Our old scooter's engine shuts off when riding: Finding the cause & fix

The Suzuki Access is 13 years old and once switched off takes 2-3 minutes to start again.

BHPian arnav17 recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

Hey Guys,

So we have a 13-year-old Access 125 at home which is used for all daily commutes by my parents. An issue which we have observed recently has become a huge problem, which is idling.

While driving on main roads, leave the throttle for just a second and the engine goes off. This can be dangerous when you are in the centre of a 4-road intersecting point and traffic is coming from all sides and the vehicle switches off.

The worst part is that sometimes after switching it off, it doesn't switch back on in a hurry. It takes at least 2-3 minutes, pulling the choke, pushing the choke, kicking the vehicle and then it finally starts.

When the Issue surfaced, the most obvious thought came to us, which was to give it to service, as we thought that it had less engine oil. But it came back, and everything was topped up and serviced, but still, have the same issue.

We are also wondering if it has anything to do with age, as our family friend's Access 125 (roughly the same age) is also showing the same symptoms, though less severe. An Active of a relative, same age takes 10 kicks before it splutters to life.

Please give your valuable suggestions to fix this problem.

Thanks in advance.

Here's what BHPian shancz had to say on the matter:

Check the following in order:

1. Air filter: clean/change
2. Spark plug: check/change
3. Carburettor: clean/change

Since you mentioned it came back from services 1 and 2 should've been checked but I won't be surprised if they didn't do it.

On a side note, 13 years is good enough for a scooter, it's time for an upgrade if it's not a financial concern. Some good options around.

Here's what BHPian aargee had to say on the matter:

Our Activa is just 18 years young & hope it qualifies me to reply; and as (un)luck would have it, our beloved scooter has also faced the very same issue! Switches off when cold, even at operating temperature sometimes it switches off in the middle of the road or when there's no sufficient RPM.

Although I don't know what the exact problem is, our competent ASC, Didar motors, resolved the issue to more than our satisfaction. Post-service, the engine idling is as good as good old CB Unicorn & doesn't switch off now even during cold temperatures.

Our problem was, we had serviced sometime in Jul 2022 after that we had serviced only in Jan 2023. The period of issue that we had undergone started somewhere like Oct or Nov 2022. We got lazy to get it serviced due to the monsoon + clocked hardly 1200 on ODO.

My verdict is that it takes a competent mechanic to service the scooter with patience to fix this issue. Some of the possible suggestions I can provide are:

• Change the fuel line completely, air filter, engine oil, engine oil filter, fuel filter (if old Access has one), clean plugs
• Use Shell 10W30/Motul Scooter engine oil
• Clean the fuel tank & use fresh fuel
• Clean carb & replace O-Rings, if possible
• Overhaul the clutch assembly & tighten the belt

Once again, it's important that the mechanic is not just skilled but also honest; the final three points above can be an opportunity for a cunning mechanic to make excessive profits. He might provide a temporary solution to the issues, allowing you to have a smooth ride for the first few hundred kilometres before problems raise their hood again.

Here's what BHPian libranof1987 had to say on the matter:

Our Activa had a similar issue, despite regular periodic servicing throughout its life. The FNG solved it in a couple of days: while the mechanic didn't explain in detail, all he did was change the fuel tank lid (the black cap). He mentioned the old one was causing some sort of an issue regards to the air pressure in the tank.

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