1990 Par Car Engine runs, but cart won't move

90ParCar

Hey everyone, I have a 1990 Columbia Par Car 2 stroke gas golf cart. At the end of last summer it blew both of the belts (starter belt and clutch belt). I ordered new belts, put them on and it ran again. My wife and daughter took it for about a 1/2 mile ride and parked it. When they went to leave it would start but not move.

I've checked fuel, fuel pump appears to be working and also cleaned the carb. It has spark and really good compression. It has a new battery in it, I've checked voltage at the foot switch and solenoid (there is 12.5 volts going into the solenoid, but only 11.5 coming out, I'm not sure if that is what it's supposed to read or not. I've pulled the starter/generator off and checked the brushes, they are good. I've jacked the back end up off the ground and checked the brake hub/axle for sheared splines. That all appears to be good, when I move one wheel by hand the other one moves the opposite direction, so I'm lead to believe that is all good. I've cleaned the grounds. I've pulled the driven clutch off and replaced the spring as it was broken, everything else looked good. I have not pulled off the primary clutch yet.

Has anyone else come across this? I'm about to go crazy trying to figure this out. When I push the gas pedal it starts up but it acts like it doesn't rev high enough to move the cart or engage the primary clutch.

BGW

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backyard

Does the engine run at idle and not rev up at all, or does the engine rev up good and nothing happens? I'm confused at what your describing in your post.

Jack the rear wheels off the ground and see what happens.

Some primary clutches will lock themselves up if they are spun without a belt on them. If yours did that, then your basically stuck in high gear. Does it look like the clutch is drawn all the way in?

90ParCar

The engine runs at idle, it stays at a constant speed, doesn't seem like it is revving up. When I push the gas pedal (with the wheels off the ground) the wheels barely turn.

I've been suspecting the primary as of late as it's the last thing I haven't touched yet. It's possible when the belts snapped that it would have been ran for a little bit yet as some friends of mine had it at the time.

The primary appears to be drawn in all of the way, however it doesn't look to me like it is opening up when I press the gas???

Lochlin

Are you sure the engine is actually running or is the starter turning the engine thus making it seem like it's running? Reason why I ask is that these carts really can't "idle" per se. The cart will move with just the starter turning the engine without the motor actually firing. A lot of people confuse this with a running motor. That the wheels barely turn when the cart is jacked up kinda makes me think only the starter is working. Is the motor / exhaust getting warm when try to you run it? Even after 30 - 60 secs that stuff should be getting warm if not hot.

A malfunctioning clutch can hold the engine back but I have never heard one malfunctioning so bad that the cart barely moves. As a simple check, just take your drive belt off and run the engine. If it still doesn't rev up then, obviously, the clutch isn't the issue. If it does rev up with the drive belt off then you have some clutch work to perform.

How are you checking spark?

90ParCar

Lochlin............you are correct. I got back to it last night, the engine isn't running, it's just the starter turning it. I pulled the clutch belt off and it does the same as before (won't rev up). The exhaust doesn't even get warm. I checked spark with a spark tester, it appeared to have good spark.

At this point it seems as thought it wouldn't be electrical as the starter kicks in and runs??

Back to fuel/spark/compression? I'll probably grab a compression tester and see where that is at. Does anyone know what it should have for compression?

Thanks

backyard

80 psi or better, I think. If your compression is good, look at your fuel pump and carb.

90ParCar

I did just notice that the reverse "buzzer" is no longer working. Where does that come from and any chance that possibly has something to do with the issue I'm having? Possibly an electrical issue? Or will that only sound if the engine is actually running?

backyard

There should be a diode at the keyswitch. When those go bad, the buzzer quits working. You can get a replacement at RadioShack for a few dollars. Just make sure it's facing the same direction as the one you took off.

Lochlin

The buzzer will have nothing to do with anything. Most people disable those as they were annoying. These carts are loud enough on their own merits and don't need reverse buzzers adding to the noise pollution.

Gettiing spark is good. That means your circuit is good to include the expensive ignition module.

Compression is a must check. Over 90 psi is optimal but, like Backyard said, you should be ok over 80.

You have to see if your fuel delivery is ok. If your compression is ok, take your spark plug out and and pour some fuel directly into the cylinder. FIre it up and see if you get ignition for a few revolutions. If so, then your fuel pump and / or your crank seals are going bad. If the thing was running good last year it's doubtful that the seals would have gone bad that quick though. Could be an air leak in a fuel line or something too.

If it's fuel and not compression you may to put an electric pump on that. I prefer the electric pumps because they stay consistent and don't allow backflow.

gwarrior69

Mine did the exact same thing when I got it. I cleaned the carb and then had to replace the belts and secondary clutch. there are small rubber points on the clutch that were missing and completely worn down, so we replaced them all. Hope that this helps.