97 Intermittent No-Go With No Spark

[93yellowclubcar]

Somehow when I started an extremely hectic full-time job and intended to get out of cart repair, my business spiked. I've been covered in work plus a few carts on the side but this one has me stumped. 97 DS with CW FE290 - runs great from mid throttle upwards, but stumbles and sputters on the low end and occasionally will not go at all no matter what you do. Pulled the plug when this happens and verified no spark. Also went through the entire fuel system and ruled that out, plus the owner put on a new OEM carb about a month ago. I did notice someone has removed the RPM limiter ground wire by breaking the ring terminal. Any of this give any clues? Maybe RPM limiter, coil, or ignitor? Not too sure here and I'm wanting to narrow some stuff down before I begin throwing the guy's money at parts.

Thanks in advance!

Stan

[93yellowclubcar]

Train of thought, sometimes mine derails so help me out if I'm wrong.

Since CCs will run with the rev limiter disconnected and therefore rendered useless, and this one is, then that should rule it out and point to the coil or ignitor, right? I put a new BPR5ES in it to replace the Autolite someone had stuck in, so the plug shouldn't be an issue. It acted the same with both.

EDIT: Looks like this thing has a coil/ignitor combo. I think I'll replace that and see what happens since it is likely the only thing left to cause this particular issue. Tested compression out of curiosity and it has about 160 psi.

[lockman1]

It looks like your checked just about everything Stan... the coil is the last on the list!

[Springbok]

Just a thought, but have you checked the low speed mixture screw? It came up in another thread where a member was just trying to ID it, but it could be relevant if you're having issues on the low end:

Here's the thread:
http://www.buggiesgonewild.com/gas-c...-question.html

[93yellowclubcar]

Thanks guys!

Just got the part today and it looks nice, but I have one question. Where is the part on the cart??? And how do I get to it? Haven't given it anything but a quick glance but it seems it may be a really buried. Hope to have the time tomorrow evening to get in there and do some work.

[lockman1]

It's under the engine/fan shroud! and it's not as easy to replace it as some make it sound!

I had to...
Disconnect the battery,
remove the drive belt,
remove the 4 engine to transaxle bolts,
remove the 4 engine to pan bolts,
turn the engine cockeyed in order to loosen the side shroud bolt, and shroud itself! (the engine pan was in the way of the shroud)

Fan cover removed:

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Engine shroud removed:

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The coil:

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[93yellowclubcar]

Well, the new coil is on and working well, no more loss of spark. I was able to remove all but one of the shroud bolts without removing the engine, and I had enough "wiggle room" with that one bolt still in place to get the coils swapped out. Still a PITA. I appreciate the pics, it helped when I started to tackle it this afternoon.

I now just have a low speed problem that seems like an air leak to me, but isn't. No adjustment of the low speed screw seems to help either. The guy kept his old carb, I am going to get it from him and stick it on to see what happens, I think he may have gotten the wrong new one.

[lockman1]

That side shroud bolt is always a fun one!
The pics are from my "one and only" Lynx when I installed a timing advance key,
I did something special knowing that eventually the coil may go bad,
I used a 3/4" hole saw and put a hole in the pan/support bracket for ease of access to that bolt next time!

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I'm glad your sparking again!

[RED 92CC GAS]

I had slow to mid speed surge, put new carb new throttle and gov cables, still surging. Since spark plug was white I thought it was a lean surge. larger main jet in carb fixed it.

[93yellowclubcar]

Cleaned the old carb, put it on, and she runs like a top.

Thanks for the help guys, I appreciate all of your input!