Go Kart Engine Maintenance

[RenegadeNitro]

First hello every one and im finally glad to find a place on the net for go cart fanatics like us! Any ways my parents bought me a commercial go cart for my birth day about two years ago. To end the story short I ran the puppy to the ground. I now plan on refurbishing the go cart after a year of having it sit in the back yard rotting away.

I know nothing about engines in general besides what ive read from howstuffworks.com two stroke engine article. Before I stopped using the cart the engine began to mess up alot. For example I use to be able to drive up regular hills really fast with alot of power but it began to lose power and at one point would not even run up hills. It was like it had no power. It would run on flat surfaces but thats it. Im thinking it has something to do with the oil. I never changed it once when I was using it. Could this be the problem? And whats the best type of lubrucated oil for two stroke engines?

Also what exactly can be done to supe up a two stroke engine?

 

[imported_robertdjung]

are you sure it's two stroke? two stroke engines don't need the oil changed like a four stroke --- they have (usually) a 50:1 gas to oil mixture. A four stroke doesn't require oil in the fuel, but it needs the engine oil changed.

What kind of engine is it?

Anyway, I'm going to guess this is a Briggs or some other 4 cycle motor. If you never changed the oil and ruined it, then it's shot. They're so cheap I wouldn't bother with rebuilding it (if the piston/ring is shot..) Well, maybe if it's just the ring it would be worth it -- but you've got to put a caliper on the piston wall and see what the tolerance is...

Basically -- the easiest is to go buy a new one at pep boys or northern tool, they're both cheap.

Keep posting -- we'll help you through the whole thing.

 

[RenegadeNitro]

The current engine I have is this one: http://tinyurl.com/jjxhk


EDIT: Hah just read the specs for the engine myself and it says its a four stroke. I hope the engine is fixable.

So what would yall suggest for fixing the engine problem? Try changing the oil first? I have many other issues with the cart like flat tires, chipped rims, old breaks. Another main problem is I tried putting some new tires on the cart before I stopped using it and the way the rim and the axle is setup is strange. You can't get the tire of the rim because the rim for some reason will not disassemble? Any one ever have such a problem?

 

[jrjulien1]

if your rim wont dissasemble chances are you need a tool called a tire brake {i think thats what its called} to stretch the tire onto the rim like what they use on car tires but if you dont have access to one of these you could probably do it with a crow bar but be careful you dont puncture the tire and as for the motor you might have a compression problem if changing the oil dosent help

 

[imported_robertdjung]

So what would yall suggest for fixing the engine problem? Try changing the oil first? I

well, if it does run, you could change the oil (10W30) and the plug (whatevers recommended) and see how it runs. But you might just have a shot engine that needs a rebuild.

 

[jrjulien1]

ya if the engines shot it would probably be best to get a new or used one if you dont know how to rebuild one yourself

 

[RenegadeNitro]

Well here are some pics of my go cart. It was once new. Now its in very bad shape. One other thing I need to replace is the brakes. Any one got a suggestion on where to buy some replacements? I dont want to change the braking method, but I have dont some searching and can't find some disk brake replacements? I was wondering if some of you familars could drop me a link?

 

[jrjulien1]

you can buy replacement pads at http://www.mfgsupply.com/GoMiniBrakesDisc.html/mv_session_id=tyXb96o4
and as for the motor did you get it to fire yet or are you buying a new one