ClareQuilty

No, the alternator is good, as the battery has a good charge in it when tested at the shop. Its just that this charge seems to diminish after just 5-10 days. I'd like to be able to leave it for a couple of weeks at least and still be confident of it starting (I don't really like to drive cars much, preferring motorbikes, and use it only a few times a month).

I that case it needs to ridden like you stole it for about 5 kms.

Thanks VN. I have been riding it a bit, and have tried to do so with some verve. So far it is smoking a lot less, though it does still tend to be a bit smelly (to those who claim all two strokes are smelly, some of the other one's I've had aren't very much so).

Another travail of the ancient Ke-70:

This has happened to me several times after short trips of 5-10 days: I return to try to start my car at around 2-3 AM and the battery is weak. I get about one good crank out of it, and and after that it will still turn the motor slightly, but not fast enough to start it. I've then cranked away for a good 30 more seconds, and then given up.

The weird thing is the next day, two out of the three times this has happened, the car has started just fine at about three in the afternoon. (the third time I started it at night by having the security guards push it and clutch-starting it). I'm amazed that the car will start a day after the battery appeared to weak. Could it be the temperature difference? Doesn't seem like that much of a difference.

I'm considering getting a new battery as this one is about 5 years old, but hesitate to do so because of the expense, and after all the car still starts. Perhaps it could be a slow drain or something else. Its not as if the battery is dead, and when I stop by the repair shops to have it checked it has a good power (amps or whatever they're called) and is approved as 'fine' by the shop.

Not sure what your story has to do with my problem, expatoilworker, but we're all suitably impressed.

In my case it seems unlikely to be the alignment, as the car was quite smooth on the old tires, and they had no uneven wear even after ten years on the car.

As I said in the post above, the tires were, according to the dates, made in the first two months of 2011, which seems new enough to me.

...wow...this has already been 2 weeks and still no fix ??How long does it take to check the date on the tire,or even check if the tire is out of roundness...new balance in different store about 100baht/wheel ??

I just got around to checking today (sorry guys, I'm not retired with time on my hands - I work for a living as a teacher, hence too busy to be johnny-on-the-spot with internet posting, and an income so low that cheap-charlyism is a necessity).

If I found the right numbers, all four tires were made in January or February of 2011. That doesn't sound too old to me. And as I said above they're made in Indonesia. I have had them re-balanced at the shop, and they do seem to be better. For sure its not the car or the alignment - as someone pointed out above - as the 10 year old tires were in reasonable shape, did not vibrate, and had worn very evenly.

Keep in mind this car can only go about 70-80 KPH (according to the speedometer, which I doubt very much is accurate).

Fill up the autolube tank and run it for at least one tank of premix gas unless you are 100% sure auto lube is working. Previous owner may have been using premix for a reason.

I don't think its been established that the previous owner was using pre-mix, in fact I highly doubt it.

CQ,

Check or replace the air filter.

Yeah, my guy replaced the air filter and the engine or gear oil - whatever that oil is that isn't the two-stroke oil - gave everything a bit of a cleaning with gasoline, and checked all the brakes and lights and so forth.

Is the bike water or air cooled? White smoke usually is a result of a blown head gasket on a water cooled engine, if it was due to excessive 2 stroke oil in the fuel the smoke would be a blueish colour.

The bike's just a little air-cooled 105cc engine. And its possible I'm a bit off on the smoke color - so far I've only ever seen it smoke when its driving at moderate speed (40-60), so I can't really turn around and examine the smoke in detail. When you just rev the bike sitting it doesn't seem to smoke, seems like it needs a load on it.

i dont think you got your tena rebuilt for 1000baht . . . more like a top overhaul or maybe just a top servicing

It was a new cylinder.. not sure whether that is a 'rebuild' or not. Saw it come out of the box, brand new, 580 baht. In addition he did various other things that took about 3 hours - I've no idea what those things were, but they seemed to involve lots of cleaning and scraping.

Regarding the current Tena, the responses so far are interesting - I always thought that lots of smoke meant the motor was 'worn out', but maybe thats with four-strokes. Sounds like maybe this problem could be fairly minor, hopefully.

Did check, guys, and they say 'made in Indonesia' on them, and they do say 'Goodyear'.

The original price was 2,300 on these tires, marked down (literally in black magic-marker) to 1,500, and I bargained down further to 4,800 for the set.

I bought a Tena the other day, seemed to be in good shape, and it also didn't seem to smoke, but since then driving it around I've found that it smokes more that it doesn't, but it isn't consistent. The smoke is pretty copious (you know the classic mosquito-fogger two-stroke that you see once in a while) and appears the be white, the bike runs well and has plenty of power. The mechanic that I took it to for a general check-up did say there was a little oil in the exhaust, but this was before I noticed the smoke.

I should also mention that when it smokes it does smell fairly bad as well.

So, what can cause this smoking? Any ideas? Does it mean the engine was run without auto-lube two-stroke oil previously? Could it be solved by a simple 'engine rebuild'? (last time I had a Tena rebuilt it was only 1,000 baht and worked like a charm, though that bike was just weak, not smoking.. this bike is strong running, but smoking).

I'll sell you my circa 1983 Toyota Corolla Ke70 for 150,000 if you like. Its very reliable.

The tires say 'Goodyear' on them, but I have no way of knowing where they come from. I always assumed all tires came from China or some such place.

Anyway, I had them re-balanced today, and they seem a little better.

But its just another lesson - live and learn - newer is rarely an improvement. I should have kept the old tires and my hard-earned 4,800 baht.

Of course they're new tires. Brand new Goodyears. 4,800 baht is a lot of money, and after all these are small tires.

It might be for a single tire but no it isn't for an entire set of new tires be it 13 inch or not..

Wow, that's amazing. Translated into dollars, that's still something like $40/tire, which I think is pretty normal for these kind of super-econobox tires back home as well.

No offense to those who thought the tires might be used, I just thought the price made clear they weren't. I used to drive on used tires a lot back in the US, on good old $500 American V-8 sedans - those were big tires, 15 inch, and I usually paid about $10-15 for them.

Of course they're new tires. Brand new Goodyears. 4,800 baht is a lot of money, and after all these are small tires.

I finally splurged on a new set of 13 inch tires for the ancient Toyota Ke-70 last week - just 4,800 baht for all four. The technicians had kindly told me that there was nothing wrong with my old tires, which still had a bit of tread and had worn very evenly, but were ten years old.

Alas, the new tires have a vibration which transmits to the steering wheel at about 60+ kph. I doubt its the car itself, as there was no vibration with the old tires, and they were amazingly even in their 'wear pattern' - no uneven wear at all, and amazingly little wear at all for ten years on the car.

Has anyone had bad experiences with new tires in Thailand? I have some doubt that the techs fully understood the tire balancing machine, and what about the various settings of camber, 'toe', and so forth? Are they the same for all cars or individual to each model?

Any advice?

...I would have ordered new OEM style clamps with the hoses as yours have probably been replaced with aftermarket clamps. Did the mechanic at least make sure the hose connections are clean and smoothed prior to installing the new hoses? You might want to check the belts and make sure they are correct as well, and that they’re not too tight.

I'm not a mechanic, nor did I stand over him all the while he was working, so I have no way of knowing about those things.

But as of today I got a new lower hose from the second shop installed - it was a hose they had in stock, not from a KE-70, but from a KE-30! It did end up fitting, more or less - the mechanic at first weren't sure, but when finished they said it was good and was pretty much 'the same' as a KE-70 hose. The upper hose looks fine as is so won't be changing it.

Drove around all day today in the horrible heat at low in-town stop-and-go speeds and the needle never budged, so I guess all is in order.

Certainly it is true that Thailand has a significant level of price inflation every year, and this is in particular contrast to farang teacher's salaries, which in most of the country have languished at the same low approximately 30,000 baht/month for about 15 years now. It is definitely getting very difficult for teachers to live, much less save anything.

I had the very worn out belts replaced on my ancient Corolla (KE-70) the other day, and the mechanic suggested changing the old water hoses as well. I didn't realize that he did not in fact have access to correct hoses (as in those pre-made to fit the specific car), but just bought a length of soft hose and bent it himself to fit in.

As I'm sure will surprise no one, this led to a kinked hose, with presumably a reduction in flow (like when you kink your garden hose while watering the rhododendrons). I complained about this quite a bit when picking up the car, but he said that correct hoses simply weren't available. So, I took the car in to another shop with some English spoken, and they ordered (supposedly) the correct hoses from Bangkok.

So, now after a few days wait, the hoses are in, and I'll go tomorrow to have them installed. Has anyone had any experience with replacing hoses on very old cars? Is it commonplace to try to find the correctly shaped hose or just bend a piece of hose material DIY?

I have to admit that I drove the car on a hour long journey and back since the kinked hose was installed, and it performed fine - did not perceive anything irregular in the temperature gauge. Just feel frustrated - as my dad always said 'if it ain't broke don't fix it'.. I realize hoses are a maintenance item, but if you can't find the original specification, would be better to try to soldier on with the worn original, no?

I just placed a down-payment of 5,000 baht on a two story shop-house style house here in downtown Maha Sarakham a couple of months ago. The rent is 4,000 a month, which seemed pretty reasonable compared to my 2,800 baht single-room furnished apt. So I'm into the place for a couple months rent so far, but alas have not moved in as I've been shocked to discover there is no cheap second-hand furniture available in Thailand, or at least not in my area of Isaan (previously lived only in furnished apartments in Thailand).

The place contains one big living room, semi-outside kitchen, two baths and two large bedrooms, and I'm afraid to furnish it would cost something in the range of 30,000-50,000 baht for new furniture + curtains/hangers + installing hot water heater (there is already an air-conditioner). If I can't find a cheaper option I'm planning to let the place go and stay with the furnished apartment option.

Does anyone have any advice or anecdotes of their experiences in furnishing a house in Thailand? Particularly anyone on a tight budget such as a teacher?

If you google for the Honda Common Service Manual, it probably has this 'check the little round window for oil level' in it. They don't put those windows in any more as its cheaper to put a dipstick in the plastic oil cap. Not saying you bike is old or anything...

Well, it is very old, and its not a Honda, its a Kawasaki, which isn't to be found in Thailand at all anymore either. At least not the little cheap bikes like Cheers and Kazes, alas.

Anyway I don't know that the oil is really black - it just looks black in that little window. Perhaps the window is completely opaque!

You don't have a few hundred baht to fix the leak? Have you not realised that all the extra oil you are going to have to buy will cost you more than fixing it? A teacup saucer of oil every few days is quite a bad leak. What about brake pads, tyres, light bulbs etc.. do you replace those?

Yes, I do replace those.. but so far I haven't found any mechanic willing to fix the leak, so there it stands - they all just say 'its not worth it'. You know Thais, they just want everything to be brand new.

in an earier post you said it was "dripping oil like crazy " and when someone called you on it the leak has changed to a saucer sized pudde per day

which is it ? cant be both ??

Well, the latter one. The first one was a rather subjective and imprecise reaction. For sure the leak is slow enough that it is practical to consider not fixing it - probably needs to be topped up (or changed) every 2-3 months I guess.

earlier posts like " im kee niaw so i dont want to spend money fixing the oil leak " so il just put in more oil every time it leaks out ?

[leaking engine oil on the roads and not giving a rats ass about other road users or the environment ?

hopefuly engine seizes (due to lack of oil ) and you go over the hande bars and darwin will have heped us again ( som nom na )

Sounds a bit hostile! But I shall take your implied advice and make sure the oil is kept topped up so as to avoid an engine seizure. The irony is I suppose that the old bike will probably end up lasting longer because I'll have to get the oil changed so much more often!

Ever considered the dripping oil may find its way to your back tyre and cause you to have an accident, maybe fatal... Worse still, the oil you're leaving behind may cause other people to have a fatal accident!!

You should be ashamed of yourself....get it fixed ASAP !!!!!!

Rick, actually it takes about a day for a small puddle the size of say a teacup saucer to form under the bike, so the leak is quite slow. I'm sure it is a very insignificant factor on the road, and in any case every mechanic I take it too says its 'not worth fixing'.

LOL..if its solid black its time to change it !

Yeah I thought that too, but I just changed it a month or two ago, so I think thats just the way it looks in the little window. Certainly the oil in the little puddle under the bike looks quite clean.

No need to ever have more than ten grand in a bike, and I've got some good ones I only paid 5-6K for.

there are many reasons to spend more than 10 k on a bike never mind 5-6k

in fact ,there are many reasons why you should spend that much on safety gear alone

What sort of 'safety gear' are you talking about? Anyway its a moot point in my case - don't have money, so can't spend it.

I prefer the belt drive automatics ....maintenance. My wife has replaced two chains and a set of sprockets while a friend's Scoopy has even more kilometers on it and still has the original belt.

Gary....You hit the nail on the head. But don't you get tired of having to say the same message over and over again? And refuting those who would mislead those who don't know better by their completely unfounded remarks about automatics being unreliable? I know I do so here's my solution for everyone who wants to save a lot of time

But guys, every non-new automatic I've ever driven, and a very significant proportion of those I hear passing by me on the street, have a slipping, whining/squeeking drive belt. That would have to drive you mad after a while, no?

Just a quick update - the old Cheer is still running strong and still dripping oil like crazy, but I did discover how you check the oil: There's a little round window about as big as a one baht coin in the side of the engine, near the bottom. An old man showed me that there was still oil in my bike because you could see solid black in this little window.. I'm not sure what you see if its empty - metal shavings? I'd never seen a bike with a window in the engine before.