Weak Spark? G9

[KHPaint]

I bought a non-running G9 from a guy that had it for years. He bought it non-running. He was told it just needed a solenoid. He bought a new solenoid and installed it, and claimed he replaced the brushes in the gen-starter. He had the float bowl off, when I bought it. He said it "pops" when you spray starting fluid in the carb. I traded a snow plow for it hoping for an easy fix. I get it home, put a new battery in it, a new spark plug in it, got rid of the old gas and went thru the carb. (it was clean) When I turn the key on and hit the gas it will not turn the engine past the compression stroke. If I arc across the solenoid with a wrench it will turn over fine. It will occationally backfire thru the carb and "pop" over but never acually start.. If I take the belt off of the gen-starter and hit the gas pedal, it will spin for about 2 seconds before slowing to almost a stop, then starts spinning again.(is this normal?) When I take the plug out and ground it against the engine, the spark is a weak purple color. Interesting enough when I first hit the gas pedal it will have one nice blue spark, then dull purple. I am confident that the carb is clean the fuel is fresh, the exhaust is not restricted and there is plenty of compression, and I tried the plug by attaching it to my weed whip and it has a nice blue spark as many times as I cared to pull it. Before I buy a new igniter and or coil, I would like to hear some feed back on the starter thing, Sorry for the long post and probably some spelling. Thank you

[sho305]

I would check the wiring if you have an issue of it appearing to lose voltage. It is very common to have bad grounds and battery terminals on these, the frame is not really grounded for much current. Double check the neg cable on the battery/solenoid/generator for a good connection, any grounds you see like the coil ground wire, etc. Check the voltage at the gen when you start it and see if it drops more than what battery does, it should not, these don't take much power to turn even the cheapest new car battery will spin them for a long time.

Check other wiring plugs and fuses, common issue with these older carts but cheap to fix usually. I even had to file my battery clamps/posts once they looked ok but would not get a connection, they were just gray but clean. Of course make sure you have a good battery, but you only need a $40 cheap walmart special they last for many years.

Check compression, check for crack in the intake spacer (plastic part). I suppose the valve lash could be way off but odds are against it. If you check that make sure you seal that cover well or the fins will plug with leaking oil and dirt. Can check the ignition wires where they come out of block sometimes they get chaffed there. Try to find another ignitor to try if none of that works, hard to diagnose those, its the black box on the fuel tank its like a CDI and not cheap.

[KHPaint]

It was a poor ground! I took a set of jumper cables and used only the ground(black) one and went from the battery neg to a bolt on the engine. I hit the gas, and watched in total amazement as the engine turned over without a prob, and the spark was crisp and blue. I still didn`t think it would run, but after screwing in the plug and pulling out the choke for a second it was running!!!!!!!!! I took the cable off and it wouldn`t turn over. I went to the local auto store, bought a 36" ground cable hooked one end to the battey the other to the engine and I have a running gulf cart! I am so happy I cannot even explain. THANK YOU SO MUCH! This site ROCKS.

[sho305]

Bam! Nailed it, I'm glad I could help these carts can be so much fun nobody wants miss out on that.