No spark EZGO commander

wendy

I am at my wit’s end (not a long journey). I have a 2002 commander 2200se with a 350 engine and no spark. It appeared to be a bad coil as the secondary coil registered ‘open’. The primary coil registered ~ 3.5 ohms on the meter, as the manual specifications provide as correct. So far I have replaced the spark plugs, the pick-up coil, the ignition coil and the igniter and the micro switch in the pedal box. I have chased every connection in the related wiring harnesses and they all check out. (Incidentally, my parts manual calls for a 27746-GO1 igniter and many suppliers state it crosses to 72562-GO1 as well as several other part numbers. I am sure the unit is the same but the harness connector is not.I removed the connectors from the two units and installed the old connector on the new unit. Loads of fun.) The new coil gives the same value on the primary and a little more resistance on the secondary (17.5k ohms; the manual lists 10.8k to 14.6k as the acceptable range. I think the increase in resistance is due to checking at the end of the spark plug wires and not at the coil 'towers', as removing the plug wires I don't think is a good idea.). After I installed the new coil, no joy. I called the supplier and they sent out a replacement right away. I installed it and no joy. It gave the same resistance readings as the first new coil so I was not surprised. I tried the old test in which the primary is energized and the circuit then broken, as if I were opening and closing a set of points, which should produce a spark. Nope. I know there is no sure way to test an igniter module but I tried this anyway. I connected my test light between the + side of the primary and the supply wire. (The igniter creates the spark by interrupting the ground path via the unit, I assume). The test light flickered while cranking, telling me that the circuit is being interrupted as it should were it producing spark. Still nothing but shade tree testing is showing all components as good. Any suggestions out there? Another question: with the older cars that used points, the ignition coil primary and secondary were attached internally and a reading from the secondary terminal (tower) to a terminal on the primary wire terminal showed a connection, usually a value of ~ 10k ohms. Obviously these coils are wired differently? Is this something to do with using a CDI unit/pulse coil instead of points? (Yes I am an old fart)

BGW

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wendy

One definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over expecting a different result. I have now wasted a ton of time and money on more newer components with the same results.

CP241

Have you checked to make sure all of your grounds are good? The plate the ignitor is mounted to must see a good ground or you'll have no spark. At least that was the case in my 01 TXT. They tend to accumulate rust between the plate and the floor underneath them. I ran a new ground wire straight from the negative battery terminal to a clean spot on that plate and never had a problem again.

I would also check to make sure the engine block, and chassis so have good solid grounds.

wendy

So far I have replaced all the wiring harness affecting the ignition system with 14 ga wire. I have tried three 'good' pulsar coils. I have grounded every component individually; the engine ground is good (large ground cable). I have tried two HEI units. I thought I fried the first one and at $11.00, what the heck, get another one. I mounted it on a piece of 3 x 3 x 3/8 aluminum. I polished the mounting face, was sure to remove the locating lugs and used the dielectric grease that came with it. I grounded the plate via the bolt hole on the HEI unit that had the brass liner and mounted the whole wretched mess on stand-offs. I don't think grounding or over-heating will be an issue, providing it ever works. I have tried two new 'stock' igniter units. I know the coil is good; with power to the coil and striking the (-) terminal as you would a match, I get spark. Ohms-wise, the present pulser coil reads in the middle of the good range (I don't remember exactly, I just remember that it was in the middle of the range). The pulser, however, produces almost no voltage when cranking. I also mounted a bus strip for power distribution. Since all the power comes through that 18 ga blue wire, I decided to up the ante. I added a relay that the blue wire triggers feeding the system power through 14 ga wiring. I just ordered a Robin (not aftermarket or used) pulser coil as it is the only component I haven't replaced as it checked out with the meter.
Thanks for the input.

wendy

After re-checking everything, I found a bad pin in the harness connector to the pulse coil. It had checked out fine earlier; maybe after un-plugging it and plugging it back together it just let go. Anyway, I replaced the connector with shielded male/female spade lugs and off we go. HOWEVER, it would only run maybe 5 minutes before stopping. It would start back up but stop significantly more quickly with each iteration. Yesterday, it gave up the ghost. Back to the barn. I checked any component I could and found nothing amiss. The coil still gives a nice fat spark when I strike a grounding wire across a ground. The pulse coil is putting out .6 volts it always has. No problem with solenoid or the microswitch in the accelerator pedal. Power is getting everywhere needed. I put in another ignition unit I had lying around, but no go.
So I tried an experiment. I put my volt meter, set on a/c, between the coil and the ignition module. 4 volts while cranking. Now I know this is not an absolute test, but it seems to me that I should get 12 volts or so, as the resistance in the primary coil is so low. I am guessing that the ground through the ignition module is faulty. Yay.
I have had this cart for quite a few years with no trouble whatsoever. Now I am ready to burn it. If I could afford a new one, I would be all over it but that is not in the cards. Any help is greatly appreciated. Incidentally, I read somewhere that the Chevy module needs 1.5 volts minimum to fire, which is probably why it would not work for me.

wendy

Could a bad regulator cause this? The only part I have not tested. (Yet).

trig123

Wendy, you can unplug the voltage regulator and the engine will still fire so no is your answer. At least I have never heard of that issue.
I just got through re-wiring one of these carts and its pretty simple. Grounding problems cause more issues that I can count.
I didn't go back and re-read your post but I will ask you ?
Did you remove the metal bracket that holds the ignitor, regulator and solenoid ?
It has to be clean and free from rust. I take a grinder and make sure I hit bare metal if I am in doubt about it making good ground.

Your braided ground cable bolts to bottom of that bracket coming from battery. From there it goes to starter end ground terminal and then to bolted with 6mm bolt ( 10 mm head ) to the coil bracket. Is yours like this ?

You should have a .5 volt ac signal when spinning over engine at the ends of pulser coil. You could very well have installed a bad new part.
Spin your engine over while sticking the end of a test light on positive side of coil. Does the test light blink or stay steady ?

wendy

Thanks for the test light tip; I will try that. The manual states that the resistance of the pulsar coil should be 433.5 - 586.5 Ω and I have yet to see one read that high. my braided ground strap goes only to the frame so I added another braided line to go to the engine. I do have a separate ground for the coil bracket.

wendy

I think my pulsar coil breaks down with heat, but not sure. I have a brand new one arriving on Monday, the seller stating that it meets factory specs for resistance.
.5 volts is an extremely poor signal, almost all electronic switching devices need around 5 volts to activate. I would dearly love to see a schematic of an igniter box.
The folks that have used the HEI units are using the stock coil with the .5 volt output? I have seen a few videos from manufacturers of pulse coils of the relatively same physical size as EZGO coils producing as high as 12 volts.
I ran a test on my lathe a few months ago with some pulsar coils, including one from a Yamaha 70 hp outboard that was almost a perfect copy. I made a bracket to mount the coils on the cross slide that would hold the coil over the perimeter of the three jaw chuck. Each of the channels for the jaws on the chuck were similar to the notch of the flywheel on the engine. With this setup, I could vary the gap between the coil and the diameter of the chuck while the lathe was running. With the EZGO coils, I got from 0 to .3 volts at the best gap. With Yamaha coil, 1.5. So that is what I put in the engine. I've had so many coils on and of that engine I had to heli-coil the mounting holes. Anyway, once installed on the engine, it put out .6 volts both at the gap established by my test and at the .030 gap.
It ran, though. Until it didn't. Once out, I am going to set this coil up in a vise, hook it to the Ohm meter and put a heat gun on it to see if it has an effect. Just to see. (Providing it does not read 'open' when I start...)
An engineer made for me a schematic to replace the igniter box that will provide a 11-12 volt signal that will open a switching device via the impulse coil signal, providing the ground path for the ignition coil so if all else fails, it will be an interesting experiment.
I am quite jealous of all of you not having to endure this odyssey.
And thank you to all that have responded.

trig123

All it takes is .5 volts AC ( that is 1/2 volt ) from the two wire on the pulser coil. You don't need anymore to make this thing work.

If you getting this then something else is the problem .