lolol.. and died.. It'll restart but when you start hitting the gas it bogs out and dies.. It only does it after riding it for a while. I can start it up first time and it sounds awesome!! My boy rides it for a lil bit..I think it's fixed and it starts dying..but like I said will refire...but not stay running.. If youlet it cool down for about 15 minutes...It will fire back up and runfor a while then it starts all over again...It's frustrating!!! hahah.. I hope you can figure it out cause I'm lost...I've checked every wire for looseness... Switches..fuel flow...I'm stumped! Have a great day!!

 

I suspect electrical but here's some things you can do to narrow the problem down. Buy a can of starting fluid ether. Next time it stalls and don't want restart give the air filter a quick little spray it should start right up but then stalled due to lack of fuel butt if it does not start then for sure you have an electrical problem. Assuming it will not start what you will want to do is take and pull the spark plug boot or even the spark plug inside the boot spin the engine and look for spark if you don't see one then either your coil or CDI is bad and that's why I suspect the real problem is. Getting hot can take an electrical component like that which has something wrong with it and cause it to stop working and then start working once things cool down. Give those things a try and then report back. By the way, the quad that I have is from 2007 and it took a bunch of things to work out the Kinks but once I did that it runs fantastic and I run it 3 or 4 times every single day. I drive around the block so almost all on the street just for a quick thing to relax. Don't lose faith in your quad.

 

Ok.. Thanks !! I will buy some starting fluid today and give it a try. But when it dies it will spark and try to re crank. but just bog down and die when you give it gas. Its crazy!!

 

This is probably more info than you want to read but it will help others that have an ignition issue.

I'm troubleshooting this from a distance so this may be an unnecessary step. Basically, when you spray a couple of short puffs of ether on the air filter the atv should pop and restart instantly.

If as you suspect it does not start and you confirm there is no spark you should test the +/- wire connections on the coil for 12.x volts.

Now there are 4 parts that must work together:

I haven't checked your particular model but I am going to *assume* for the moment that it uses an AC (not DC) CDI - ignition module. *IF* that is the case then the following chain of evens is needed for thing to work...

1. wires between components - probably good as it is unlikely (but possible) that they would stop working when warm / hot then cool off and start working.

2. Stator generates AC power (almost all modern motorcycles and scooter work this way). Multiple wires come off the stator carrying AC power in various voltages and when measured in pairs generate AC voltage @ ~20v, 80v etc. Normally, my Fuxin 110cc atv works this way.... one pair of ac leads goes to the regulator / rectifier - the result is voltage is Regulated to 14.x volts max and rectified - AC is turned into DC - the output then goes to the battery to charge it and supply power to the ATV.

HOWEVER, very often as in my 110cc atv and probably yours ... a second pair of AC wires carrying ~ 20v AC or so goes directly to the CDI which is designed to work with AC instead of DC - my old Honda 200x ATC (Trike) the stator put out 80v which would cook any bulbs but never bothered the CDI - because it is designed to run on AC even at 80v! So if your stator has one bacd coil and it fail when it gets hot then the CDI will not get power and it would stop working until it cooled off. One moving part - magnets attached to the crank shaft induce a current as the shaft rotates - no other moving parts but it does get "warm / hot".

3. CDI - could be bad and work when cold and stop when "hot" I'm a little doubtful of this and don't know how likely this possibility is. However, the CDI has no moving parts to wear out and is not in a place where it gets very hot.

4. Coil - the coil works a follows: It gets a constant feed of 12v+ DC which builds a "powerful" magnetic field. The CDI gets a signal that the crank / piston is in place and ready for a spark and it interrupts the power for a split second causing the field to collapse which induces a high voltage spake in the secondary and sends a spark through the wire to the spark plug. The coil has no moving parts and may grow tired with age but most commonly the plastic epoxy casing may get a crack which can cause power to leak to the frame - sometimes intermittently. Inspect your coil for cracks or damage or a loose connection. I will rule out age / vibration cracks because it is new and a loose connection would probably not allow it to run for 20min then stop and run when cool.

5. Spark plug & wire - possible but unlikely to run for 20 min then totally stop. If the spark plug was "bad" and you remove it and lay the rubber boot on the engine you should see and hear a constant spark as the motor is cranked. The spark will tell you the plug & wire are good. If you really susptected the plug or wire you could remove the spark plug wire from the coil (assuming it is not glued on) an put the metal on the coil near the engine or frame and see a spark jump. But my guess is that your no spark is because the CDI is not getting power

If no spark you will want to test the AC input with a multimeter when it is running to record normal voltage and after it stops measure while the motor is being cranked - you can even do that with the run switch switched off to record the voltage when the motor is being cranked - after it dies and you retest if no / low voltage then the stator needs to be replace. If normal voltage then the CDI OR coil is bad - all three parts are cheap and farily easy to replace on chinese quads. On Name brand atv's scooters motorcycles they can get quite expensive $100 to $300 for a stator vs $18 for a chinese stator. My old 1985 ATC trike the stator cost $250 and that was 20 years ago!

Report results - it helps everyone.

 

Good grief!! Lol...It died again today...It cranked back up every time...but idles funny...you give it gas and it dies?? I tried spraying starting fluid in the air filter...it made it die?? I ordered a new cdi and coil...it should be here soon...I'll change them out...I guess I'll go ahead and buy a stator too...change it out... it has to work eventually. ..right?? Lol... but when it died I made a point to fire it back up...and it did...I checked the spark...it looked kinda weak if that makes sense... The way it sounds when it dies and you crank it back up almost sounds like an engine problem. ..but I know that isn't it..cause when it runs it is smooth...no smoke... .I'll change those three things out...see how it goes...thanks so much for your help!!

 

Your welcome. Good job saying on the problem and keeping me updated - things go so much faster this way. I know you and your son will grow to love this quad and learn a few things in the process. The basket case atv that I got from a neighbor brings me joy every day.

Good we are making great progress. It absolutely makes sense that the starting fluid caused it to die because it is clearly not getting a good spark so adding more fuel should have this exact effect.

Your observation about a "weak" spark is also consistent with a problem component having problems as it gets hot.

Ordering the stator, cdi and coil is good time saving move as it wipes out the issue. Some atv's require and inexpensive "puller" tool to aid in the removal of the stator. You could start by replacing the coil, then run it and when it dies change the cdi and stator last.

 

That would make sense... I started it back up and it was idling very rough...I sprayed the starting fluid in the air breather..it immediately died...I started it back up and the same thing. I noticed that the housing covering the stator is very very hot to the touch when it dies...and for the first time I noticed a smell...like a weird burnt smell??? But after 20 minutes of cooling off...It started right back up..smooth and he rode it for a while..lol..I sure hope you are right because I bought it so he can follow me on my ATV on lil drives and stuff..Love the moments with my kids..the coil and cdi will be here Friday...The stator Monday or Tuesday next week. I do appreciate your help..and OUTSTANDING job on the repair!! hahah

 

Good update - burning electronics smell NASTY! So that is a good sign.

Great memories for you and your son and even working through the troubleshooting too as life requires consistent effort and overcoming disappointments.

Looking forward to the new components... Take care.