Knoxville, TN-- new go kart owner

[muddwhumper1]

As a kid, I always wanted a go kart but never got one. Now I bought my son a little kart at an auction and realize I don't know the first thing about them. So I was searching around and found this place. THANKS!!! I have been reading other posts etc. Of course the kart has some carb issues since it sat in a barn for years. I will post pics soon. It is a Sears and Roebuck two seater called the Lime Limo. It has a Tecumseh motor and that is all I know about it... LOL My son is too small to drive it and I am too big, so my wife has to drive. (you should have heard her laugh as she drove off down the driveway in the dark.) Does anyone know of diagrams or pictures that label parts? I know basic things, like clutch, carb, wheels, tires, seats and steering wheel... But the whole tooth count thing, I don't understand and I am baffled at all the screws on the carb... LOL Thanks to the administrators for this site and any help/suggestions is greatly appreciated.

 

[B man]

Welcome! As for your questions.

The teeth counting is to determine gearing. Like for example if your clutch sprocket has 10Teeth and the Sprocket on your axle has 60Teeth. Then you would have a 6:1 ratio.

the higher the ratio the more Torque you will have. the lower the ratio the more speed you will have.

Ok and for the screws on the carb. Well usually you have a Idle screw, A air/fuel mixture screw,and And a throttle stop screw.

Now your engine is a Tecumseh. Sadly there out of business. But you can still by parts so thats not really a problem.

As for the Sears and Roebuck Go kart. I'd have to see the pics first to offer any help.

Im right near Knoxville,Tn

 

[muddwhumper1]

Cool. Yea, we live near Mascot. I am going to post pics as soon as I can find out where the wife hid the camera.

Thanks for the help!

 

[muddwhumper1]

Pics of Riley's ride

There are a total of 4 screws on the carb and gas pedal linkage. The one that is in the bottom of the bowl is like a needle on the inside and has a spring between the head and nut. Not sure what it does or how to adjust these things. The motor begins to cut out the faster you rev it. It starts stumbling etc. Not sure if its starved for fuel or getting too much. The old spark plug looked like it was getting too much fuel b/c it was black.

 

[OzFab]

Your assumtion sounds correct, but doesn't really make sense.

The black spark plug indicates that it is indeed running rich, but the stumbling is indicative of starving for fuel

The big "needle" in the bottom of the carb is your main jet (& it appears to be leaking).

It could be that your mixture screw needs to be adjusted in (to lean it out) but your main jet also needs adjusting &/or cleaning to stop it stumbling at high speed.

 

[muddwhumper1]

Your assumtion sounds correct, but doesn't really make sense.

The black spark plug indicates that it is indeed running rich, but the stumbling is indicative of starving for fuel

The big "needle" in the bottom of the carb is your main jet (& it appears to be leaking).

It could be that your mixture screw needs to be adjusted in (to lean it out) but your main jet also needs adjusting &/or cleaning to stop it stumbling at high speed.

Up date: I kept screwing things in and out... LOL and now it revs to the sky, but it will backfire as the revs are dropping. even shot a little fire out the pipe. Gonna post a video soon. Also when wifey was driving it earlier the chain came off. I put it back on but noticed there are two chain sprockets on the top side where the clutch is at... is this normal? thanks all for your help. This is fun!!!!

Here is the Youtube video of the motor backfiring. Not sure which screw to adjust to stop this.

http://youtu.be/Pqmttt856gs

** it may take a little bit to load-- I shot the video at dusk and Youtube is trying to "lighten" it up.

 

[landuse]

The teeth counting is to determine gearing. Like for example if your clutch sprocket has 10Teeth and the Sprocket on your axle has 60Teeth. Then you would have a 6:1 ratio.

the higher the ratio the more Torque you will have. the lower the ratio the more speed you will have.

Welcome to the forum!

Strictly speaking, when you say higher ratio, it actually means that you have a smaller number (eg. 3:1 and not 6:1). This will give you more speed but less torque. If you gear too high it is like taking off in 3rd gear in your car. You just mess your clutch up. If you say that you are geared lower, it actually means that you have a higher number (eg. 6:1 and not 3:1). This will give you more torque or take off power, but you then sacrifice speed. I prefer more torque than speed, but that is just me.

So to recap:

Hige ratio - small number
Low ratio - high number

The two sprockets that you are seeing on you clutch are not really two. On some clutches it looks like there are two, but the inner one is non functional. I posted a pic of what I mean. I have never really figured out why some companies do this.

Have a look at these manuals. They deal with your carb amongst other things

Tecumseh carb cleanup, servicing and troubleshooting
http://www.kichline.com/chuck/fixit/mowers/tcarb/tcarb.html
http://www.smallenginesuppliers.com...cumseh_L-Head_Engines_Service_Information.pdf
http://www.smallenginesuppliers.com...cumseh/Tecumseh-basic-service-information.pdf

 

[muddwhumper1]

Welcome to the forum!

Strictly speaking, when you say higher ratio, it actually means that you have a smaller number (eg. 3:1 and not 6:1). This will give you more speed but less torque. If you gear too high it is like taking off in 3rd gear in your car. You just mess your clutch up. If you say that you are geared lower, it actually means that you have a higher number (eg. 6:1 and not 3:1). This will give you more torque or take off power, but you then sacrifice speed. I prefer more torque than speed, but that is just me.

So to recap:

Hige ratio - small number
Low ratio - high number

The two sprockets that you are seeing on you clutch are not really two. On some clutches it looks like there are two, but the inner one is non functional. I posted a pic of what I mean. I have never really figured out why some companies do this.

Have a look at these manuals. They deal with your carb amongst other things

Tecumseh carb cleanup, servicing and troubleshooting
http://www.kichline.com/chuck/fixit/mowers/tcarb/tcarb.html
http://www.smallenginesuppliers.com...cumseh_L-Head_Engines_Service_Information.pdf
http://www.smallenginesuppliers.com...cumseh/Tecumseh-basic-service-information.pdf

*Awesome-- This is some great information!! Thank you! Did you watch the Youtube link? What does it mean when it backfires like that when deaccelerating? rich or lean?

*Also-- by using the outer gear on the clutch the chain was not lining up(would work but terribly off center)... so last night I put it on the inside sprocket. Is that okay? It was too dark and no one has driven it since I did that... will it be okay to drive with the chain on the inside sprocket? When I fired it up for the video, it would drive the tire (rather hard too-- had to really press on the brake to stop it.) I just want it to be as safe as possible for wife and kiddo.

Thanks everyone. This place is awesome!!!