What am I doing wrong? Generator won't shut off, no start. Getting headache

nmcbride23

Bought the golf cart a couple weeks ago. Did the basics, new plug, drained and added new 2 cycle, changed carb, filter, checked wiring and grounds.

After finally getting her to prime, she ran great. Had a blast with it for about 4 days. I installed new headlights, everything was perfect.

Flash forward, my husband took my daughter to the mailbox (3/4 mile) and parked by the house, a threat of rain made me go out and try to move it to the garage. It was then I got nothing. Just cranked but wouldn't turn over. Figured battery might be low, put it on a trickle charger and tried again later. Still nothing. Pulled the plug, still got spark, I am sure I have fuel as the plug was wet and I'm pretty sure I flooded it each time I tried to start it. Don't have a compression checker but it seemed low so decided to tow to the garage.

Popped belt off and towed to garage. Pulled the muffler off to see if that might be clogged but doesn't appear to be, disconnected battery and started charging again because of the number of failed started. Rechecked wiring and grounds, double checked timing, it's set at .020. Plug is gaped at .032. Timing is gaped both forward and reverse.

When I hooked everything back up and turned the key with cart in f/r the cart automatically tries to start, unsuccessfully as it doesn't turn all the way over. I figured the started solenoid was sticking and bought a close match at Autozone today.

I decided to pull the head off and check the piston and rings because of the compression issue. There is no marring what so ever. Everything looks great, but it would appear that she has swallowed two rings. I have these on order. I also installed new solenoid but after hooking it all up, now the cart runs regardless of the keys position and the gas gage goes all over when the cart is in either forward or reverse but when you depress the gas pedal, the gage drops to zero while before these issues, the gage worked.

Sorry this is so long winded. Please if anyone has any insight to why this thing is taking off on its own, I would love to hear it and also, if I've done something wrong, please correct me. I'm at a loss and want to rip my hair out.

Thanks ya'll!!.

BGW

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73eldo

The solenoid is fairly oversized for this application so they don't usually fail.

The micro switch is a more complicated device and those do fail. Besides the fairly typical switch contacts inside they have a over center spring mechanism that makes that click. The spring can break which often leaves them stuck on.

The micro switch is under the floor board close to the edge where the rear body comes down. Its roughly in line with the gas pedal. There is a round disc on a rod you can see with the body up and when you press on the gas. Its this disc that presses on the switch.

The circuit is battery-key-microswitch- then from there it Y's with one wire going to the solenoid and the other going to the ignition coil. You must have something odd going on in this section causing both issues. Even with the microswitch stuck on you should be able to control it with the key. Stuck on solenoid would do what you describe but I don't see how that would have happened from the switch issue causing no spark.

nmcbride23

Thank you for answering.

I have spark. Good spark. I believe the compression issue to be separate as I did tear apart the head and find I swallowed two rings.

I'm more concerned about the no shut off. I thought it was the solenoid. The original one was very rusty and rusted through at the top. But now that I have changed that, the problem is worse. The starter and generator shouldn't be running with the key in the off position when the cart is engaged in f/r, now trying to track down the component causing the issue without changing them all.

So you think it's the micro switch?

Could it be the ignition? Is there a safety switch under the right floor which will only allow it to run when the top is down?

Thanks

Lochlin

I have always thought of it as that the ignition switch is really only a safety / security feature so that no one can accidentally start the cart by inadvertently hitting the pedal. It doesn't start the ignition process like car keys do. It just allows the process to start when the gas pedal is depressed.

Assuming things are wired as they should be, the microswitch is really what stops / starts ignition. When you hit the gas pedal, it activates a plunger that closes the microswitch (this is all under the drivers floor). This is when the ignition process starts. Just to check to make sure no one fudged with the wiring, you may want to pull the wires off of the microswitch then turn your key on. If nothing then your switch is probably stuck closed OR, perhaps even more so, your plunger needs adjusted by simply turning it one way or the other. It's on a threaded shaft so adjusting it is simple. If it still runs when the wires are off the switch then someone monkeyed with the wiring.

There is no safety switch for body up / body down.

Compression should be 90+. If you lost a couple of rings you'll be no where near that number but, obviously, the motor will still try to run.

Does your cart have two or three rings? I think older ones only had two whereas newer ones had three.

johnny reb

you should find a micro switch for around 15-18 bucks on ebay. since you didnt specify a year here are a few diagrams to choose from note there are manuals available on this site. i just google them and it gives a link.

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