September 5th, 2007

Began doing internet research on the overheating problem. Had read forum posts in the past at a popular online scooter forum, with one member posting about his issues with this problem.

During the time just before I purchased the scooter until now, this member had been accused of making the story up, and I believed what was being said based on the member's writing. However, I now had what was mentioned in earlier comments- a Pegasus that was overheating.

I posted a couple of questions in this forum, and had a number of general suggestions that involved looking rather than fixing things. At least one member, based on my descriptions of the problem, mentioned the possibility of an engine head leak causing the issue.

A member suggested that I should have changed fluids in the scooter, since this is accepted protocol with other "Chinese Scooters." I did not do this- as the manual said nothing about changing fluids. However, I did go out the next evening and purchased a coolant checker. When checked, the antifreeze floated only two balls, which said that it was weak.

This was the case despite about two liters of 50/50 mix being added since the first leaks happened. There were other recommendations, including changing the oil and crankcase oil. None of these items appear in the stock owner's manual, though members seemed to indicate it would be / should have been, good practice. Or, it should have been done prior to delivering the scooter to the customer.

Many of the members on the forum, and the owner of the forum himself, implied that these problems were partially my fault, because I purchased the scooter for a fraction of what they normally cost new, from a dealer who admitted he may go out of business.

Another member posted this: "Since you indicate that every time you get on the throttle, more coolant is purged from the system into the overflow tank, I wouldn't be surprised if your head gasket is toast, with a hole in it that allows coolant to be "blown" from the cooling system by the pressurized exhaust. Easy riding and acceleration may not force very much coolant out of the system but when you get on it, exhaust pressure really increases."