Discussion:
Started cutting out after running for a minute and eventually started sparking

When they brought me the lift it was cutting out. But I found after letting it sit it ran fine until it had been running for a minute or so. Then it would start cutting out when you pushed the throttle. Kind of like something electrical had to get hot first because if you let it sit then it would run fine again for a minute of so. And it was electrical because I put a spark tester on one of the spark plugs and it was the spark cutting out when it was happening. But after running it a few times this way to diagnose it more it stopped running and has no spark. And I have tried everything I can think of replaced the ignition module replaced the cap and rotor took a coil from another lift that run fine and has the same motor. tested for power at the coil and that is the one difference I found between the two lifts. I found that the running lift when I check the voltage at the coil it was like 5.86 on both positive and negative and on the none running lift it has 12.30 on both. Any help with this would be appreciate.
  • Posted 7 May 2026 23:39
  • By Wess
  • joined 23 Feb'21 - 9 messages
  • Utah, United States
Wess
Showing items 1 - 5 of 5 results.
After reading your post I thought I have already checked that wire. But I decided to check it any way and it was my problem. The wire looked connected cause the wire outer covering was still connected. I decided later I had not check it I had just checked that the distributor it self was grounded good. After replacing that wire it fired right up. Thanks for the help!
  • Posted 29 May 2026 04:07
  • By Wess
  • joined 23 Feb'21 - 9 messages
  • Utah, United States
Wess
I had a similar issue on an electronic distributor years ago. There was a small ground strap inside that went between the distributor housing and the advance plate that was broken but making intermittent contact. Drove me crazy until I found it. I've also had driveability issues with loose or broken ground straps between the engine block and the frame of the machine. Sometimes the engine can ground through weird paths like the engine mounts or through the transmission but it's not sufficient to keep things running strongly. It can affect ignition secondary voltage, propane lockoff cutting out, engine electronic control problems etc.
  • Posted 20 May 2026 02:05
  • By steponmebbbboom
  • joined 21 Nov'05 - 191 messages
  • Ontario, Canada
Good grief, charlie brown...
steponmebbbboom@hotmail.com
Well it's a pulse that goes negative every time a plug should fire. So it looks like a square wave. A voltmeter should read somewhere between 0 and 12. Whatever you got on the sister truck should be fine. If you're getting 12 volts on both sides of the coil when cranking that means the distributor isn't sending negative pulses.
Make sure the distributor is grounded. Dirt and crap around the base of the distributor can keep it from getting a good ground. Test this by grounding the distributor with a jumper and see if it runs ok.
By the way, don't pull the distributor without making note of where the rotor is pointing -- it has to go back in pointing the same way.
  • Posted 12 May 2026 07:09
  • By lumberjack
  • joined 27 Jul'07 - 192 messages
  • Maryland, United States
So when I test it on the negative side of the coil should it change to a negative volt reading when cranking?
  • Posted 11 May 2026 23:10
  • By Wess
  • joined 23 Feb'21 - 9 messages
  • Utah, United States
Wess
Make sure the distributor has good contact to ground. One side of the coil is supposed to get 12 vdc and the other gets pulses to ground from either the points or ignition module. If you're getting 12 volts on both sides of the coil while cranking then the negative pulses are missing. Could be broken wire, bad points, ungrounded distributor etc.

good luck with it.
  • Posted 8 May 2026 06:21
  • By lumberjack
  • joined 27 Jul'07 - 192 messages
  • Maryland, United States

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