1989 gas ezgo, hard to start

[rabar4]

I am new to hear as well as the golf cart world. Looking for some advice / direction...
I just picked up a 1989 Ezgo. Starts real hard, by this I mean takes a very long time or cranking to get it to fire. Once it has a ran for a min or so it starts much easier. let it sit for 20 min or so and its hard to start again. I have completed a compression test and it read around 100 lbs cold. added motor oil to cylinder and reading did not change. Checked compression again after running for about 5 min and reading was about 95 lbs. Another note: it looks as though this cart has ran very hot in the past as there is a sheet of metal screwed to under side of seat and the gas tank as well as the gas cap has signs of melting. I have also disconnected the oil injection as I do not trust it and mixed the gas myself (50:1) ? Thanks in advance for the help and sorry for the long winded post :)

[Dave Box]

50:1 is dreadfully rich and might be oiling the plug causing the hard start. The correct ratio is 128:1 ( 1 ounce of oil to 1 gallon of gas). Try cleaning the plug and running the correct ratio. It might be as easy as that.

Dave

[rabar4]

thank, was doing some reading and read exactly what you have stated for the mixture. Will try that tomorrow. Thanks again for the reply.... Could that also be the reason it is running to "hot"?

[Dave Box]

My first thoughts would be to remove the fan shroud and the plate that covers the top of the cylinder head and make sure that the fins are not full of dirt, mud, grass etc. This is the most common issue.

Dave

[rabar4]

I will check that tonight. I remember it looking clean but will pull off cover and check. Another side note.. Found a brand new rebuild kit for $100 includes Piston, Rings, gaskets and cylinder. Good deal i am assuming. But with compression around 100 should i even be worried at this point?

[Dave Box]

It really depends. Do you intend to keep the cart? Will it be used much? If the answers are both yes I would be tempted to buy that kit (the price is very good) and keep it for the day you need it. 100 psi is not that bad so you could get plenty of use for your engine. It really is your call.

Dave

[rabar4]

sooo drove 20miles to purchase kit only to find out it was listed wrong by the owner. Only covered cart engines to 88 that being said it used most of my limited time after work to work on my issue. I did manage to pull off the carb and clean it (did not seam that bad), also managed to remove cover off head and clean the fins (was not totally blocked but did have some debris in there). Still was very hard to start. I do still need to change the mix ratio yet,,,, im hoping tomorrow for that. Hopefully that will be the reason for the very hard / long cranking start. Thanks again Dave

[fastwoman]

FAIW, I'm currently running approx 50:1 premix in my '90 Marathon. The reason is that the PO told me the premix ratio is 50:1, and that's what I mixed up to fill the tank on my new-to-me cart. My next filling will be at a leaner mixture, of course, now that I know the correct ratio. Although I've wasted a bit of money on extra oil, I've had no problem with plug fouling, hard starting, or any other running problems. It's worth noting that new/rebuilt engines are broken in with a rich mixture also. So I doubt the 50:1 is the cause of the hard starting issue.

Both with the new carb I just put on and the old carb with the worn out butterfly shaft, I've not had any problem with cold starts when not using the choke, but there's a choke knob to help me if I need it. Does that help your starting? I do note that I have to depress the gas pedal a good bit before it starts. That might be an adjustment issue. I've gotten in the habit of stomping and going, even cold.

[rabar4]

OK so I have tried what was recommended. Also note that I have looked up the spark plug and purchased the NGK BP4HS. It seams that the pervious owner just grabbed the closest plug in reach as the threaded shaft was 3/4 the length after installing new plug it still took a good 30-40 seconds of straight cranking to get it to fire even once. I then ran my daughter to her friends down the road (1/ mile and back. nearly back, the cart started to act like there was something hooked to it and holding it back. the throttle didn't seam to do much past 1/4 (note the cart did not run smooth before this but it did rev out) in discuss I pulled it into the garage, jumped off and went inside where I cracked a beer or two and watch a movie with the misses. This morning I wend out to play with it some more. first thing I did was pull the plug and ground to the jug to check for spark,I step on the peddle.. BIG Mistake from the driver side as the cylinder was full of gas and sprayed my entire front side including my face. After I got over the initial shock of my stupidity and removing the gas from my face I stepped to the passenger side of the cart and tried it again. Plenty more gas came out so I turned it over until it stopped (about 20 cranks) then I grabbed the plug and checked for spark. beautiful steady spark is present. I cleaned up plug with carb cleaner and placed it back in. Stepped on peddle to attempt to start for about 20 seconds and nothing. I pulled plug out again and it was very wet. hmmm repeated these steps 2 more times and each time plug was very wet. checked spark and again looked amazing. grabbed another brand new plug and checked that one against the new one I had been trying and it looked identical. I assuming my issue is with the carburetor at this point but alas I really have no clue as I am back here again tell you all a very long story and showing my stupidity. thank again

[1989Marathon]

I would check the carb float level. It sounds like it is not set correctly and not shutting off the fuel once the bowl is full.