295 Robin, No Spark, New Twist

[sthreatt]

I'm working with a 1993 Marathon cart that was brought to me about 3 weeks ago with no spark at the plugs. My first observation was that practically everything on it had been replaced with new. Solenoid, ignitor, voltage regulator, pedal switch, plugs, wires, coil, battery cables and ground cables. Somebody had ran the whole gambit trying to get this thing to run. Beginning the process of elimination, I did the most common and obvious and checked all the grounds and connections. All good and no problems there. Next, eliminating the easiest first, I took the coil off, with plug wires and plugs and mounted on another good running cart. Cranked and ran great so eliminated those as an issue. In my mind that had me down to Ignitor and pulser coil. Somewhere in it's history somebody had replaced the complete harness from the Ignitor to Pulser and ignition coil with improper gauge and color of wiring and connectors, a rag tag mess, but seemed to be wired correctly according to EzGo schematic. I removed all that before I went any further and replaced it with a harness of the right gauge and coloration to match schematic. Knowing the history of aftermarket ignitors reliability, and since it was easier than getting down to the pulser, I ordered ANOTHER "aftermarket" ignitor ( considering cost ) and waited it's delivery. When it arrived, mounted it, still no spark. OK, time now to pull the engine cover and replace the only component left. Ordered a pulser, waited on delivery, mounted it, gapped at .020 . No spark. Exasperated now, I was looking back at the $28 Chinese ignitor, and decided to go deep pocket and ordered a genuine EzGo brand OEM ignitor. At this point I figured that HAD to be the culprit. Mounted it and made a little headway. I now had ONE SPARK when first applying pedal, then none. That turned my attention back to the pulser. I have AC signal coming from it, so tried variations on gap. .010, .020, .030 ... no change. One spark. Unplugged the pulser at the two pin Molex connector, plugged back up the old, spun the motor while waving a screwdriver in front of the magnetic point of the pulser, plugs fired every time I passed the screwdriver in front of the old pulser. Replaced it, gapped .020, ONE SPARK. Plugged up the new pulser, did the screwdriver trick, plenty of fire at the plugs. I'm well convinced now that the pulser is not reading the 7/16 inch gap in the flywheel hub. The whole ignition system is obviously working, but not reading hub. After all this background, my question is WHY ? Is there supposed to be something in that gap ? It's my understanding that unlike many small engines, the magnet is in the pulser and not the flywheel. ( I've seen that first hand, but still unsure why it's not reading as designed ) If you have at this point taken the time to read this lengthy scenario, I appreciate your indulgence and look forward to any input you may have to offer. It's almost driven me back to strong beverage.

[crash12888]

Do you have a spare you can try?

[sthreatt]

Originally Posted by crash12888

Do you have a spare you can try?

I'm tempted to saw off the end of my screwdriver and stick in that gap. ( just kidding )

[CP241]

I’d agree with the flywheel. Very uncommon to go bad but anything is possible. If you can wave a screwdriver and it sparks every time I’d be inclined to replace the flywheel. Or epoxy a small piece of thin steel inside where the old steel was for a temp fix. At least the flywheel is relatively easy to get to.

I used to have a flywheel I’d give you but I gave away all my spare parts, taking up too much room. Shouldn’t be too hard to find one on eBay though.

[sthreatt]

Originally Posted by CP241

Or epoxy a small piece of thin steel inside where the old steel was for a temp fix.

That's what I'm curious about. Was there ever something in that notch or is it just an air gap. The pulser rides over smooth steel until it passes over a notched out gap. I'm assuming just a gap, nothing supposed to be there.

[CP241]

You are right. I was thinking about the Kawasaki’s

Maybe you could try and magnetize it, may be fruitless but cool to experiment anyway. Use a car battery and a long piece of 18awg wire wrapped around the center section tightly. Touch the ends of the wire to the battery terminals for a few seconds and give er a whirl

I’ve used that method to magnetize screwdrivers for years. Works like a champ

[JPonLKN]

Well, sounds like you have a running test machine that you used the coil on. Have you tried your aftermarket ignitor and the pulsar coil on it? If all the components from the non running machine work on the test machine, then the problem is a short somewhere, loose wire, or the flywheel. Have you checked to see if the flywheel is magnetized? I remember hearing about a one spark scenario...can't recall the cause. Its in some old gas ezgo threads though

[sthreatt]

Originally Posted by JPonLKN

Well, sounds like you have a running test machine that you used the coil on.

The test machine belongs to a friend. He stood there while I swapped his coil for mine, but I wouldn't ask him to allow his cart to be dissected to the point that it takes to change pulser and igniter.

[trig123]

Originally Posted by JPonLKN

Well, sounds like you have a running test machine that you used the coil on. Have you tried your aftermarket ignitor and the pulsar coil on it? If all the components from the non running machine work on the test machine, then the problem is a short somewhere, loose wire, or the flywheel. Have you checked to see if the flywheel is magnetized? I remember hearing about a one spark scenario...can't recall the cause. Its in some old gas ezgo threads though

Bad ignitor or battery in backward.

[sthreatt]

Originally Posted by trig123

Bad ignitor or battery in backward.

Battery is in proper polarity. One of the first things I looked at. The ignitor that is in it now is high dollar unit from EzGo. I installed it yesterday after trying two Chinesium units which produced no spark at all. The EzGo OEM ignitor is the very first spark I had seen generated at all. If I unplug the mounted pulser and plug one up that I can hold in my hand, power up the ignitor, ignition coil, and pulser, then I can massage it with a screwdriver or wrench and fire both plugs with bright blue healthy spark.