2000 DS FE290D losing spark

[oldphart]

Working on a resorter's cart here at the lake I live on.....generating critically-needed Budweiser money (I'm down to less than a case!).

It's a 2000DS with a FE290D that's unmolested/unmodified. It's about 6 miles around the lake......make that lap more than once and it quits. I finally got the cursed thing to act up for me (twice) with a spark tester on it, and lo and behold, no fire. Let it sit for a while and cool, and away it goes again. Replace coil/igniter assembly and rev limiter (using OEM stuff, not one-size-misfits-all aftermarket crap).

Any input, as usual, is greatly appreciated.

Thanks!
Jim

[CP241]

May be a failing microswitch or key switch. Disconnect the black/white wire next to the oil dipstick tube and see if it persists.

Where did you get the OEM coil and rev limiter?

[oldphart]

Crappy job of me posting. I did those tests.....I was asking about replacing coil and rev-limiter and forgot question mark. My bad....

Jim

[Fairtax4me]

Unhook the rev limiter. Brown wire on the bracket on the left side (looking at the motor).

If it still acts up replace the coil. Use Genuine Kawasaki. Aftermarkets suck.

[CP241]

Gotcha!

As FT said, disconnect the brown wire at the 10mm bolt on the rev limiter. If it is fixed, rev limiter is bad. Replace with an OEM or leave it disconnected as long as the governor is functioning correctly...

If it does the same thing, then it's a coil. Get an OEM one from david at revolution golf cars. I dont like to replace those coils once. Let alone do the job more than once when the crappy aftermarket fails and you have to do it again

[lockman1]

A bad spark plug will also cause that.

[oldphart]

I've got 'inline' spark testers (which are slick!) that you can put on and run it. When this quits....it's getting no fire out of the coil.

Jim

[lockman1]

I understand!
BUT... when a bad spark plug creates an open circuit when it gets hot, there's no path to ground, in turn, the tester won't fire.
It seems like replacing the plug would be an easy test before getting into replacing the coil... Yes/No?

[oldphart]

Never thought of it that way. I guess I'll get a plug and let it sit here and idle.....I was able to duplicate the condition twice yesterday in the driveway.

Jim

[lockman1]

Use only an NGK BP5ES plug, (resistor is fine)
don't cross reference to a different brand, the FE engines don't like that!

If it works, it works... if it doesn't? then you can move on to the hard stuff!