I have a 212cc predator engine from harbor frieghts. It is completely stock and it goes about 30 mph on my yerf dog. I will be removing the governor next week and i was wondering if theres an oil i should use for the best performance and speed. I have another question as well, Can i just remove the governor and keep my go kart completely stock(for now) Like ive heard people say you have to upgrade the valve springs if you want to go at full throttle without damagig the engine bad. Is that true? I will rarely go full throttle like maybe once or twice each time i use it. Also if i go half throttle its about 15 mph. What about after the governor is removed will i go more than 15 mph at half throttle.
Best oil for best performance
- Thread starter Jason1213
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chancer
ɔ ɥ ɐ u ɔ ǝ ɹ
You MUST remove the entire Governor and all the internal parts.
Then you are good, no need to add any aftermarket parts, rods flywheels, springs etc.
Also the gov just limits the RPM to 3600. Removing allows you to get 5000RPMs. So removing only increases your top speed. no other performance gain just a higher rev.
Here is a good gov removal How to. It is specifically for a Honda GX200 but It is the same as your 212 predator.
https://www.affordablegokarts.com/govenor-removal.php
Then you are good, no need to add any aftermarket parts, rods flywheels, springs etc.
Also the gov just limits the RPM to 3600. Removing allows you to get 5000RPMs. So removing only increases your top speed. no other performance gain just a higher rev.
Here is a good gov removal How to. It is specifically for a Honda GX200 but It is the same as your 212 predator.
https://www.affordablegokarts.com/govenor-removal.php
Hellion
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I think which type of oil to use is one of the minute and most often ignored details.
You can easily go by what the Predator manual says and then go on your merry way (10W-30 above 32° F and 5W-30 at 32° F and below)...
For me though, taking into account that these are air cooled engines and run hotter than water cooled engines, I am going with the tried and true single viscosity SAE 30 that is usually recommended for summer use. It's lawnmower oil.
Addendum:
The two oil grades I mentioned above were taken from the Predator manual, page #2 "Specifications".
However, page #13 includes SAE 30 in their chart and it is to be used at roughly 55° F and above. That's spring and summer usage and prime time for go-karting.
It is my opinion that the use of a multi-viscosity oil is more apt to cause oil consumption during hot summer use as the thinner viscosity of the winter additives gets consumed, possibly turned into blow-by. From a Briggs manual:
* Air cooled engines run hotter than automotive
engines. Use of non-synthetic multi-viscosity oils
(10W-30, etc.) in ambient temperatures above
40° F (4° C) will result in high oil consumption.
If multi-viscosity oil is used, check oil level more
frequently to prevent engine damage due to lack
of lubrication.
** SAE 30 oil, if used below 40° F (4° C), will result
in hard starting and possible engine damage due
to inadequate lubrication.
You can easily go by what the Predator manual says and then go on your merry way (10W-30 above 32° F and 5W-30 at 32° F and below)...
For me though, taking into account that these are air cooled engines and run hotter than water cooled engines, I am going with the tried and true single viscosity SAE 30 that is usually recommended for summer use. It's lawnmower oil.
Addendum:
The two oil grades I mentioned above were taken from the Predator manual, page #2 "Specifications".
However, page #13 includes SAE 30 in their chart and it is to be used at roughly 55° F and above. That's spring and summer usage and prime time for go-karting.
It is my opinion that the use of a multi-viscosity oil is more apt to cause oil consumption during hot summer use as the thinner viscosity of the winter additives gets consumed, possibly turned into blow-by. From a Briggs manual:
* Air cooled engines run hotter than automotive
engines. Use of non-synthetic multi-viscosity oils
(10W-30, etc.) in ambient temperatures above
40° F (4° C) will result in high oil consumption.
If multi-viscosity oil is used, check oil level more
frequently to prevent engine damage due to lack
of lubrication.
** SAE 30 oil, if used below 40° F (4° C), will result
in hard starting and possible engine damage due
to inadequate lubrication.
bob58o
SuckSqueezeBangBlow
My Tecumseh calls for SAE 30.
tinamcjittles
ello m8
If you upgrade the springs you will just prevent valve float for a longer time, so it may hit 7-8000rpm depending on the spring weight.. but centrifugal force may rip your flywheel apart, and your connecting rod could completely fail and destroy your entire cylinder... If you upgrade springs then you've gotta upgrade those parts for your own safety!
tinamcjittles
ello m8
Use a speedometer on your phone and find out, basically if you hear the valves floating and start losing speed then you've hit the limit.. it depends on the air flow if you will go faster below full throttle, it probably will, but you can totally give it bursts of full throttle.. there are 6$ tachometers online you can buy, stick one on there and see where it is when you go below full throttle.. anything above 3600rpm is higher than stock..
Hellion
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Yes. The governor is designed to keep the engine running at its specified maximum of 3600-3800 revs, but no more. Remove it and it will spool up past those revs to about 5500 RPM, if memory serves, on its stock springs. Valve float will prevent the engine from going any faster.
Seconded on the digital tach. Check fleabay for "digital tach and hour meter" but spend a little more ($7+) to get the one with a replaceable battery. The cheapest ones have an internal battery that cannot be removed. Stupid design.
pRoFiT
Can't buy it?, build it!
Hellion, great post on oil usage. In Fresno, CA i dont expect to see below 50F while driving my Kart. I may just use SAE 30 then i guess. It's 110F today, We only see 50F and below for like a month out of the year, december-janurary? then its back to 100F degrees!!! all year. hot hot hot. Or it seems like it.
edit: okay i lied. it's 95F today and all week. but we did hit 107 last week.
edit: okay i lied. it's 95F today and all week. but we did hit 107 last week.
Flyinhillbilly
The great cornholio
Me and my neighbor murdered a stock doodlebug engine doing an oil test. We have video, but neither of us has the stuff to edit it, a buddy said he would moths ago, but hasn't touched it so I'll just describe what took place for now. We started by changing the oil to some castrol 10-40, started it, let it warm up a bit and grabbed the throttle arm and proceeded to float the valves and we kept them floating until we were convinced it wasn't going to blow up which ranged from around a minute to almost three minutes throughout subsequent tests. We drained the castrol and replaced it with always save vegetable oil and repeated test 1. No damage. So we replaced the vegetable oil with maple syrup and held it wide open for almost three minutes, guess what? No damage...............until we shut it off. It idled and revved great with the syrup after the scream test. Thing is, once it cooled off a little the sugar carmalized. You can probably guess what happened next which was that we had to take the head off to discover a candy coated exhaust valve. So we did what any reasonable person would do, which was grab a 1/4" drive Matco electric impact (closest thing with any mass) and beat the valve back down with the socket on the end and rotated it to cycle the valve and beat it back down thinking we could free it up, but ended up taking it out and wire brushing it. Back together with the same head gasket, fill the crankcase with beer, and let 'er rip......sort of. The beer was getting past the rings making it run like crap, so we drained the beer, and put more vegetable oil in it and it ran ok, it would have ran like crap pulling a go kart, but we could rev the living snot out of it. We took it apart to discover the rings had also been carmalized causing a loss of compression and making it run poorly. We also dismantled the bottom end to find everything in far better shape than we had anticipated. We could ring and gasket it and go again. Sorry about the book, wish I had the video but there's no helping that for now anyway.
All that said, I use Schaffer's. Amazing stuff.
Edit, I forgot that we used astroglide in it between the vegetable oil and beer with no consequences.
All that said, I use Schaffer's. Amazing stuff.
Edit, I forgot that we used astroglide in it between the vegetable oil and beer with no consequences.
chancer
ɔ ɥ ɐ u ɔ ǝ ɹ
I heard once from Rutledge Wood on Top Gear that Maple syrup has the same viscosity as 30 weight motor oil.
Not exactly Professional info but interesting. I am not surprised the Engine ran well on it. But I never thought about it Carmelizing.
Cool story though. But useless without the Video! :toetap05:
Not exactly Professional info but interesting. I am not surprised the Engine ran well on it. But I never thought about it Carmelizing.
Cool story though. But useless without the Video! :toetap05:
Flyinhillbilly
The great cornholio
I know, right? I wish the guy would edit it, it was epic as we were hammered drunk by the time it was done and our give a darn had darn well given out.
chancer
ɔ ɥ ɐ u ɔ ǝ ɹ
Yes I bet BEER in the Engine was NOT part of the original Test Plan!
bob58o
SuckSqueezeBangBlow
Yes I bet BEER in the Engine was NOT part of the original Test Plan!
After drinking up all the beer, I wonder what other liquid might find it's way into the crankcase??
Hmmm????
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Bbqjoe
Banned
This one looks like a hands down winner!!!Seconded on the digital tach. Check fleabay for "digital tach and hour meter" but spend a little more ($7+) to get the one with a replaceable battery. The cheapest ones have an internal battery that cannot be removed. Stupid design.
chancer
ɔ ɥ ɐ u ɔ ǝ ɹ
That thing better do more than just read the RPMS. It had better scratch my back too!
BirdFanatic
New member
My opinion is it boils down to where you live lol .Phoenix is intense so synthetic 40.10 if I'm correct would keep it cooler without making the oil to thin .
Jfive
New member
Maybe fill with half and half 0 20w and transmission fluid to clean it out and free stuff up.
Flyinhillbilly
The great cornholio
My neighbor (Kelly) sat around and freed up the rings and everything after we took it apart. I'm pretty sure we've lost some parts at this point and don't really care to mess with it any further.
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