Newbie needing help with go kart

[Klayfish]

Hey all, found your site from another site I frequent. I could use some help trying to get my son's go kart running/driving. I've never worked on go karts before, or other small engine things, so this is new to me. I've got some basic auto skills, but nothing advanced (I'm learning).

Sorry I don't have pictures, but I can take some tonight. The kart is a single seater yard kart with a 5hp engine. Looks very much like the one in this picture, though this isn't my exact kart.

I bought it a few months back. My son was taking it for a test ride after I had put front tires on it. He was going through the grass when I suddenly heard a metallic pop sound. The kart engine was still running, but it wasn't moving. I shut it off immediately. It's a chain drive with a centrifugal clutch. I saw immediately that the chain had come off the sprockets. Upon pushing it into the garage, I noticed that the drum that covers the pads on the clutch now just slides off and on. I'm assuming whatever was holding that drum onto the assembly broke, but I'm not sure what it was. I see there are snap rings on other areas of the clutch, so could it have been a snap ring holding the drum on? Sorry if it's a dumb question, but I'm totally new at this. It's obvious to me that the drum needs to be mounted, but I'm just not sure what was there (I looked in the grass but didn't find anything).

 

[TANKSAREUS]

Welcome to OldMiniBikes, some one will be along shortly with the answer, but I think you're right there is a snap ring you remove to oil the bushing

 

[buckeye]

I think you are correct. How old is the clutch??

If it's older than dirt, might want to throw down 29 bucks for a new one.

 

[Klayfish]

Thanks for the quick response. I'd guestimate the clutch to be younger than dirt, but older than a dinosaur. So yeah, I'll just swap it out. But I am curious, where did the snap ring attach to hold the drum to the assembly?

It needs other work too which I'm getting to. The engine wants to rev all the time, I'm hoping it's just a dirty carb, I'll have to look at that later. Yes, I know it's not supposed to drive like that...I was actually just letting my son take it for it's initial "test" run (I had the choke down so it couldn't rev out of control).

 

[buckeye]

Snapring goes in the little groove.

Clean that carb and adjust it.:thumbsup:

 

[Klayfish]

I went ahead and bought a new clutch, as the old one has definitely seen better days. Now I need help swapping the clutch out. I've got part of the old one off, but can't seem to figure out how to get the rest of it off. There's a tiny allen wrench screw on the backside of the plate in the picture below, however it seems stuck. I soaked it in Liquid Wrench yesterday and will give it another shot tomorrow. Do I take that screw out, and then the rest of the clutch will slide off? Does the new one then slide on the same way? I guess I'm going to have to slide the big flywheel further to the left so that I can fit the new clutch.

 

[buckeye]

Yep, remove the allen screw. Since the clutch is junk, you can use a three pronged puller.
Once it's off, emery cloth the crank. You want no rust or burrs. Then lube it with a little bit of aft on your finger. The new clutch will slide right on.

What has changed that the sprocket on the acle doesn't line up with the clutch anymore?

 

[Klayfish]

Going to have to hope I can get that allen screw out. It's pretty rusted in there. I'll let it soak another day or two, but I nearly bent my allen wrench trying the first time (the wrench isn't all that big).

When the original clutch broke, I quickly figured out there wasn't enough room between the end of the crank and the sproket for me to slide the drum off. It would bang against the sproket before it would come completely off the end of the crank. There's an allen screw on the crank, which I loosened. I was then able to tap the back of the crank and get it to move toward the drivers' side and give me room to wiggle the old drum off. But I tried to slide the new clutch on, just to make sure I had the right one, and I don't have enough room to wiggle the new one between crank and sproket. I've got another 3/4" or so I can slide the sproket. Hopefully that'll be sufficient.

 

[Klayfish]

I finally got some time last night to work on it. Took a little effort and lots of Liquid Wrench, but I was able to get the old clutch off. Cleaned up the crank and got the new clutch on.

Now, what's the trick for getting the chain back on? With my kids' bikes, the sprocket either moves forward on a spring to give some slack or I can slide the wheel forward/back. I can't do that with the kart.

 

[Havasu Dave]

I finally got some time last night to work on it. Took a little effort and lots of Liquid Wrench, but I was able to get the old clutch off. Cleaned up the crank and got the new clutch on.

Now, what's the trick for getting the chain back on? With my kids' bikes, the sprocket either moves forward on a spring to give some slack or I can slide the wheel forward/back. I can't do that with the kart.

You have a master link somewhere on that chain? Once you get the chain apart, your engine slides forwards and backwards in the slots to allow you to get the chain back on, and then set the tension.

 

[Klayfish]

I knew the answer would be a :doah: as soon as I heard it. I never even thought to look at the engine mounting points to see if they're slotted. Makes perfect sense. I'll have to look to see if I can find something that looks like a master link. Thanks!!!