The Hodaka Club Forum

Where is the condenser and what does it look like ?

Matt has provided you with very good info. Yes, your carb at a minimum, will need to be cleaned inside & out, the main jet and pilot jet pulled and cleaned extensively and all of inner passageways cleaned along with cleaning & servicing the choke assembly. You will also likely need a new bowl gasket.

Your leaking could be from the floats not being properly leveled, your float valve/needle being excessively dirty, or the float needle could be excessively worn causing the fuel to continue to flow even when the floats are positioned for the valve to shut off.

So, lots for you to do, carb wise! Grab a couple of cans of carborator cleaner and have at it. If pictures help, you can look at the parts fiche for the carb on the Hodaka-Parts website, or if you would like, I can take pictures of the carb section of my Ace manual and you can read thru that, adjusting for any differences between the Ace & the Squirt! Just let me know if that’s the route you want to go! Victor

Where would i find the condenser and what does it look like?

Where would the condenser be at? And what should i check for?

Victor that would be great if you could post the pictures for the carb build. I am going to order the 65 dollar rebuild kit when i get paid next week

Rylan, the condenser is the little aluminum cylinder mounted to the stator. This is a part of the magneto (ignition system) and to get to it, you have to remove the left-sided engine cover AND the fly wheel (rotor). There is a special tool required to remove the fly wheel. It is a tool that has absolutely no substitute and is an essential piece of kit for working on your bike. You will use it again and again. It is a $15 investment so there is some bread involved but literally nothing else will do.

Rylan,

My M94 Wombat likes to do the same thing, dump gas all over once it's sat for while with fuel in it. Usually the culprit is the float valve, it regulated the flow of gas from the tank into the float bowl to then feed the carb I fully agree that your carb needs a rebuild or at the very least a careful going over.

To address the float valve issue, here's a video I found. I do the same thing, polish the valve and seat with a Q-tip chucked in a drill and polishing compound. It doesn't take much and make sure you wash both off really well before putting them back in to service

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zlez_hdoWYk

Bev

Rylan, you are getting great assistance here!

. . . and I'm going to add a couple of details - one of which is pretty important for your mechanic's knowledge base - and the other is sort of guesstimation/procedure recommendation.

1. (The important item) . . . super-grunt tight on carb items may cause more problems than it solves. Case in point - I've seen several Mikuni's with the float bowl screw hole "ears" noticeably bent "up" toward the carb body. This commonly comes from Caterpillar D9-like torques on the float bowl screws. Over-tightening the screws can over-compress the gasket right under the screw "ear" and result in bent screw "ears" - usually all four. It is not unusual for half-century old gaskets of all ilks to be so hard that they can't possibly do their job of compressing/conforming to perform their job of sealing - and tightening fasteners more than makes sense won't fix that problem. That's what new gaskets are for. aaaannnndd over-torqueing fasteners almost always causes other problems (like bending/deforming parts).
2. Getting your timing adjusted to be somewhere close to the proper specification can be important when searching for spark. If the points are opening wayeeeeeee before (or after) the intended ignition timing point . . . the system may not be providing appropriate electrical power to create the spark. <--- that is just guestimating - but it IS just better procedurely to be sure the points are clean and timing is set approximately correctly when searching for spark. That being said, history suggests the condenser may be weak. (Which heads you toward one of the tasks almost ALL vintage bike mechanics dislike - doing the solder joint at the condenser.)

Ed

The coil i am using right now on the bike is off a ace 100 B, the guy i bought it off of had brand new parts for it but bever used them including a brand new stator and a like new magneto. I will install those along with cleaning and checking the points. Do you guys think this is a good idea worth trying?

You should take The Captains advice and clean and check breaker point gap and timing first. If that doesn't give you spark, than Clarence's suggestion of replacing the condenser is the next advisable maneuver. If you do install a new stator plate, you will have to adjust the timing anyway, so you may as well perform that task on the stator currently on the bike. Remember, chasing spark is a chore that requires a slow, step-by-step, methodical approach. It would be cool to find severely grungy points or totally out of spec timing is the only issue resulting in a no spark condition. It would be uncool to go through the task of exchanging the stator assembly when all that is wrong is severely grungy points or totally out of spec timing.

I gotcha Matt, so in order to check timing on spec and the points , i take off the magneto and stator and then its right behind that correct? And after i reach it ill upload some photos

Take the flywheel off, the points and condenser are mounted on the stator plate.

Ok thank you, i will get on that soon i hope thats only my problem

And by the way, which rebuild do i order for my carb? Whats the difference?

To check timing the flywheel would be on. To me point gap is not critical but should be close .012 to .016, the points open by the cam on the flywheel. The points can look very good and still not function. Do you have a shop manual yet? ---------------Clarence

I would suggest cleaning the points and setting the timing before tearing into it and replacing parts that may not need replacing.
To clean the points, remove the mag. Cover, rotate the flywheel until you see the points through the window in the flywheel. Use a strip of a business card, or something similar, dipped in acetone between the point contacts. If the points are corroded you may need to file them with a thin fine file. The points NEED to be clean, the slightest amount of oil or crud will cause them to not work.
After the points are clean set the point gap to about .014” when the points are at the widest open spot, near TDC. This should get the timing in the ball park. The final timing adjustment is done by adjusting the point gap so that the points start to open at the fire position. I like a “buzz box” for this.

Ok thank you! I will look into it

Which carb rebuild kit should i get?

This the owners manuel my uncle had for his motor on my dirt squirt

Rylan. You’ve not listed the parts for your carb. What size carb does your Squirt have? I know my Ace 100 has a 20mm while my Road Toads have 26mm. You have listed the incorrect bikes/carbs.

Is your bike a Model 96, with a chrome toaster tank, or a Model 01 with a red tank? The Model 96 used a VM20 carb like the Ace, while the Model 01 used a VM26 like the Road Toads & is reed valve as well.

Let us know. Victor

Well, if the page shown is your carb then it’s a VM26.” for a Model 01 Dirt Squirt. That would be the kit you need, assuming the carb set up matches the picture and has the reed valve assembly as well. Victor

The motor oh my bike came off a super rat , i have a euper rat motor on my 01 dirt squirt

Rylan,

I'm having trouble finding photos showing your complete machine . . . but as I recall it is a Model 01 Dirt Squirt chassis but it has a Model 96 Dirt Squirt engine/carb. So there will be um, "oddities" in the interface between the two models at various places on the machine -- AND you'll need to research the parts list for the proper model depending on what part is in question. The situation can be confusing because your scooter appears to be all "Dirt Squirt" . . . but it is TWO FLAVORS of Dirt Squirt.

Example: The earlier era ACE type 100cc engines with iron cylinders (which includes the Model 96 Dirt Squirt) were piston port induction with flange mount 20mm carburetors (this seems to be what you have). However, the Model 01 Dirt Squirt had a later era engine with alloy cylinder, reed valve induction, oil injection, primary kick start and a spigot mount 26mm carburetor.

Ed
PS: It is probably too late, but you don't need to remove the magneto flywheel to clean the points or set the timing. Have you purchased an Official Hodaka Workshop Manual yet? If not, you should consider it strongly.

My apologies that was the wrong owners manual for my engine, this is the correct carb and motor owners manuel for my engine not the frame. The engine is from a super rat ace100 mx , no i do not have a shop manual for my bike can you tell me what is the difference? Thanks
Rylan

Rylan that carburetor is a (VM24) part number VM2400. There is a shop manual on ebay now that covers the 90, 100, ____, and the super Rat. the Ace 90 shop manual is primary and the others are supplements. --------------Clarence