96 gas Club Car run intermittently

[aahltd]

Being a bull head, I had already taken the carb off before receiving your reply, but will replace the spark plug before continuing since I have one. The cart has been burning oil for years so the whole thing was covered in black gunk. I got Brakleen from Advance Auto and proceeded to clean it off before working on it. Now that I am ready to put the carb back on, I found a ground wire that is connected to the mid frame of the cart and now connected to nothing on the other end. It was underneath at the beginning but I did not see where it came from.

[aahltd]

OK. I cleaned the carb and got all those tiny holes unplugged. Everything went on the same way it came off. I changed the spark plug which was so full of gunk. I vacuumed out the plug chamber before putting in the new plug.
It still doesn't run but it doesn't run a lot better than it didn't run before.
By the way, I don't know if it makes any difference to any of you but I am a 65 year old woman who cannot afford to hire people to get things done. I have to do this myself or meet someone who can help. So far, I am doing it myself.

[aahltd]

Wells thanks anyhow

[lockman1]

Atta' girl for doing your best to get the job done yourself!
And sorry Spring finally showed up in Wisconsin just a few days ago, so I've been spending time outside!

IF... that hanging ground wire is a braided cable with either no sheath or a loose sheath, (sheath= insulation cover)
it may be a good possibility that might be the problem! (the engine has to be directly grounded to the frame for it to run)
if it's an actual ground strap, you could just attach it to a mounting bolt somewhere on the engine, or engine bracket! (that is... if it'll reach!)

And if you could add your "roundabout" location... there just may be a BGW member close to you that might be able to help you with your cart!

[aahltd]

Thank you for your reply. I am in Trenton, FL (Levy County) west of Gainesville.
I did find some wiring diagrams online and think I connected the wire to the right spot just to the side of the oil dip stick. There was a place for a screw or bolt that was missing. It looks like the location in the picture (more or less).

I am going to try it again this morning because sometimes it would run after not running if I let it sit. Maybe I can feed with it. Thanks so much.

[aahltd]

I just fed......... Cart worked again but I didn't dare overdo it. I guess I should drive around the barn to see if it stops working again, but I cannot see why it would continue working since I know I didn't fix it yesterday. If I had fixed it, wouldn't it have started to run immediately? I am more confused than usual.

[nobuckbuild]

just a guess but next time it dies carry a spark plug socket and a ratchet my best guess would be the coil and ignitor start going out when warmed up and will do it at random and drive you insane, as soon as it stops running pull the plug and put the plug in the plug wire and ground it to the head and crank the engine. no spark will indicate the coil being bad , from what i understand you can eliminate the coil and ignitor and just get a 97 up coil that has the ignitor built in to it.

[aahltd]

I will definitely try that. I looked it up yesterday so know how to test it.
Thanks

[lockman1]

Nobucks suggestion is a good one and what I was going to tell you next!

Now... If you had the carb off to clean it, some of the fuel may have come out of it, so it may not have started right away,
and if you hooked that ground strap back up to the engine, I'd give it a good run to warm it up! If it fails again, then check the plug for spark!

Crossing my fingers for ya'!

[aahltd]

I'll run it a bunch in the morning.
Thank you