1993 DS ignition diagnosis?

[sleeper_dave]

Hi all, new here, found a lot by searching already so thanks!

I just bought a 1993 Club Car DS (gas) last night on the assumption that the engine was bad. Seller said it smoked, then it stopped making enough power to be driveable, and indicated it had 65 psi of compression. It ran and drove (slowly) so I bought it. Body is mediocre, frame looks straight, has a rear seat. Paid $1400, which I initially thought might have been too much, but...

Got it home, did my own compression test, saw 145 psi. Poured some oil in the cylinder and saw 156 psi. So rings may be a little bit tired, but it's not at all worth tearing down an engine with 145 psi. But, it's still not running right.

It'll start and run fine at part throttle. When I push the pedal down further, it dies. Cuts right out, like the ignition was killed, no sputtering. This makes me think it's ignition, although I have not verified that the spark is dying out (not sure how to do that on a running engine). It appears independent of load - will die with throttle in neutral, but will drive around at low throttle openings - so I doubt it's a fuel delivery issue. Seems RPM based.

Once I located the right components, based on searching this forum, I disconnected the ground wire from the rev limiter and that did not correct the issue.

So, this has me leaning toward the ignitor and/or coil.

Is this typical behavior for an ignitor or coil failure on these engines?

If I replace the existing parts with a 1997-up ignitor / coil combo, what has to change in the wiring? Do I have to extend the wiring from the existing ignitor to the new coil?

Is there any kind of definitive test I can do to verify what part(s) are bad? I suspect the answer is no, based on reading this forum.

Thanks!

[Jimmie]

Make sure the air filter housing and hose are intact and not leaking

[sleeper_dave]

Well I was wrong. I got an inline spark tester and checked it out. Still has spark when it dies.

I pulled the carb. I'll clean it up and it should be good to go. Needs a solenoid and an ignition switch, but those are easy.

[sleeper_dave]

Will a loose air filter cover cause it to actually die?

[sleeper_dave]

Cleaned up the carb and it runs fine now. Air filter cover was loose too, fixed that. When the tube is disconnected it definitely runs like crap.

Still smokes like hell. And it isn't charging. New voltage regulator and a can of bonami is on the way. Poured some atf in the cylinder to soak overnight. I figure it's either a stuck oil control ring or just bad seating. Hopefully the atf will unstick anything and some bonami and gas will polish up the rings and walls for me.