2001 CC Pioneer FE350 smoking

[Aggiesdm]

Hi, first post here on BGW. I'm new to carts, but not motors (I'm a decent weekend warrior mechanic). That being said...I'm hoping I can get some insight into my issue before I have to take it into a shop.

I recently purchased a 2001 CC Pioneer utility cart. It is a key start, Kawasaki FE350 with 930 hours on it. All appears to be original to the cart.

I bought it knowing it was blowing some white smoke, but thought I could work it out. Here is what I've done to baseline it, but its still smoking.

1. Put new Mukuni fuel pump on it
2. Changed to new oil and filter (10w-30 high mileage)
3. New spark plug -p BPR5ES. It had a BPR2ES in it
4. Checked compression - 75-80 psi - remember, this is a key start, so I think this is in line with OEM specs.
5. To note: Its starts up with minimal effort and no choke, so I feel like this should be a easy fix...I'm just not smart enough to figure it out.

Started it up and still puffing white-smoke. Seems like a fuel issue to me. The carb on it appeared to be newish, so I didn't really mess with it. Could I be getting too much gas? Should I check the carb? Anything else I should be looking at?

TIA for any suggestions.

[CP241]

Fuel smoke is usually black
Does it smell like it’s burning oil? Does it smoke all the time or just when you get on the gas or just after it’s been sitting a while? How full is the engine oil and does the oil smell like gas? What does the old spark plug look like?

[Aggiesdm]

Originally Posted by CP241

Fuel smoke is usually black
Does it smell like it’s burning oil? Does it smoke all the time or just when you get on the gas or just after it’s been sitting a while? How full is the engine oil and does the oil smell like gas? What does the old spark plug look like?

Hi! Thanks for replying.

1. Doesn't really smell like burning oil to me
2. Smokes mainly when you get on the gas. At idle its not really easy to see
3. The engine has 1.2qts (38oz) of oil in it and is brand new. I read through several post that suggested the fuel pump may be leaking down to the crankcase, so I changed everything to new and appropriate levels.
4. Old spark plug was black and fowled looking, but not really wet.
**I changed to new plug, ran it for a while and checked the plug again and it was black and covered in soot too.

I always thought fuel or coolant smoke would be white and oil would be black, but I don't have a lot of experience there. Thoughts?

The compression thing is what gets me. I kept thinking it might have a crack or a gasket leak, but the compression is still in tolerances (from what I've read) for that motor, so ???

[CP241]

If it’s a key start, then your compression is probably perfectly fine. Those have an auto compression release valve for easier starting. Because of that, until the engine reaches a certain rpm that valve basically lowers compression so when doing a compression test it will never read full compression. But if it runs good I really wouldn’t worry about that.

Generally speaking, and colors are somewhat subjective depending on who is looking at it. Everyone sees the same thing a little differently. Coolant burning is white. Oil burning is a grayish blue and fuel is black. The smell of oil burning is unmistakable.


So if it’s black and fouling then plug out like that, it sounds like it’s running pig rich to me. Is it an oem carb? I believe (and it’s been a couple years since I’ve owned a gas club car) it should be a KEIHIN carb and say keihin on the side of it. If it doesn’t have that name stamped in the side then it’s a cheesy aftermarket China carb.

Let’s see what you’re actually working with before diving too much deeper :)

[Aggiesdm]

Originally Posted by CP241

If it’s a key start, then your compression is probably perfectly fine. Those have an auto compression release valve for easier starting. Because of that, until the engine reaches a certain rpm that valve basically lowers compression so when doing a compression test it will never read full compression. But if it runs good I really wouldn’t worry about that.

Generally speaking, and colors are somewhat subjective depending on who is looking at it. Everyone sees the same thing a little differently. Coolant burning is white. Oil burning is a grayish blue and fuel is black. The smell of oil burning is unmistakable.


So if it’s black and fouling then plug out like that, it sounds like it’s running pig rich to me. Is it an oem carb? I believe (and it’s been a couple years since I’ve owned a gas club car) it should be a KEIHIN carb and say keihin on the side of it. If it doesn’t have that name stamped in the side then it’s a cheesy aftermarket China carb.

Let’s see what you’re actually working with before diving too much deeper :)

Thanks for the input. I'm suspecting carb as well. I'll dig into it and let you know this evening. It doesn't look to be very old, so I'm thinking its probably not OEM and therefore a cheap replacement. I don't think I can post pics or videos yet, but I'll try when I get some on my camera.

[Aggiesdm]

Originally Posted by CP241

If it’s a key start, then your compression is probably perfectly fine. Those have an auto compression release valve for easier starting. Because of that, until the engine reaches a certain rpm that valve basically lowers compression so when doing a compression test it will never read full compression. But if it runs good I really wouldn’t worry about that.

Generally speaking, and colors are somewhat subjective depending on who is looking at it. Everyone sees the same thing a little differently. Coolant burning is white. Oil burning is a grayish blue and fuel is black. The smell of oil burning is unmistakable.


So if it’s black and fouling then plug out like that, it sounds like it’s running pig rich to me. Is it an oem carb? I believe (and it’s been a couple years since I’ve owned a gas club car) it should be a KEIHIN carb and say keihin on the side of it. If it doesn’t have that name stamped in the side then it’s a cheesy aftermarket China carb.

Let’s see what you’re actually working with before diving too much deeper :)

So here we go: I went out and took the carb off and it is indeed a KEIHIN (had these numbers on the side: 32740 OH 09). I disassembled it and cleaned it well, although it was pretty clean inside and out. I pulled the plug and cleaned it as well. hooked it all back up and fired it up. Still smoking.

I'm going to attempt to post a video of the smoke so maybe you can see the color. Looks white to me.

Here is a possibility: I added 5oz of Lucas Oil Fuel treatment to the gas (approximately 6 gallons of unknown age) thinking it would stabilize it and maybe clean the carb for me. Could the additive be causing the smoking? I know Seafoam can do it, but never seen Lucas smoke, but I've also used it in much larger engines and its been more diluted.

I add the pics, but can't seem to add a *.mov video. Sorry, but its still puffing white smoke
Thoughts?

[CP241]

While the carb is out, take off the bowl. Use a new piece of fuel hose and hook it up where the fuel line goes. Turn it upside down and blow into the hose as hard as you can. No air should get through.

Flip it upright and you should be able to blow through it easily.

We want to make sure the needle is fully seated on the float. If it leaks, even a little, it will either let in extra gas or if bad enough it can flood like crazy.

Old gas probably isn’t helping. I’ve never seen a cart smoke from old gas but I’m positive it won’t be doing you any favors. Pour a little in a jar. Gas *should* be clear with maybe a blueish tint to it. If it’s yellow it’s old.

Easiest way to upload a video is to put it on YouTube and just copy/paste the link here.

[Aggiesdm]

Originally Posted by CP241

While the carb is out, take off the bowl. Use a new piece of fuel hose and hook it up where the fuel line goes. Turn it upside down and blow into the hose as hard as you can. No air should get through.

Flip it upright and you should be able to blow through it easily.

We want to make sure the needle is fully seated on the float. If it leaks, even a little, it will either let in extra gas or if bad enough it can flood like crazy.

Old gas probably isn’t helping. I’ve never seen a cart smoke from old gas but I’m positive it won’t be doing you any favors. Pour a little in a jar. Gas *should* be clear with maybe a blueish tint to it. If it’s yellow it’s old.

Easiest way to upload a video is to put it on YouTube and just copy/paste the link here.

Good advice. I'll have to take it out again to try that, but that's not a huge deal. I did take it apart, clean the bowl, the float and the needle but didn't think to check if it was seating. I'll check out the gas too. I'll report back what I find and post a video too. Thanks

[Aggiesdm]

Originally Posted by CP241

While the carb is out, take off the bowl. Use a new piece of fuel hose and hook it up where the fuel line goes. Turn it upside down and blow into the hose as hard as you can. No air should get through.

Flip it upright and you should be able to blow through it easily.

We want to make sure the needle is fully seated on the float. If it leaks, even a little, it will either let in extra gas or if bad enough it can flood like crazy.

Old gas probably isn’t helping. I’ve never seen a cart smoke from old gas but I’m positive it won’t be doing you any favors. Pour a little in a jar. Gas *should* be clear with maybe a blueish tint to it. If it’s yellow it’s old.

Easiest way to upload a video is to put it on YouTube and just copy/paste the link here.

Here is link to the video of it smoking after I cleaned the carb and put it all back together.

https://youtube.com/shorts/UXNTFlTyGs4?feature=share

[CP241]

Ok yeah, that’s blueish gray. I’d say it’s burning oil.

Try putting it in neutral and revving the engine. Does it smoke then? Does it always smoke when you’re on the gas pedal? Or only after coasting a bit does it smoke for a minute and then stop if you keep cruising at a steady pedal?