Air in the fuel filters - '95 Club Car DS

[goliwagmo]

I have owned battery carts for years but this is the first gas vehicle I've ever had so I'm struggling with this. After the cart runs for awhile, it will start to sputter and 'pop', sometimes even quitting entirely. If I let it sit for several minutes, I can usually get it started enough to limp home, then after a few hours it's fine. When I look at the fuel filters when the cart is cold, I see them about 3/4 full of fuel and about 1/4 full of air. When the cart starts to misbehave, I note that the filter closest to the carb is almost empty. This suggests to me that I'm drawing air into the fuel system from somewhere. I replaced everything between the gas tank and the output of the fuel pump (the siphon tube, gas lines, the pre-pump filter, and the fuel pump itself) with no change. Am I wrong to question air in the filters? If that's normal, what should be my next step?

[DannyAbear]

You say 'siphon tube' are you referring to the tube inside the fuel tank?

[goliwagmo]

Yes. Actually that's the description that EZ-GO uses for their part, that looks like the one on my cart. Club Car replaced their old part with an 'updated' one that has a shut-off valve on the top, but that one will not fit my tank. I had my local Club Car dealer investigate and the only source they could find for an original replacement was in Europe. In the mean time, I actually had to fashion my own from copper tubing and fittings, which I think is more robust than the original plastic part, but I'm still looking to procure an OEM part as well.

[AKAMick]

Just dealt with the same problem on my EZGO, the plastic barbed tank elbow had a tiny pin hole develop in it, sucked air in, replaced it with a brass barb by IP elbow, and soldered a 1/4 copper pick up tube into the tank end of it after drilling it to a socket so the copper could be soldered in,

[goliwagmo]

Sounds similar to how I constructed mine. I used 1/4" copper tubing which perfectly fit the hole in the top of the tank. I connected a 90-degree compression connector followed by a barbed adapter to which I pressed on the new rubber fuel line and proceeded from there to the new fuel filter, etc. Really thought that was going to solve it but disappointed to see that it didn't change anything. Do you agree that there shouldn't be air in the second fuel filter or is this a normal condition (to some degree)? It appears that the first filter (right after the tank) doesn't have much air in it at all - it's mostly a condition in the second filter after the (new) fuel pump. However, when I stop the cart and look at the first filter, I can see air bubbles working backward toward the tank as the second filter refills with fuel.

[AKAMick]

I also added a barbed inline check valve (Ebay) just off the tank outlet as the filters always looked empty though it ran fine, now they are 3/4 full, the fuel pump contains a check valve but I thought an extra near the tank might keep the filters filled,

[Springbok]

I've seen fuel filters full/half full/partially full of fuel and it never affects the way my cart runs. I wouldn't go by that to try and diagnose your problem. Sounds to me like an ignition coil that's failing. Went through this on a 2000 Club Car a few weeks ago. Went through the entire fuel system only to find out it was a bad ignition coil.