Frame is energized

[Bmay432]

I have a 2000 Ezgo work horse with no spark. I replaced the coil and plugs and it did not help. The frame is also energized with 12 volts, is that normal. Seems like the frame should not be energized.

[meimk]

I had a similar situation with a Yamaha a while back. Turned out to be a bad starter/generator sending power to ground through the case of the starter to the engine block

[Bmay432]

Did it cause the cart to not have spark?

[trig123]

Just wondering
How do you know the frame is also energized with 12 volts ? How did you test it ?
These carts were known to having grounding issues. I always run a ground to where the starter/generator mounts if I am not sure but most of the time they will not do anything when you push the pedal. Just like when starter brushes go bad.

You said yours quits firing ??

[meimk]

Originally Posted by Bmay432

Did it cause the cart to not have spark?

Yes it was brought in to me for a "does not run, no spark" condition. In this case I originally thought it might have been a bad ground situation. Tried to test/confirm by hooking a jumper up from battery ground to engine block. Turns out there was enough of a engine grounding issue that with the jumper on it would not crank anymore - blew the main fuse. So, the engine ground was weak enough it hadn't blown the fuse till I improved the ground with the jumper. Testing further with a test light I found the 12 volts + at the engine block, but only when the pedal was pushed - energizing the starter/generator by way of the solenoid and microswitch (which Yamaha calls a "stop switch"). I'll admit that one took a little while to track down.

[Fairtax4me]

Without a good ground from the frame to the battery the frame will show voltage when any electrical part is being used. This could be anything from lights, solenoid, key switch, or starter gen, etc.
Remove and clean the ground from the battery to frame as well as from the engine to frame. Replace the battery negative cable if it’s damaged or corroded.
Remove the main positive cable from the battery to solenoid and make sure it’s clean and free of damage, do the same for the supply cable from the solenoid to the starter gen.

You could have an issue in the starter gen or the solenoid, but you need to make sure all the ground connections are clean and tight first.