ez go no spark

[goosehunter]

new to golf carts, i have a 1983 2 stroke marithon that has one spark when i let up on gas pedal, had problem before then started running and now it is back.any ideas???? thanks

[Dave Box]

OK Goosehunter, let's fix your cart. Normally when you see one spark either on depressing or releasing the throttle that is a symptom of the ignitor going bad. This is bad news as the ignitor is a high dollar item, however there are other things we can do first.

The most common problems with the 80's series of carts is grounding. So follow the negative from the battery to the ground point on the frame. Remove the nut and the cables and clean the chassis down to bare metal, also clean the cable lugs until they shine. Now replace the cables and bolt them up tight, there should be three, one to the battery, one to the FR switch and one to the engine block. This last one is important so if it is not there, go to your auto parts place and get a braided strap.

If this doesn't fix you then look to the ground for the ignitor which is a black wire going to the solenoid. Remove all these wires and clean them, also is is fairly common for the wires to break right on the crimp so that the rubber sleeve holds them together. It would be a good idea to give them a gentle tug, it would also be a good idea to remove the battery negative before doing this. If you are still not running do the same on the coils wires. If you are not running at this stage then disconnect the pulsar connection (red and blue wires) and measure the resistance of the pulsar. You should see between 75 and 150 ohms, now measure between each pulsar lead and ground to ensure neither wire is shorted. If you have ac volts on your meter connect across the pulsar and crank the engine. You should see ~0.5 volts. If all of this checks out then sadly it looks like your ignitor is defective. There is a very neat and cost effective work around and you can see this in the sticky at the top of this section.
Let us know what happens
Dave

[goosehunter]

Thanks Dave, I will look at everthing . thanks for the info, i will let you know what i find.

[goosehunter]

Dave, thanks for all the info. I now understand how the ignition system a little better, i cleaned all termanals and replaced all cable's. Tested coil tested good, still no spark. I tested pulser, read that it puts out .5 to 1 volt ,meter beeps but don't read voltage when cranking over . Should i replace pulser? Looking in to hei conversion .

[Dave Box]

Did you test across the pulsar for ohms? It is not unknown for the wire to snap right on the solder joint.

Dave

[goosehunter]

I ohmed out the pulser and that is when it beeped ONLY WHEN CRANKING IT OVER .checked both red and blue to ground, didn't read that it wa grounded.

[chardonite]

the pulser produces ac voltage so make sure your meter is set to the right scale.If the pulser dosen't make voltage when cranking (.5-1.0 volt ac) it's bad for sure.

[goosehunter]

thanks, I will replace that first.

[goosehunter]

Thanks for all the great info. I traced all of the wiring and also tested coil,pulser and found that it was ignitor was bad.i did the hei conversion,it runs great thanks for all the help!!!!!!!!!!!!

[racin161]

That HEI is the greatest thing since chocolate ice creamSaved a huge amount of $$$ and keeping these old carts ALIVE. Happy Carting.

LOU