1984 EZGO No Spark

[70ss496]

Hi, new to the forum. I've got two older golf carts, one of which I just bought. It's a 1984 Gas Ezgo. I bought it needing a little work. It runs intermittently.

Here's my symptoms...I have fuel, but no spark. I can get it to run sometimes when we are pushing it. It will run for a while then quit, maybe 1000 feet or so. Then it will just go back to turning over.

When it does start we've pushed it for a while with someone holding down on the gas pedal letting it turn over. When it quits, it has absolutely no spark!

Any ideas?? Would like to know what to troubleshoot next.

Thanks in advance

Matt

[Dave Box]

Hello and welcome to BGW,

Here is what I would do to your cart.

Check the main ground, this is quite a common issue. Follow the battery negative to the ground point on the frame. Remove the nut and the cables and clean the chassis to bare metal, also clean the cable lugs. Reassemble making sure that the cable to the engine block is clean at the block end. If this cable is not adequately grounding the block then the engine will find any ground it can (like the choke cable) and this will cause your symptoms.

Does the engine now run? If not I would next check the coil. Remove the low tension wires and measure for ohms between the 12 volt connector and the negative, you should see a few ohms. Now pull the plug lead off and measure between the end of the lead and the negative. You should see considerably more ohms. Replace the low tension wires and make sure that you have good connections and 12 volts when the throttle is pressed.

Does the cart run? If not replace the HT lead and the plug. The HT lead unscrews from the coil. It is common to have some corrosion in there so hit it with some WD40 before you screw the new lead in.

Does the cart run? If not look for the output from the pulsar, it is a red and blue set of wires and you will find a connector that you will need to snap apart. With your ohm meter look back into the pulsar for a reading of 75 to 140 (ish) ohms. Also check that neither wire is shorting to ground (this was the solution to my problem with an 86). Also tug gently on the wires as it may be an intermittent short. With the meter now set to ac volts and on the lowest setting crank the engine. You should see some voltage (like 0.3 volts or so). If you do shoot some WD40 into the connector and snap it together.

Does the engine start? If no then we need to get serious. From you description it seems like you can get the engine to run albeit briefly. It is my experience that when the ignitor fails it fails so I don't see that as an issue. I would look for intermittent connections by gently tugging on the ignition wires to see if anything falls apart. It is possible that the wire has corroded at the crimp and the rubber sleeve is all that holds it together.

If you come to the conclusion that it is the ignitor (and there is no test procedure for that) your choices will be to buy and expensive EZGO part or to modify the ignition with the HEI kit. There is an excellent write up for the 3PG engine at the top of this section.

Good luck

Dave