wont start 1983

honkytonk13

I just bought a 1983 3 wheel e z go,it wont start,it has got good compresion,good fire,and is getting gas,i even checked the reeds an they are good-sealing off,cant figure this one out unless the mufler is stoped up or something,but i have never worked on a ezgo either.Your help is apreciated.

BGW

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BrewCityMusic

define "good" compression - you should have a minimum of around 90psi ...

Sounds like your problem could likely be a bad crank seal (or seals) - one easy test is to jack the cart so it doesn't run away on you and have an assistant press the pedal to turn it over while you spray a healthy blast of carb cleaner at the rear seal (where the crank exits the engine, between the block and the clutch) and then repeat but this time spray directly into the fan on the front of the motor - if either causes popping, starting, etc then you have a bad seal on that side (it's a $15-ish fix to replace both of them, but it's a good afternoons work if you haven't done it before)

Also, just to clarify, are you "getting gas" at the fuel pump (meaning if you pull the line to the carb and crank it over you should get a healthy pulse of fuel out of the line) - if so, when is the last time you pulled and cleaned all the jets and needle valve? These 2PG's are awful finicky when it comes to ANY kind of carb blockage, it's almost worth spending the 15 minutes to pull and clean the jets and NV even if you're getting a wet plug - that does the trick a lot more often than you would expect (providing the seals test good)

Here's a diagram with the culprit needle valve and jets circled, pull them and clean them thorughly with a good blast or 4 of carb cleaner then try it again, you might get lucky

(and as to the muffler, YES that's common but an easy test is to unbolt the headpipe from the muffler itself and try and run it, you don't need to remove anything just ensure that you have a good 1/2" gap between the two - if that fixes you up then you need to search "muffler BBQ" here in the threads and perform one - fun times! )

honkytonk13

This cart has just been rebuilt with new piston, and rings new crank bearings, and seals. I took the carb apart last night and it was clean as a pin all jets where open. I checked the compression and it was about 120 also the spark is good on the plug. I am thinking it is the muffler or the fire timing.

BrewCityMusic

Hmm .... 83 is a pulsar system, there's a *slight* chance that when they pulled it apart they replaced the pulsar all the way to one side or the other without centering it (although even then, these are so tolerant of pulsar location that it *should* still run, especially in reverse - have you tried starting it in reverse yet?) ... A FAR more likely, very common issue with rebuilds though could be your problem - if the piston was put in the wrong way around, the compression would be beautiful BUT the cart will barely run or more likely not at all... Did you do the rebuild yourself or ? as even experienced rebuilders can mix this one up, the logical piston orientation is actually 180 from where it actually needs to be for the cart to run.

(search Youtube for a 3-part series called EZGO 2pg Rebuild - the guy in the vids had the whole project done and no go, until he backed through it all and spun the piston 180 degrees - a total bummer but a common, valuable lesson learned)

Also - withthese older motors there is a propensity for new seals to not, well, SEAL unless you goober them with a little loctite when installing them - that would also give you great compression, etc but wouldn't allow the cart to run, is the plug wet after turning it over for a bit?

honkytonk13

yes,tried starting it in reverse and the plug is getting wet,hold hand over the back of carb and it gets my hand wet,I checked the fuel pump and it is strong pulses of gas,it feels like it is getting plenty of vacume,but no,im not the one that rebuilt it.Thanks for the help.

BrewCityMusic

Well - here are pretty much your options at this point if the plug is getting wet:

A) Piston is in backwards (likely if it was rebuilt by someone not entirely familiar with the 2-3pg's)

B) Key wasn't replaced in flywheel (or has worked loose/broken during reassembly), which is allowing it to spin freely (more or less) and screwing up your timing entirely

I'm sure someone (perhaps Dave) will come along and have some other ideas too, so just hang tight - don't panic just yet :)

madoc1

a quick check on whether the piston is in backwards is to pull the exhaust manifold and feel for any openings in the piston. there should be none. there will be one on the carb side.

honkytonk13

ok I will give that a try and let you know what happens

BrewCityMusic

Good call, Madoc - never thought of that (I try to learn something new everyday and you JUST cleared me to stop trying for today and go have a beer, woo HOOOO !!!!)

honkytonk13

ok,I pulled the pipe off and there is not a hole in the piston,also i pulled the side plate of motor an the pickup is set in the middle of the adjustment,i did notice some scratches in the cylinder when the piston was down,think i will go get a new compression guage in the morning a see for sure what it has.this is the 1st thing that i couldent get to hit at all.thanks for your help.