1994 or 95 Marathon, Was running poorly now not running

[tfsherry]

Hello,

1st time poster, 1st time Gas Cart owner.

I bought a 1994 or 1995 Marathon (just a guess based on the voltage regulator and the look of the front end). Not 100% because someone seems to have removed the ID plate.

This cart went from running okay to bad to very bad in a matter of weeks. After reading up on some of the causes of sluggish behavior, I decided to clean the carb. I watched a youtube and did the whole breakdown as the guy did in the video. Not much dirt in the bowl so I cleaned what was in the bowl and sprayed a liberal amount of carburetor cleaner through it. After reassembly, I tried to turn it over in neutral and I just hear the started with no kick over (win-win-win-win). When I spray some carburetor cleaner directly into it, it kicks over like a start but then it goes back to win-win-win-win of just the started motor.

In the video the guy tests the fuel pump by feeding it back into the gas tank and using the starter motor to see how much gas flow there is. He doesn't show it on camera so I have no idea how much there's supposed to be but mine is just a bit more than dripping (small stream). Thanks for your attention!

[R3dkni9ht]

Check fuel filter... Maybe buy a new carb just to rule it out, I think they are only $20ish. Sounds like its not a spark issue if it fires when you spray starting fluid in it. But maybe check the spark and make sure its strong just to be sure.

[Cartmaster]

do you have the twin cylinder four stroke or single cylinder two stroke.

If it is the twin, it is most likely you will have to check your valve lash and set it to .004

you should see a fairly strong pulse of fuel coming out of the pump. Clean the outside of the pump and see if it has a little gold patch set in and if so clean it out with carb cleaner as it is an air filter to allow the diaphram to pulse with the engine vacuum.

[tfsherry]

Many thanks, I did get a new carb and fuel filter, that worked!

[nwocart]

Originally Posted by R3dkni9ht

Check fuel filter... Maybe buy a new carb just to rule it out, I think they are only $20ish. Sounds like its not a spark issue if it fires when you spray starting fluid in it. But maybe check the spark and make sure its strong just to be sure.

do you know where these carbs are available for $20? my local dealer had oem ones for $80 when I needed one a couple years ago.

[trig123]

I would rather have the OEM any day over the $20 ones. My 2 cents

[CP241]

Originally Posted by trig123

I would rather have the OEM any day over the $20 ones. My 2 cents

Agreed. Sometimes people get lucky and get one that works. But more often than not, it ends up just working very well to make whoever bought it chase their tail for weeks trying to figure out what is wrong with their cart, when it was the $20 carburetor all along. A $3 can of carb cleaner and some compressed air works a lot better than a $20 carb.

[alieid]

Originally Posted by tfsherry

Hello,

1st time poster, 1st time Gas Cart owner.

I bought a 1994 or 1995 Marathon (just a guess based on the voltage regulator and the look of the front end). Not 100% because someone seems to have removed the ID plate.

This cart went from running okay to bad to very bad in a matter of weeks. After reading up on some of the causes of sluggish behavior, I decided to clean the carb. I watched a youtube and did the whole breakdown as the guy did in the video. Not much dirt in the bowl so I cleaned what was in the bowl and sprayed a liberal amount of carburetor cleaner through it. After reassembly, I tried to turn it over in neutral and I just hear the started with no kick over (win-win-win-win). When I spray some carburetor cleaner directly into it, it kicks over like a start but then it goes back to win-win-win-win of just the started motor.

In the video the guy tests the fuel pump by feeding it back into the gas tank and using the starter motor to see how much gas flow there is. He doesn't show it on camera so I have no idea how much there's supposed to be but mine is just a bit more than dripping (small stream). Thanks for your attention!

Did you clean the jets as well or just the bowl? I'd be curious if it was the filter or the new carb that fixed it.

[nwocart]

Originally Posted by R3dkni9ht

Check fuel filter... Maybe buy a new carb just to rule it out, I think they are only $20ish. Sounds like its not a spark issue if it fires when you spray starting fluid in it. But maybe check the spark and make sure its strong just to be sure.

new carb from ezgo dealer was $80 for me in 2016

i dont mess with chinese knockoffs but im sure there is a $20 chinese knockoff available on ebay. personally i dont trust them but i was just giving OP a price perspective

[Dabble Inn]

Just for the point/counterpoint thing, how do we really know the dealer carb isn't actually a cheapie chinese knockoff with a nice sweet big dealer markup? I'd rather pay $80 too for a real OEM but I'd have to be convinced it is what it is first, Just sayin'