ST 350 Workhorse '01

[Wjparker1]

I have just received a St 350 from my dad. Engine has been rebuilt once. The machine was running fine and suddenly, it will not reach full power. It is very hard to get to move (spits and sputters). It will continue to run but as I said, takes a while to build up speed and only very seldom will you feel it open up and build revs and reach full speed. let off the gas and upon accelerating it "bogs down" and it goes through the same process as before. Any ideas?

I'm a relatively adept mechanic, but these buggies are new to me. Help please!

P.S. The machine was running fine until I attempted to Jump start a lawn mower from the St 350 battery. Could
I have done something to mess up some electrical stuff. The problem didn"t manifest itself immediately after but an hour or so later my daughter went to use the workhorse and it wouldn"t hardly go forward but went in reverse a little better still not like it should.

Mower did not crank only tried it very short period of time couple of seconds at most. Cart was not running. I have checked filter, wiring, fuel lines best I know how. It just has only a fraction of power it had. Every once in a while it will breifly catch-up and run like it should but will die back down. Do the fuel pumps wear out offten? I don't know that this is not the original on this machine.

Also, I changed plugs. Netiher plug seemed to be screwed in very tightly. One plug was white on the tip and the other was black. The black one was not oily or wet just kind of smutty black.

[Pitbull Joe]

I'm assuming that you've checked the fuel filter, fuel lines, wire connections. If not, I would do that first. If you have, hopefully one of the cart gurus will be along to help.

[kgsc]

Was the cart running when you jumped it ? It may have fried the voltage regulator and that may load up the cart at high speeds

[Pitbull Joe]

I did see your last paragraph the first time. Was the cart running when you jumped off the lawn mower? Did you run the cart immediately after jumping the mower? How long did it take for the mower to crank over while being jumped? Have you tested the battery since?

[mcdave71]

make sure both cylinders are firing? Sound like you may have lost spark to a cylinder.

[Wjparker1]

I thought about possibility of losing spark. Any thoughtsw as to what might cause this? Coil?

Sometimes for a brief second or two it picks up rpms and runs like it supposed to.

[kgsc]

Went back and re-read this. You may have gotten some water in the fuel system and the jumping the mower was a fluke. Take a peek in the tank and see if there is any in the bottom. Also, You did change the plugs or just inspect them ? If you just looked at them, change them, one may have fouled

[Wjparker1]

I changed the plugs as Dad had said he though it might need it. Considered water as well but I thought it might "work its way through the system". As of yet it hasn't (if that was the problem). I figured this weekend, I would pull the fuel tank...

Is this a hard job to do?

and drain it just to be sure. I figure I can remove the new plugs and examine them. If fire on one cylinder is the culprit, then I should be able to see it on one of the new plugs.

[kgsc]

Originally Posted by Wjparker1

I changed the plugs as Dad had said he though it might need it. Considered water as well but I thought it might "work its way through the system". As of yet it hasn't (if that was the problem). I figured this weekend, I would pull the fuel tank...

Is this a hard job to do?

and drain it just to be sure. I figure I can remove the new plugs and examine them. If fire on one cylinder is the culprit, then I should be able to see it on one of the new plugs.

Pulling the tank on a long body workhorse is not bad but the short body can be a pain. I would look in the tank first and see if there is any water. If you don't see any then no point of pulling the tank. If you think there may be some in the line, disconnect the fuel hose as close as you can get to the carb, put it in a bucket and put some air pressure on the fuel tank. A shop vac in blower mode works but don't do full pressure. If you can drain the carb that is also a good thing.

As for the plugs, pull one of the wires and see if it will start, if it does, shut it off, put it back on, pull the other one and try again. If it starts both times they are at least firing.

One more, did we ever answer if the cart was running when you jumped the mower ? If it was, it may have fried the regulator. Pull the green wire off the starter and try again..

[Wjparker1]

buggy was not running when jumping the mower