Fouled Plug.....Please Help!

[robbiescd]

I have really enjoyed this site and am glad I found it! Lots of smart folks out there and I appreciate all the help/suggestions you all have sent.

I have had a bout of bad luck on the last 2 carts I've had come in. I have an EZGO issue posted on the EZGO site, but have a Club Car issue.

Had a customer that brought in a 2004 Club Car that keeps fouling the plug. Says he can play about 2 rounds and he has to replace plug.

He is using a "hot" version of the plug club car recommends.

First thing I think of is Carb......but, I go through my process:

Check compression....good
Check Fuel Pump.....good
Check Fuel for Water....good fuel
Check Spark with Spark Checker....marginal, but good. Moved spark Checker out to about an inch to 1 1/2 inches and is shooting a good blue flame! Move it closer and it turns more orange.
Removed head, cleaned rim of cylinder, piston, valves, and reseated valves.
-need to mention here that there was a good deal of carbon deposit.
Replaced Jet in the carb and the tube the jet holds in place (forget the official name of that). I believe I had a high altitude jet and tube and put one in for my area.

Ran the cart with new spark plug and spark plug completely black.

Removed airbox, put a shop vac on the air intake tube. Ran for quite some time and getting good suction at the opposite end of the air intake (under front cowl.)

Tried again....fouled plug.

Took the carb off my 93 club car (don't know if they are compatible or not), but did it anyway. Cart ran very poorly, sputtered and even backfired a couple of times. I'd say I drove the cart no more than 5 minutes with that carb. Pulled the plug and black!

I'm, clueless now. The only thing I can think of is that either the coil is not firing as it should, or the key in the flywheel has broken and the fire isn't firing at the exact moment it should.

Hate to remove motor and flywheel.....any other suggestions?

Thanks in advance....hope someone out there can help me out!

[1989Marathon]

Do a leak-down test. It will tell you if the rings are bad. That's what it sounds like.

[robbiescd]

Leak-down test? Not familiar with that. Getting about 165 on compression.

[1989Marathon]

Check youtube for leak-down test. It will tell you how to do it. It basically tells you the health of the motor.
If you're gonna be working on motors, you need to know how to do it. It can save you alot of time and frustration.
You don't need the fancy gauge to do the test. Just pressurize the cylinder(about 100psi), with the valves closed, and listen for an air leak. You will likely hear a certain amount of air escaping. It will be coming from either the carb intake, exhaust outlet, head gasket, or the oil-fill tube. That will tell you which area is suspect.

[robbiescd]

Will do. Thx!

[robbiescd]

Where is a good place to find these? I see them online (order only), but do any retail stores sell them? Any suggestions on brand or type?

[1989Marathon]

Not sure where to get them. I just use the hose from my compression tester. I have to remove the schrader valve from the hose so I can pressurize the cylinder. It will give you a very good idea whether or not it is leaking. If the plug is turning black that quickly, you should definitely hear the leak.

[robbiescd]

Bit the bullet and installed the new carb, adjusted accelerator linkage, and adjusted throttle cable coming out of black box. Also verified governor was set correctly. Ran the cart around for about an hour and no fouled plug! Very mild carbon right above the threads.....pretty normal looking. Going to give it a test tomorrow. Customer wants me to play a round of golf with it to make sure. I hate my job sometimes!

[Springbok]

Originally Posted by robbiescd

Customer wants me to play a round of golf with it to make sure. I hate my job sometimes!

The customer is always right!

[Capt.Jack]

I had this problem before with one of my club cars it would last a day and come back on a tow not running. It turned out the clear tube for the carb breather was plug solid with dirt causing a rich running condition fouling the plug. cleaned it out and problem fixed. Check it out. Always seems to be a simple thing that fixes a big problem.