Hey everyone, everywhere, anywhere!
The kart can be seen at our other post here.
Here goes.
Being that this is our first time ever replacing a clutch maybe we got the wrong one or maybe we put it on wrong. Thought it was on well enough so we had fun for about an hour or so tearing up the property. It started smoking a good bit so I figured it was just the light oil burning off and generally getting broke in. Seemed all was fine until the next day we tried starting up and it was groaning really bad. Pulled it off and the brass bearing is all cracked up. So obviously it went bad. The thing is supposed to be heavy duty. What did we do? It's a Hillard brand with no setscrew. The original did have a setscrew. It was mounted too far inboard to line up with the drive sprocket perfectly but it lasted quite a while before it finally lost grip. It also had no outer bolt holding it in place- only the setscrew.
First off we had to mount it with an outboard orientation. It also needed to be moved over sideways away from the motor a bit to better line up with the drive sprocket. The instructions for this clutch only show it mounted with it completely riding on the shaft and seem to call for a 1/32" to 1/16" gap between the outer edge of the clutch and the outer edge of the shaft. Naturally, that wouldn't have been enough adjustment; so, with the clutch sprocket fully in line with the drive sprocket the clutch ended up being about a quarter inch past the end of the shaft. We were worried that could be a problem so we scoured the internet and didn't come up with an answer except that it seems lots of folks have their clutches mounted somewhat off the shaft with no problem. Seems they just use longer bolts on the end of the output shaft. The clutch came with a short cheap zinc bolt and cheapo washers so I knew we would need a longer bolt. Could't wait of course so we went ahead and just used the short one and it actually stayed on the entire time and without getting loose, no Locktite.
So from start to finish we cleaned/polished the output shaft and key-way. Lubed up the clutch bearing with light oil. In order to move the sprocket over in line with the drive sprocket we had to install it with two large brass washers on the inner motor side of the shaft which left it sitting out past the shaft. This is where my son thinks the problem lies. I didn't find out the torque value for the shaft bolt but figured it just needed to be real tight so I tightened it by hand until the motor spun freely over. Then I had him pull on the starter cord while I tightened it and it got so tight it bent and pulled/drew the cheapo washer it came with up into the clutch hole towards the shaft. That was one thin, flimsy washer. The clutch sprocket still spun freely because all the pressure was only on the brass bushing that it rides on. So, I thought everything was okay. We went to test ride and ended up not because there was trash in the carb which we didn't get to until the next day. So we didn't actually ride it with the bolt that tight Then, after watching a video of how tight someone else got their bolt under the same circumstance of having the clutch out past the shaft I had second thoughts about the tightness of the bolt. So, the next day, we loosened the bolt and only got it tightened down a hair past when the motor starts spinning. Got the carb cleaned up and drove it like that without issue -until now.
So, did my initial possible over-tightening of that clutch brass bearing weaken it to the point of going bad early? Did I order the wrong clutch? One that can't handle being installed out past the end of the shaft? I wish the shaft was longer because our research seems to conclude that the clutch needs a bit of wiggle room, a space to free float back and forth on the output shaft as the chain goes round and round. And just so you know we're using the Predator 212.
Sorry this is so long winded. I really tried. Thanksies!
The kart can be seen at our other post here.
Here goes.
Being that this is our first time ever replacing a clutch maybe we got the wrong one or maybe we put it on wrong. Thought it was on well enough so we had fun for about an hour or so tearing up the property. It started smoking a good bit so I figured it was just the light oil burning off and generally getting broke in. Seemed all was fine until the next day we tried starting up and it was groaning really bad. Pulled it off and the brass bearing is all cracked up. So obviously it went bad. The thing is supposed to be heavy duty. What did we do? It's a Hillard brand with no setscrew. The original did have a setscrew. It was mounted too far inboard to line up with the drive sprocket perfectly but it lasted quite a while before it finally lost grip. It also had no outer bolt holding it in place- only the setscrew.
First off we had to mount it with an outboard orientation. It also needed to be moved over sideways away from the motor a bit to better line up with the drive sprocket. The instructions for this clutch only show it mounted with it completely riding on the shaft and seem to call for a 1/32" to 1/16" gap between the outer edge of the clutch and the outer edge of the shaft. Naturally, that wouldn't have been enough adjustment; so, with the clutch sprocket fully in line with the drive sprocket the clutch ended up being about a quarter inch past the end of the shaft. We were worried that could be a problem so we scoured the internet and didn't come up with an answer except that it seems lots of folks have their clutches mounted somewhat off the shaft with no problem. Seems they just use longer bolts on the end of the output shaft. The clutch came with a short cheap zinc bolt and cheapo washers so I knew we would need a longer bolt. Could't wait of course so we went ahead and just used the short one and it actually stayed on the entire time and without getting loose, no Locktite.
So from start to finish we cleaned/polished the output shaft and key-way. Lubed up the clutch bearing with light oil. In order to move the sprocket over in line with the drive sprocket we had to install it with two large brass washers on the inner motor side of the shaft which left it sitting out past the shaft. This is where my son thinks the problem lies. I didn't find out the torque value for the shaft bolt but figured it just needed to be real tight so I tightened it by hand until the motor spun freely over. Then I had him pull on the starter cord while I tightened it and it got so tight it bent and pulled/drew the cheapo washer it came with up into the clutch hole towards the shaft. That was one thin, flimsy washer. The clutch sprocket still spun freely because all the pressure was only on the brass bushing that it rides on. So, I thought everything was okay. We went to test ride and ended up not because there was trash in the carb which we didn't get to until the next day. So we didn't actually ride it with the bolt that tight Then, after watching a video of how tight someone else got their bolt under the same circumstance of having the clutch out past the shaft I had second thoughts about the tightness of the bolt. So, the next day, we loosened the bolt and only got it tightened down a hair past when the motor starts spinning. Got the carb cleaned up and drove it like that without issue -until now.
So, did my initial possible over-tightening of that clutch brass bearing weaken it to the point of going bad early? Did I order the wrong clutch? One that can't handle being installed out past the end of the shaft? I wish the shaft was longer because our research seems to conclude that the clutch needs a bit of wiggle room, a space to free float back and forth on the output shaft as the chain goes round and round. And just so you know we're using the Predator 212.
Sorry this is so long winded. I really tried. Thanksies!