cart won't start

440mag

This is the deal. I have VC-460, it has always ran great. I was half way through a round of golf and went to take off and the cart coughed and would not start, smelled flooded. Figured it was something simple but now I can't figure it out. This is what I have checked so far. I'm baffled.


Fuel pressure is good, carb is clean
Good strong spark, the coil pack is tight and has .005 clearance.
Valves are set perfect. .002 & .003
Good compression 140 psi
Valve train look good.
I have air, fuel and spark. It should run right? Nothing, it will get a back fire once in a great while.
I pulled off the flywheel, it was on the key-way so the timing has to be right.

It's like it's out of time but I have checked everything. What am I missing?
I even tried a little starting fluid and got nothing.

BGW

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raydhd

Could the exhaust system be blocked?

Skoal82

The advanced flywheel key could have sheared
Was the cough a backfire?

sho305

Check the pushrods. I would not set thet coil that close to the flywheel. Try a different plug.

440mag

I had already pulled the flywheel. Timing is good.
Pushrods are good.
I will try another plug, sparks good grounded on the head but it could be weak under compression.

440mag

I set the coil pack clearance to0 .010
I also drained the fuel and put in some fresh gas. The old fuel was a few months old but did not have any ethanol so it should have been good.

sho305

.010 should work fine, I'll just explain info I found about it:

One stock clone (dupor 390/420) lists .016" gap. Honda GX 200 to GX 390 are all .016" +/-.008 meaning you could run .024 even but low as .008 is ok. Any honda clone should run fine in this range.

Most kart racing guys run .020-.030 with stock flywheels more gap can help retard timing at high rpm (5500 and more) and rev a little better, but not that likely golf cart with stock clones will see that rpm anyway. Larger gap also reduces drag from the magnet, though doubt that matters much for GC installs either. At 0.030" and more the stock flywheel magnets may not function.

However if you ever have any play in the bearings/wear/etc you would never want the coil to contact the flywheel (boom!) and that is why I would run .015 at a minimum, unless I had some issue or reason not to. Aluminum flywheels usually recommend more gap (.030-.060) because their magnets are stronger and can actually damage the coil at small gaps. Since many of us will run over 3600rpm why risk a close gap for no reason or advantage I can find.

440mag

sho305, thanks for all the information. The cart running good again. It's is more than a little embarrassing. After all the things I had checked it was a $3 part.

So learn from sho305 and my mistake even if your spark plug is throwing a nice big spark change it anyway. Its cheap and easy.

I spent hours checking things when I could have just changed the spark plug.

sho305

I still have the stock lifan plug in my clone, it runs great so I never bothered to install the ngk I have sitting here. But I can tell you many times I have had an Asian engine get strange about plugs! Quads, my stock G9, bikes, and more. The old B&S would run any plug unless it was a mess, but other engines they look new and they don't run! But you never know, many times you just work through the possibilities until you find the problem, so glad you got it going. I been there plenty of times!

raydhd

I am like sho,I still have the stock VC plug in with over 110 hours on it with a new ngk ready if needed.