Finally found a nice used kart

[chavist93]

So I've been looking several months for a used American made kart for my son (5 years old) and I to ride around the yard. I finally brought one home today. It's a kenbar sk956 with the tecsumeh 6.5hp engine. It's practically new, and the best part is I got it for $375. The original owner only used it for Shriners parades. It starts on the first pull, but surges a little and fuel is leaking out of the overflow. I'm assuming the float is sticking from sitting for a while. I'm going to soak the carb tomorrow. Here are a couple pics.

 

[Poboy kartman]

Nice....Welcome. to the forum...and please fill out your profile so we know where you hail from.....

Texas? Arkansas?Mississippi? Georgia????...a little game I play....it's south....just can't quite nail it.....oh...no...not OKLAHOMA? ?????

 

[OzFab]

Nice score

Yep, give the carb a good clean & it should be fine...

Obviously, check that the float isn't taking on fuel...

 

[Bosch]

Thats a score, right there.

 

[chavist93]

Nice....Welcome. to the forum...and please fill out your profile so we know where you hail from.....

Texas? Arkansas?Mississippi? Georgia????...a little game I play....it's south....just can't quite nail it.....oh...no...not OKLAHOMA? ?????

You were close. SC.

 

[Poboy kartman]

You were close. SC.

I've been closer.....thanks for filling out your profile....maybe I can come closer here.....21 years old?

 

[chavist93]

I've been closer.....thanks for filling out your profile....maybe I can come closer here.....21 years old?

Way off on that one. I'm going to have to give you and F for effort on that one since the first post said I have a 5 year old son. That would put me having him at 16. You're only 14 years short.

I pulled the carb today. I honestly don't think the needle was attached to the float. That would explain the fuel leaking out. the top o-ring on the emulsion tube was almost non existent. What is the purpose of this round rusted piece that I popped out?

 

[bshinn]

That APPEARS to be what is left of the fuel screen. l looks like it sat with a float bowl full of water. Grab a carb rebuild kit clean everything with brake cleaner, change the oil and ride it like you stole it.

And dont think you're the only old fart around here, I'm 48 & mine are 10 & 14. Love the Columbia area BTW. Covered that area for 15 yrs in my last job, DePrato's still in business over by USC?

 

[Poboy kartman]

That was once a solid piece of steel....that covered that hole right behind it in the pic.....I can't remember the exact term for them.....maybe it will come back to me later.....a ???something plug......anyway....I bought a new carb....and it didn't have one.....so...I'm not sure whether you even need it....I would go ahead and try it without it....although a complete rebuild kit will probably come with one.....

But a new carb is almost as cheap as a kit....and the way I went.....

 

[Bosch]

And dont think you're the only old fart around here, I'm 48 & mine are 10 & 14.

Age 46, kids are 5, 9 and 11.


I might consider a new carb too if in your position.

 

[Poboy kartman]

Pfffftttt.....kids.....I won't even tell you how old and decrepit I am....but my daughter is 24....and I have a grandson.....

 

[Russ2251]

Welch plug

 

[Poboy kartman]

Welch plug

Thanks.....that's it.....

 

[chavist93]

Are the cheap aftermarket carbs any good?

 

[Poboy kartman]

Well....you will have a bunch of folks saying the originals were crap....I tend to agree....just don't like the design....

I bought a replacement online and it was fine.....but it may have actually been a Tecumseh.....

From memory....several members have bought the $20ish online knock-offs....with satisfactory results.....

 

[chavist93]

Another option I was considering was to just spend the $100 on a new predator engine. I know there are more performance parts out there for the predator. How is the predator vs the tecumseh on reliability and longevity?

 

[Poboy kartman]

Well....there's guys here who have modded the Predators to the max and beat the crap out of them......so at least some of the time....no problem there.....

Tecumseh is a good,reliable engine....with a crappy carb...IMHO.....nothing really wrong with them.....except they really resent being left laying around unused.....and are a bit more prone too getting clogged up by trash.....

 

[Xtreme Yard Karts]

Do yourself a favor and order a H50 carb. They are direct bolt on, they have a manual choke, and have an adjustable high speed jet and idle mixture adjustment. The only thing the H50 doesn't carb does not have is the crankcase vent port on the carb, but its not necessary. You can just leave the vent open or put a small filter on the line coming out of the valve cover. The old non emissions Tecumsehs just vented to atmosphere.


Another thing is ALWAYS run a fuel filter with a Tecumseh carb. A Tecumseh carb is a very good design and the adjustable versions can be tuned finer than a lot of carbs, but they are much less forgiving to trash/sediment than Briggs, Hondas, etc. As PoBoy said, they are not as forgiving to bad gas and sitting up as other carbs are. They have a bad reputation because of this, but they are good carbs if the fuel is keep clean.

This is the one I always order for OHH50 - OHH65's. It makes them run really nice. The stock OHH carbs are set-up very lean and aren't good for making power, adding performance air filters, headers, etc.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/New-CARBURE...407?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3a67a1cdd7

 

[chavist93]

Thanks guys! I just ordered the carb above. Now can anyone recommend a header and air filter that will work well?

 

[Xtreme Yard Karts]

You can order just the adapter to run a 2 1/2" clamp on kit:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Briggs-Air-...H_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item338ad51590&vxp=mtr

Or you can order the adapter, filter, and pre-filter together:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Briggs-Adap...H_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item338ad5156b&vxp=mtr


Here a header for it:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Tecumseh-5-...H_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2c7d8f3a3c&vxp=mtr

Here some more headers from Robertson: http://www.robertsonstorquetubes.com/tecumseh.htm

I think I'm going to order this one for my kart:

I always ran a Robertson on my H50 Tecumseh race engine, and it worked well.

The carb you ordered will make it run pretty strong with the pipe and filter.