Commercial kart and wet clutch

[Dbryant]

So I picked up a commercial go kart from JandJ amusemen. It has the Honda GX70. It was sold with it being known the clutch was bad.

I took the engine off cleaned it, changed fluids, plug, filter. I put a new wet clutch.

I mounted the engine, ran a new throttle cable. I had some issue with throttle linkage. Turned up the rpm.

when the rear is off the ground it has power. It burned the sole of my boot when I gave it gas.

the kart is from 2008. The motor starts first pull.

im not confident I put the wet clutch together properly.

I get in the kart and nothing happens when I give it gas. It’s reving pretty good. When I got in (now I am 6’2” 250) it will only go on a flat driveway or slightly downhill.

im at a loss

could it be the wet clutch?

could it be an issue in the crank case? No grinding gears….

 

[Dbryant]

Another pic

 

[Dbryant]

After putting on the wet clutch

 

[Dbryant]

I’m at a loss. It seemed to have some power to the tire. I’m tempted to get another wet clutch. The thrust washer I have seen installed in both directions

 

[Dbryant]

I thought I assembled the wet clutch assembly correctl, but….

 

[Functional Artist]

Kool kart!

"but..." what?

Where did you get the clutch from?

 

[Dbryant]

It was an $80 Chinese EBay special

 

[Dbryant]

I don’t know what else it could possibly be….

 

[Dbryant]

Idont know if having the thrust washer backwards would do it

im pretty certain the rest was correct. I have to pull it apart.

Im in Maine and the Kart came from an amusement park in South Carolina.

it’s pretty cool

it did drive down a rd on a slight decline but on the gravel driveway it won’t move

 

[Functional Artist]

I took a quick look
...& it looks like some wet clutches have a built in gear reduction (did you get the same/correct clutch?)
...like this https://www.kartpartsdepot.com/Reduction_Gear_Box_With_Wet_Clutch_For_Rental_Kart_p/td-nagb27575.htm

 

[Dbryant]

It was a 2:1 rating it was compatible with the Honda 270 but it was cheap. It had a 1” shaft but the gears and teeth could have been slightly different

 

[Denny]

So then I take it you did not rebuild the Honda unit then? If that is true you probably got a bad unit then. Looks like there could be many causes. Weights not sliding, plates not enough preload, parts not put together correctly, wrong oil. The fact is it could be anything. If it was me I would get Genuine Honda replacement parts and rebuild the original. Probably won’t be cheap but would last longer and be better in the long run. Did the new one come as a complete assembly or a wear parts kit? Might be a good idea to learn how to read a micrometer.

 

[Dbryant]

The original had been taken apart and missing half the parts

i bought a cheap $80 unit off eBa. It was new but I have never dealt with these.

any suggestions as to getting original Honda? I did a quick search and just came up with ebay

 

[Dbryant]

The engine is fantastic. Starts on 1st pull. i don’t mind spending the money if it works

 

[Denny]

The unit Functional posted built by Noram (a quality company with good reputation) is probably what you should have bought or Genuine Honda.
I wonder if the clutch is not slipping on the engine output shaft. If I recall the crank output shaft is 20mm on engines equipped with the wet clutch as opposed to 3/4 of most engines no so equipped. Hate to say this but it looks like your going to be pulling it back off and cracking it open again. Then we can help you go through it piece by piece. When working properly they are like a sore Peter, you can’t beat em.

 

[Denny]

Gotta check the output shaft size on the engine first though to make sure! You did make sure to put the key back on the output shaft right?

 

[Dbryant]

I’m pretty certain the key is in there. It’s a slight decline and about 200 yards to the neighbor. I was able to drive it down but once it hit flat service, it couldn’t move

I’ll pull it off. It’s rainy but I gotta know! I even bought vinyl and padding to make a seat

lit was grease covered, I really took the time to clean it.

I’ll spend the $300 if I know that’s it. I cant imagine what else

 

[Denny]

Well let’s not go throwing money at it yet. Let’s get it apart and get the side cover off of it and see what it looks like inside. You may not need to pull the engine if you can get the side cover off.

 

[Dbryant]

It’s raining today. I just need to take the tire and belt off. The engine comes off in two bowls as it’s mounted to a special plate for the kart

 

[Dbryant]

Bowls=bolts