Go Kart stuck in reverse

[Great Cornholio]

Hey everyone. Just got a 2 seat go kart a few weeks ago so I can ride with my son until he's old enough to drive it himself. They only thing I really know about it is the guy that sold it to me said its a "Tao Tao 110cc" kart.

The shifter cable end broke off while trying to shift from reverse to forward a while ago. I was able to find a shop in town and got a new shifter cable made. That cable worked great for a bit, but then also had the end break off yesterday. Now both cables broke while trying to get out of reverse. So I'm thinking that the problem is with the gear shifter and probably not the fact I had 2 bad cables. Sorry for so little info. Not sure what else you guys need to know and didn't want to make the first post super long.

 

[brandongeiger2]

Like everyone says pictures are very helpful and the more info the better. I really have no experience with reverse gearboxes but is it jamming or can you still switch gears?

 

[South Kart3377]

Take some channel-lock pliers and turn the lever that the cable attaches to, to the Forwards setting. If your kart has a CVT and comet style gearbox. That should at least be a good fix and you can get riding again.


Enjoy Karting,
South Kart3377

 

[Great Cornholio]

I will try to get pics up soon. Is there a post limit I need to hit first?

I will try to explain it a little better. First the front is the shifter knob. It is connected to a turnbuckle (I guess thats what its called) that is connected to 2 cables. The 2 cables run to a back turnbuckle which is connected via metal rod to the horn that is connected to the rod that goes into the engine to change the gears.

When shifting into reverse the top of the back turnbuckle is pulled forward which pushes the bottom back which pushes the rod back pushing the gear shift horn back. Shifting forward does the opposite as far as cable pulls go so that the shift horn is pulled forward.

I have noticed that overall it does shift easier into reverse than forward. Sometimes when shifting out of reverse to get to neutral it is hard to shift and the forward shifter knob goes farther than normal. I usually back off and try to shift again and that works sometimes. However there have been 2 times (the 1st time I didn't realize what was up since the go kart was still super new to us) where I go to get out of reverse and the knob goes just a bit further than normal and then the cable end/stopper snaps off. Both times it has been the end fitting at the forward shifter knob turnbuckle.

Yesterday I tried to get it to shift from reverse by putting a screw driver in the hole in the shifter shaft horn where the metal rod usually connects it to the back turnbuckle. I figured I'd be able to move it. It moves a little. And just like before it seems to move backwards better than forwards. I also tried to rock the go kart back and forth while doing this. Next I will try channel locks extra leverage usually never hurts haha.

Sorry if this is kind of confusing. I'm not a mechanic by any means and I've actually learned a little so far by messing with this go kart a little and have found out I really like doing this kind of stuff.

Thanks for the help so far.

 

[landuse]

I will try to get pics up soon. Is there a post limit I need to hit first?

Nah. Just post your pics and they will load. (Unless you are using an external host and posting just the links to the images. In that case a moderator will need to approve it first. You need a certain post tally before the links will post automatically without approval. This is just to hit spam before it happens)

There are several ways to post pics. Here is the best way.

http://www.diygokarts.com/vb/showthread.php?t=735

 

[Great Cornholio]

Thanks for the help everyone. I didn't have time to snap pics before I went out of town for a while. So it will be a few days before I can get pics up.

Good news is I did go to the shop and got a new cable made. I tried to make one myself, but my welding skills weren't strong enough yet. (never tried to weld till I tried this). The new cable was strong enough to get it out of reverse. I figure right now since it runs again I will just not put it in reverse.

I was able to talk to the guy. He seems to have a lot of experience fixing these "Chinese go karts" as he had some in the shop. Told him it was hard to get out of reverse and asked him ball park price. He said probably $50-150 depending on the actual problem. That's not horrible, but I still would like to fix it myself if I can to save money and learn more about the go kart as I'm sure I will be "fixing" it for years to come.

From what I've found out online (no owners manual for this) the engine uses the same oil for lube and transmission functions. There was oil on the dip stick, but I am planning on doing oil change soon.

Once I get back in town I will post pics. Thanks for the help and support so far.