EZGO weak/no spark CDI wiring questions

[papalanc]

So I am trying to help my neighbor with a EZGO Workhorse who has taken two diff places at $200 a pop and it is still not running. The last guy for whatever reason cut off the 4 prong connector on the cdi and cart harness and put male/female connectors. It had a very weak spark and would sometimes start. The lady purchased a new cdi from buggies unlimited ~$100 and I am trying to install it.

Both of the cdi's have the same color coded wires on them. K

Anyway, here is my issue. I wired the new cdi according to the diagram. BLK/WHT to ground (The new CDI has the proper female for this) Since I could not find a proper 4 plug to put on the cart I had to cut it off the new one. I have BLK from the cdi going to a BLK wire that leads to the pulser coil. I get no spark.

If I put the old one back on I get a weak spark. But what I cannot figure out is it is wired backwards. He has BLK actually spliced to the BLK WHT connector from a CDI going to ground. And he has BLK WHT from the CDI going to BLK on the pulser coil.

Anyone have suggestions?
Thanks,
Grey

[trig123]

When you mean you put the old one back on you are talking about the ignitor ?
I doubt the buggies unlimited ignitor was the OEM one .

It sounds like you have it wired correct. Black with white stripe from ignitor goes to a known good ground .

Red with white stripe and solid black goes to pulser coil .

White wire leaves the ignitor and goes to negative side of coil.

Solid red goes to small terminal on solenoid. That is the wire you connect to positive side of coil.
Of course you got an orange wire coming from ignitor that also goes to the same terminal as solid red one on solenoid. Make sure its connected good.

I think it might run if it has fire with your old ignitor if other things are ok like compression and fuel.

What I find is either they fire or they don't unless the coil is weak and I guess the spark could not be enough for it to run.

Have you tested the pulser coil with OHM meter and also ignition coil ?

I am posting this from memory and have not looked at a diagram but I have wired many of these carts.

You can also use the DVOM and test the pulser to see if it generates an AC signal. I can explain more after you tell us what the ohm reading is on coil and pulser which I am betting is good.

Most of the time it is a bad ground at mounting plate that the voltage regulator, ignitor and solenoid bolt to.

Hope I didn't confuse you because its late and I sometimes confuse myself

[crash12888]

Loosen and clean all of the ground connections over by the solenoid.
When you say weak spark, is it consistent?
An old points ignition will have a bright aggressive spark but a newer CDI type ignition will have a lesser light blue spark.
It just needs to be consistent.

[papalanc]

Thanks to both of you. It has a week spark with the old igniter. I say week, I can hardly see it. (But it will knock the fire out of you) I forget now, I gapped the new plugs at 25 or 30. Valves are at .004. Compression is 180 on both. She had put fuel stabilizer in it so I pumped out all the gas and put plain fresh.
I have not ohm'ed either coil or plug wires yet. One of the 2 previous peeps replaced the coil. It will almost run. You can tell it wants to and I have actually had it running a couple of times starting from cold. That said it does not run very well but enough that I tested it and it is charging.
I ran a jumper from the neg bat post to that grounding nut, no difference. But I have not taken it apart and brushed it up. I have seen a copule of wiring diagrams that show 2 black wires. One the the pulser and the other to ground. So perhaps it does not matter but I am still clueless why the properly wired new cdi has no fire and the wired strange old one does.

I am afraid I may have to put this on hold until I get my taxes done :-( I will follow up with ohm's and results.

I have a couple older ezgo's without a cdi. Is that the same coil if I wanted to swap and see?

Thanks again,
Grey

[trig123]

Those coils are the same. I always suggest getting a spark tester like one in picture I included. If it will fire across this tester your firing is good and no other tests need to be done You can then move on to find the actual problem which could be fuel related.
I did suggest this to a member here and he bought one that the tester itself was bad but that is not the norm.
OTC 6589 Electronic Ignition Spark Tester

[crash12888]

I've had one like this for 30 years when I started a small engine shop in Florida. Works great also.

[papalanc]

well it is supposed to rain tomorrow. Great day to do taxes :-0
Coil 4.1 Pulsar 20 AC Volts on pulsar when engine was turning over read off an on .1 volts. No clue if I did that properly, but "something" did happen.

I made a wire with a male connector and an o-ring connector on the other. Male into blk/wht on the new cdi, ring to marine terminal of the battery ground. No Spark

Put the old cdi on blk to my new ground wire, blk/wht goes to pulsar. Brighter spark. Starts, drives around okay'ish. So more than likely like every weak spark post out there. Bad ground on the nut next to the solenoid. That said the ring terminal on the bat was not perfect either.

Mucho progress !! I swear it has a skip/runs sorta rough. Mainly at lower rpms. Battery is not charging as well as I thought either. After taxes I will do that bolt next to the solenoid.

Another unrelated question please. I have never had one with a gas gauge. It only reads when the pedal is depressed? Is this normal to save battery?

This attached showed a spark all the time on the old cdi. I did not see much difference before and after the new ground. A spark plug laying on the muffler did look better after the new ground wire.

Thanks again. Still clueless why the new cdi will not fire when wired properly.
Grey

[crash12888]

Originally Posted by papalanc

well it is supposed to rain tomorrow. Great day to do taxes :-0
Coil 4.1 Pulsar 20 AC Volts on pulsar when engine was turning over read off an on .1 volts. No clue if I did that properly, but "something" did happen.

I made a wire with a male connector and an o-ring connector on the other. Male into blk/wht on the new cdi, ring to marine terminal of the battery ground. No Spark

Put the old cdi on blk to my new ground wire, blk/wht goes to pulsar. Brighter spark. Starts, drives around okay'ish. So more than likely like every weak spark post out there. Bad ground on the nut next to the solenoid. That said the ring terminal on the bat was not perfect either.

Mucho progress !! I swear it has a skip/runs sorta rough. Mainly at lower rpms. Battery is not charging as well as I thought either. After taxes I will do that bolt next to the solenoid.

Another unrelated question please. I have never had one with a gas gauge. It only reads when the pedal is depressed? Is this normal to save battery?

This attached showed a spark all the time on the old cdi. I did not see much difference before and after the new ground. A spark plug laying on the muffler did look better after the new ground wire.

Thanks again. Still clueless why the new cdi will not fire when wired properly.
Grey

Welcome to the world of aftermarket electronics!!!

[JPonLKN]

Next, pull the carb off, pull the jet on top, and the jet and tube under the bowl screw, and make sure the pick up holes where the bowl screw goes in are free of debris, float is clean and needle valve slides and seals nicely. If it has been sitting for a while...that will likely be the remaining culprit. Other possibility is over charging if the regulator is bad. You can check volts while running at the battery, and if its super high, that could be making it run rough as well. I'm guessing it was ground and dirty carb though.

[papalanc]

Thanks. I put on a new carb and the charging is low if anything. Hard pressed to get to 13 volts... Appreciate the ideas !
Grey