Harbor Freight 96549 sound and setup

[mbennett66]

Hello all

New here. Just picked up a go kart off CL. Has a newly installed engine from HF (the 96549). Seems from the forum that this is a great engine for the price.

Starts nicely, and seems to run good, but very rattley (if thats a word). I cant tell if its the clutch or just general rattle of the whole kart.

I thought about putting short clip on youtube for someone to listen to and tell me their opinion.

Does anyone have an advise or opinions.

Another question, I picked up some hard rubber grommets in the Northern tool kart section. I assume these can be used like motor mounts between the engine and frame. Is this ok? I thought it might help with some of the vibration.

Finally, my setup is as follows. I was wondering what I should expect for performance. Speed vs. power. Not really concerned about speed since its for my 5yr old son, just curious.

V-Belt centrifugal clutch on the engine. 3 inch v belt pulley.

This drives the jackshaft which currently has a 6 inch pulley on that side.

The other end of the jackshaft is a 12 tooth sprocket turning a 54 tooth sprocket on the tire side via chain.

How tight should the belt drive portion and chain portion be. How much play?

thanks
Micah
Murfreesboro Tn

 

[modelengineer]

Well, you have a 9:1 ratio which will not give a very high speed (good for your son) however it will have absolutely awesome acceleration. Able to spin the wheels off the line on tarmac, I would assume.

If the engine rattles a lot it might need a valve adjustment, but that's not likely unless the engine is quite old.

Not sure about the tension, sorry.

 

[Russ2251]

I picked up some hard rubber grommets in the Northern tool kart section. I assume these can be used like motor mounts between the engine and frame. Is this ok? I thought it might help with some of the vibration.

May not be detectable through ordinary means, but an engine that is solidly bolted metal to metal will rev higher.
Something about its movement or flexing that offsets counter balancing effects of crankshaft.
I remember this from my days of building R/C aircraft. I always opted to use metal mounts as opposed to the supplied beech mounts. Difference was negligible.

 

[jr dragster T]

I agree, A solidly mounted motor rev's higher. Even if you get a small 3V DV hobby motor and power it up in your hand with a flywheel of some sort on the shaft it spins faster by alot if you grip it firmly.

 

[ZnsaneRyder]

Don't use rubber. Like they said, having it bolted down to metal is best. I tried rubber spacers before on a tricycle, and got more vibration and the chain would come off. With metal, no issues.

 

[Russ2251]

Floating power is ok for cars, buses, trucks, etc. where a comfortable ride becomes important.
Invented by Chrysler in 1926.

 

[jr dragster T]

Our Honda Generater motor mount's have a 1" thick rubber peice and you can see when you open the side panel that the motor shakes plain as day and the case on the generater stay's still. It's those insanely crazily quiet EU3000IS generater's.