91 DS Intermittent start issue

[askic]

My 91 DS will start right up and run in "maintenance mode" by turning the yellow cam behind the shifter. When I reposition the cam, thus put it in to forward gear, occasionally it will not crank or start. It seems to want to and maybe turns over half a turn or less, then nothing. It sometimes seems better if I "feather" the gas pedal and hold it part way down, basically find a sweet spot, then it starts to crank over. Otherwise when fully depressed I get the partial turn over or nothing at all. I had the starter / generator rebuilt last year, replaced a throttle cable, and thats about it. It started doing this late last year and basically left us dead in a parade so we had to push it in the end. Looking to get this resolved so when we use it for events this year we aren't stuck again. I am very mechanically inclined so any help is appreciated. I can test connections and change parts just looking for some direction and a place to start. Thanks in advance! Krampus

[Mooncarter]

Weak battery and loose SG belts can cause this.

[aintgotthis]

The first thing is to make sure you have a good battery but I have seen some starter generators that have been damaged by keeping the acc pedal pressed when the starter gen can't turn over the engine. Basically what can happen is when the starter gen stalls, it builds up excessive amounts of heat very quickly. Sometimes it will raise the bars that the brushes ride on causing poor brush contact or even separate the bars going into the armature windings. The easiest way to fix these problems is to replace the starter/gen.

[Springbok]

Originally Posted by aintgotthis

The first thing is to make sure you have a good battery but I have seen some starter generators that have been damaged by keeping the acc pedal pressed when the starter gen can't turn over the engine. Basically what can happen is when the starter gen stalls, it builds up excessive amounts of heat very quickly. Sometimes it will raise the bars that the brushes ride on causing poor brush contact or even separate the bars going into the armature windings. The easiest way to fix these problems is to replace the starter/gen.

Considering that the cart consistently starts and runs just fine in maintenance mode, it probably wouldn't be an issue with his starter/gen (?)

[cmt511]

Check or replace the micro switches, i think there are 4 and they are cheap.
Check the solenoid. My 92 did something similar and ended up being the solenoid. If it is the solenoid, get oem replacement. I cross referenced mine at napa ($14 continuous duty) and the new only lasted a few weeks. Kept overheating. Get the real one, about $45.