EZ Go Workhorse engine locked up

[trig123]

I was actually posting last night what I would do and I fell asleep in my chair

I never like to advise to someone without actually testing it myself but I was trying to post last night before I my eyes got heavy that I would have torn it all the way down. That's just me.

If it was indeed locked as tight as you said then these problems don't fix themselves. Next the rod breaks which happens often when oil pressure is low .

As stated by Slonomo and Cartmaster the #2 rod is the last one to get oil in the system if pressure drops.

I wonder how much oil came out when the engine was pulled ? Was it low and also dirty ?


These Pre MCI engines are tough. We always gassed our carts once a week where I used to work. I have seen many times where oil would not even show on stick yet they still ran.

We kept the oil changed often and never had but one break a rod in my 16 years of working . That was the one my boss drove and he was too lazy to service it or check oil so this one never came in the shop until that final day it broke a rod. Oil was filthy and very little in it.

On your cart we just don't know how much pressure. As Cartmaster said it only needs around 3 psi to put that light out. A manual gauge installed would tell . I might be tempted to install one just to see. Wouldn't take long to do this for testing only.. If pressure stays good after engine is warm you would know that it was probably something else. I would be interested to know but I will leave that up to you. Cheers

[Cartmaster]

I do apologise, I just reread the whole thread and saw you said it has a working oil light. But due to such a low pressure trigger point at under 3 psi, its usually too late by the time it comes on and the damage is done. Thats why I recommended trying a gauge. The only other thing I can think of that I have seen in the past, is an engine that was so caked in mud that there was no airflow round the cooling fins from the fan and it broke a rod due to seizing. My assumption was the engine overheated, thinned the oil and the pump failed to pressurise the oil. I could find no other reason for the failure and when rebuilt it never came back for anything other than a service.

[CP241]

Originally Posted by trig123

I was actually posting last night what I would do and I fell asleep in my chair
:

[slonomo]

Originally Posted by Cartmaster

As Slonomo says, his crank was good, as is usually the case. The wear is on the con rod as it is aluminum with no steel shells. Low oil pressure / lack of oil wears the con rod and the crank picks up swarf which eventually locks the rod to the crank. All you have done is basically worn away the aluminium swarf enough by turning the crank to allow it to rotate. This is obviously hypothetical as we have not seen inside yet. If you decide to go down the route of stripping the engine to check then you also need to check the oil pump, oilways etc as previously stated. Cleaning the swarf off the crank is easy, just pare it off and finish with wire wool or very fine emery cloth ( if you call it that over there LOL ) It may be worth fitting an oil pressure lamp to check before stripping down though. Its also possible to install an oil gauge using the threaded hole that the oil pressure switch is installed in. To be honest, the pressure switch is just an indication that you have SOME pressure as i think it only switches on at around 3psi or less.

Slo's explanation is spot on regarding why its usually no 2 rod that binds first.

I'm just trying to figure out what "SWARF" is I was thinking it was something similar to little blue creatures that sing all the time

[trig123]

Originally Posted by slonomo

I'm just trying to figure out what "SWARF" is I was thinking it was something similar to little blue creatures that sing all the time

You would know if you ever worked in a machine shop

material removed by cutting or grinding tools in the machining of metals, stone, etc .
I am betting Cartmaster has

[noleary]

Based on how well lubed everything looked when I disassembled the top of the engine, and how clean the oil was in the crank; I'm gonna take my chances and run it as is. It is running great, so I am banking on the possibility that the messed up timing gear was enough to cause the engine to lock up. Time will tell, I guess.

[trig123]

Originally Posted by noleary

Based on how well lubed everything looked when I disassembled the top of the engine, and how clean the oil was in the crank; I'm gonna take my chances and run it as is. It is running great, so I am banking on the possibility that the messed up timing gear was enough to cause the engine to lock up. Time will tell, I guess.

I removed a cam today from an old 295 engine I have that had the #2 rod break. As you can see the camshaft looks new. The top of the engine is not showing us whats on the bottom.

My crank is still ok, just needs a little emery cloth on it while turning in the lathe.

I wish you luck.
Let us know how things go.