1984 Par Car tripping circuit breaker, engine dies?

[oldfarmall]

Hello-

Picked up a par car last fall and rebuilt the engine and got running this spring. I just started having problem with my 1984 gas Columbia par car engine dying randomly. It had been running good for months until now. So far, I have traced it to the circuit breaker cutting out. Once it cools, I can restart the engine and drive for a minute or so until it cuts out again. I have tested the white wire from battery to F/R switch, orange wire to microswitch, and blue wires to solenoid and ignition coil. I even took out F/R switch since these are known to be faulty. Switch continuity tested fine in both directions. I even changed the solenoid and ignition coil, still cuts out and engine dies after short ride.

If I disconnect the output wire on starter solenoid to F2 on starter, and push gas pedal, the circuit breaker will not cut out, even after 5 minutes. So that leads me to believe that the circuit from the battery, through the F/R switch, microswitch, and solenoid are good. If I hook F2 back up to starter and try to drive the cart, it will trip breaker after short time.

Last thing I tried was bypassing circuit breaker and using automotive fuse instead of the circuit breaker. I used 20 and 30 amp fuses, and they still blow if running the engine a short time. Sometimes they blow as soon as as I try to start the engine.

I am pulling my hair out, seems like a simple fix, what am I missing?? Can the condenser and points cause high amp draw on ignition coil? Thanks in advance for any help!

-Jesse

[Lochlin]

It takes quite a bit of current to blow a 30 amp fuse I can tell you that.

Really, you did a lot of very logical testing on your cart. To be honest, the issue may well be with the starter / generator itself. You can take that to an alternator shop and they will let you if their is a short inside.

[HookSet]

Since it only happens with the starter wire attached maybe pull that starter generator out and have it tested. It could have some failure that won't make it not work but does push too much current down that line. I'm fighting a similar situation only mine won't go at all, just pops the breaker. I've checked grounds and am going to attack it with a multimeter today!