Yamaha G16 Gas Won't Move

[G16Yamahammer]

Hi all, I have a 2000 Yamaha G16 gas cart, and it recently started acting up. At first, when I stepped on the gas it would go, then it got slower and slower and wouldn't climb a hill. Now it won't even go on flat ground. It sat for a while before I bought it, so I changed the oil and spark plug, plus cleaned the air filter. The cart ran great for a few weeks, and then this started happening. Not sure if it is a fuel filter or fuel pump, or something else. Not sure where to start. Any help is much appreciated!

[LukeL]

So the engine runs but it won’t drive? Or it doesn’t even start?

[G16Yamahammer]

The motor will start yes, but I have little to no power. Even in nuetral it barely revs up. The fuel filter showed up yesterday, so I will swap that out and see what happens.

[CP241]

If you have it "running" and pull on the throttle to manually open it, does it rev up at all? or does it just stay how it was.

It doesn't sound to me like it is actually running. It sounds like the starter/generator is just turning the motor over.

Start checking the basics. pull the spark plug out, rest it against one of the valve cover bolts and spin the engine (hold the boot, not the plug). Look for a consistent fat blue spark. if it's weak, barely visible, yellow, then it's not enough to run.

If spark is good, squirt a little bit (like a tablespoon worth) of gas into the spark plug hole. put the spark plug back in and try to start it. if it sputters or tries to run for a couple seconds, then it's a fuel delivery issue.

Rather than just blindly replacing parts, let's find out exactly why it's not running right first, then replace parts. It'll save you a ton of cash in the end

[G16Yamahammer]

Okay, so the spark plug was badly fouled. Strange part is that it was a new one. I did notice the gap was too small on the new one, so I gapped the replacement plug at .030 and it seemed to run great. Would a plugged that is gapped wrong foul out?