At wits end with Club Car Carryall

[Matt Kirsch]

Fuel lines are all new. Fuel pump is new. Fuel filter has been replaced twice.

I really don't think it's the coil. If it was the coil it would either go away and come back consistently, or go away no matter what else I changed. No amount of leaving it sit makes it run again, but changing the carburetor and it fires right up. Changing the fuel pump and it fires right up. Changing a fuel line and it fires right up. That's not coil.

I ain't changing the coil again. I'll shove it off a cliff first. You can't change it the "right" way without pulling the engine, and to pull the engine you have to completely disassemble the cart!

[Cartmaster]

Ok,
Time out.
You are being assisted by two very competent members here. Please read what they are saying to you. Diagnosis of a single cylinder gas engine is simple if you go about it in the correct manner. To requote three questions you have been asked but appear not to have answered

Originally Posted by CP241

what is your compression? Have you adjusted the valves? And what happens if you spray some carb cleaner into the carb while you try and start it?

Answers to these questions would help to diagnose your problem. Remember, we are not able to be there in person, so we need you to check certain things in a certain order. We understand you are frustrated and we want to help. Work with us and we should have you up and running in no time at all.
Engines need a few things to run. We are just trying to find out which one is missing.

[Matt Kirsch]

I do not know the compression because I do not have a compression tester here and it is a 100 mile round trip to get one. It does not seem like low compression as that would make it hard to start ALL THE TIME. Nothing I've changed affects the compression, yet any time I change something the engine fires up INSTANTLY.

I have not adjusted the valves. Again, valves out of adjustment would make it hard to start ALL THE TIME, and that is just not the case.

Changing the ignitor and rev limiter doesn't affect compression. Changing the coil does not affect compression. Changing the carburetor does not affect compression. Changing the fuel pump, filter, and/or lines does not affect compression. Yet, for the most part, each time I changed anything, it fired INSTANTLY.

Nothing happens when I spray carb cleaner into the carb. Nothing ever happens when I do that to any engine. Engines do not run on carb cleaner, at least not the carb cleaner I use.

"What carb cleaner do you use?" I use whatever says "Carburetor cleaner" on the can, and is the cheapest thing on the shelf.

Believe me this is not my first rodeo with small engines. The problem I have here is this problem is not normal, and does not make any sense. I've run down all the "normal" fixes. I need ideas for "weird" problems.

[CP241]

As CM said we can’t see what you’re working on and what you’ve got in front of you.

Bottom line is… We need a baseline of what we are working with before anybody can offer anything more than “shot in the dark” guesses. It doesn’t help anybody when you respond “I replaced that part already it’s good”. I understand you’re frustrated but you need to also understand people are just trying to help. I do the same thing when I help people at work… I don’t care what you’ve done already or not done. I start from scratch every time, and many times they’ve missed something small along the way. If I had taken their word for it we would have taken a 5 minute diagnosis and chased our tails for days. Likewise I’ve stepped into vehicles they’ve torn completely apart diagnosing for days and found problems in just a few minutes. That happened to me twice yesterday…

truthfully, this is a very basic engine and there is nothing “weird” that really happens on these. This engine doesn’t even need the cart to run, it’s a wood chipper engine essentially. Spin it and it will start and run until you ground out the ignition kill circuit to the coil or run out of fuel.

I don’t know what else to suggest, except for wishing you good luck. Hope you get it going.

[Matt Kirsch]

Well, I don't know what else to tell you guys. I've answered all your questions to the best of my ability.

As you said this is a simple engine. It should be simple to troubleshoot based on the symptoms it exhibits. Unfortunately those symptoms point more to a demonic possession than a typical small engine problem. They don't make sense. I was hoping someone might recognize some idiosyncrasy in these engines rearing its ugly head.

[CP241]

It’s not demonic. It’s not possessed. It’s a very basic single cylinder engine with the most basic of carburetors. No high or low speed circuits, no idle circuit. Just a jet, an air mix screw to fine tune and a throttle plate.

Loading up the Chinese parts cannon and firing away is not troubleshooting. We’ve asked specific questions to help try and establish what you’re actually working with and you’ve only been argumentative. Again, I understand you are frustrated but I can’t help anybody diagnose anything like that so maybe somebody else can help you. I’m really trying not to be rude but maybe trying to be a little more cooperative may help