Buying my first go cart for the kids...

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bshinn

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But you're still working with a 20yo engine. For 50.00 why deal with the aggravation?

Don't mean to sound elitist here...but spending an extra $50.00 & starting from scratch seems like a money saver in the long run.
 

OzFab

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Three things:
1. There's only so much that can be learned from swapping an engine, you can learn a lot more by repairing one.

2. The satisfaction of knowing you did it the hard way & made something non functional function again

3. We live in a throw-away society as a result of that very attitude; "don't bother fixing it, I'll just get a new one". there would be so much less scrap in the world if everything was made fixable, like the good old days :thumbsup:
 

Ravencrew

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Okay after cross-referencing the carb from a few sites online... man what a headache.. Thhe carb has been replaced 2 times already in the aftermarket world. I found one that fits the motor and bolt holes exactly. The new aftermarket carb number for the motor is a 50-664 TE now. It replaces the 640340 and the OHH60. If this doesn't pan out the I will replace the entire engine like bshinn suggested. I may be out a few bucks but wanted to give the engine another shot at life. Oh and this carb is fully adjustable.. :wai: As for the rollbars.. we use to race boats running full cages and 5 point harness systems. I know a bit about saftey with the rollovers and plan on putting in a oh crap handle just for that purpose.. My goal right now is just to get the thing to run without dying on me. It's going to be a Christmas present and hard to give it to them without it running. Once I get over that mole hill I will dive into the cage being built. Thanks again eveyone on the site. You guys are great and I'll keep up the updates once the carb arrives.
 

landuse

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Ravencrew

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Carb showed up today noticed the other carb that came with the cart must have had the holes drilled out in the brass bolt that goes through the bowl after comparing the two side by side. might explain why we couldn't get the engine to load up.. always acted like it was flooding out.. might explain why..
 

landuse

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Carb showed up today noticed the other carb that came with the cart must have had the holes drilled out in the brass bolt that goes through the bowl after comparing the two side by side. might explain why we couldn't get the engine to load up.. always acted like it was flooding out.. might explain why..

So did the new carb work?
 

Ravencrew

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So did the new carb work?

It sure did! Works like a champ! Funny how some people think if you get more gas to the carb it will run faster.. I think they forgot about the air to fuel ratio. anyways the fella I bought it from ran it with almost no gas in it during the initial buy. That would explain why it seemed to run okay during testing.. but once I got a full tank of fuel in it the thing was a dog. The jet had been bored out so a 35.00 carb fixed the problem. I'm guessing the guy I bought it from was having the same issue and didn't want to go through the trouble of trying to track down the right carb for the engine. Oh well his loss my gain and the kids are going to love it!
 

GoodWComputers

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Three things:
1. There's only so much that can be learned from swapping an engine, you can learn a lot more by repairing one.

2. The satisfaction of knowing you did it the hard way & made something non functional function again

3. We live in a throw-away society as a result of that very attitude; "don't bother fixing it, I'll just get a new one". there would be so much less scrap in the world if everything was made fixable, like the good old days :thumbsup:

Hear hear! I'm all about learning by doing, plus when I'm done with my 30+ year old Tecumseh engine, I'll be **** proud that its running well again.

The Harbor Freight Predator engines are more expensive than $100... unless there was some sort of sweet sale at one point:

Predator 346cc OHV Horizontal Shaft Gas Engine

420 Cc OHV Horizontal Shaft Gas Engine
 

realfast89gt

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Good job replacing the carb, save the money for later down the road. I just bought the identical kart in rougher shape($175) and the tec 5.0hp starts first pull after swapping out an extra carb i had. Why waste the money on the new engine if the old one aint broke....... I will be starting a thread in the next few days about this kart so if you have any other questions maybe i can help( i am stripping it to bare frame and painting it for my 5yr olds bday).
 

bshinn

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Hear hear! I'm all about learning by doing, plus when I'm done with my 30+ year old Tecumseh engine, I'll be **** proud that its running well again.

The Harbor Freight Predator engines are more expensive than $100... unless there was some sort of sweet sale at one point:

Predator 346cc OHV Horizontal Shaft Gas Engine

420 Cc OHV Horizontal Shaft Gas Engine

http://www.harborfreight.com/212-cc...as-engine-certified-for-california-69727.html

You can buy them all day long for $119.00, if you're willing to search any periodical marketed to men (Popular Mechanics etc) HF almost always has an ad with a $99.00 special.
 

buckwheat

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Now that it is running be sure & add Sta-Bil to the gas tank. You don't need the gas drying out in the carburetor & gumming it up.
 
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