Newbie here in Ohio with a kart. now what?

[CoachGarbs]

Hello all,

I have been reading the forum for a while. My son wanted a kart since his sister has a horse, so now we have a kart. I bought a Red Fox LXT off of Craigslist for $145.00. It. Came with two engines, a Central Machinery 6.5 HP mounted on the kart and a Robin Subaru engine too. The seller was upfront and honest with me said the mounted engine needed carb work, and was missing the air filter. He said he didn't know much about the Subaru engine. So I went today and bought a new 212 predator engine at Harbor Freight using the July 4 25% off coupon. Figure that was the best route to go engine wise. Oh, and it it needs a throttle cable. The seller used what looks like baling twine to control the throttle.

Looking at the torque converter does give me some concerns. It is rusted the grooves the belt rides on. The back of the driven unit has been welded on. When I pull the rope on the engine the kart moves forward. If I push the kart the engine turns over. I have never messed with a torque converter on a kart before so not sure what to do, and where to start.

The kart was advertised as a live axle. But looking at the axle the left wheel has a a hub attached to the axle with 4 bolts attaching the wheel but the right wheel the axle goes straight through the hub with lock nut on it. I have not taken the wheels off so I do not know if the axle is splined or keyed or whatever. But I am curious as to why they are different.

My questions to forum is where should I start? Anything I should do go the new engine before I mount it? Can I repair the converter or will I have to buy a new one? Throttle cable best place to get it. I did try to find a manual for it but couldn't find what appeared to be mine.

Any help or guidance would be appreciated! Thank!

 

[KartFab]

Put oil in the predator, then run it not at full throttle for 2 hrs, then change the oil. The predator gas tank may not clear the seat hoop.

Disassemble torque converter, clean, inspect, lubricate and reassemble. See the sticky in engines and clutches. If there is a lot of pitting (rust is ok) then it would be wise to replace.

Here is the throttle cable. The eyelet end goes on a 1/4 bolt on your gas pedal. The threaded rod/nuts goes on a little tab welded to the frame inline with the gas pedal. Use zip ties to direct it to the engine/throttle stop.

http://m.ebay.com/itm/190917793956?nav=SEARCH


Also, if the honda clone and subaru you have there can be fixed if they aren't seized up. There isn't a huge market for used honda clone parts. However, the subaru OEM parts are way overpriced. You could probably part out the subaru and sell it on ebay for as much as you bought your kart for.

 

[Russ2251]

Put oil in the predator, then run it not at full throttle for 2 hrs...

What could possibly be the reason for this? Sounds like the quickest route to premature failure!

 

[KartFab]

Not at full throttle? break in period ? I just let mine idle for an hour then put it at 1/3 throttle for a few minutes, back down to idle then 1/2 throttle. When the 2 hrs were up I changed the oil and put it on the kart and let my son drive it like crazy

Isn't that what you are supposed to do to get the rings comfortable with the bore? Then change oil to get rid of all the microscopic bits of metal that could be left over?

And here is a little excerpt from the predator manual:
8. Break-in Period
a. Breaking-in the engine will help to ensure proper equipment and engine operation. b. The operational break-in period will last about 3 hours of use. During this period:
• Do not apply a heavy load to the equipment.
• Do not operate the engine at its maximum speed.
c. The maintenance break-in period will last about 20 hours of use. After this period:
• Change the engine oil.
Under normal operating conditions subsequent maintenance follows the schedule explained in the MAINTENANCE AND SERVICING section.

 

[CoachGarbs]

Gran Pann- thank you.

 

[Poboy kartman]

I'm thinking someone didn't see the word "not".....

 

[OzFab]

Re: Wheels, my guess is they're simply different rims but, they're still locked to the axle...

Gran Pann has covered pretty much everything else, except maybe having a read of this thread

 

[Half-breeder]

That steering wheel shaft throw arm(pic #7) looks alil... short. (wonder how it turns... looks like itll physically turn easily, but not a very far throw IMO).

 

[CoachGarbs]

Re: Wheels, my guess is they're simply different rims but, they're still locked to the axle...

Gran Pann has covered pretty much everything else, except maybe having a read of this thread

Thank you, I am going to pull the rims off this week, and give the the once over.

 

[CoachGarbs]

That steering wheel shaft throw arm(pic #7) looks alil... short. (wonder how it turns... looks like itll physically turn easily, but not a very far throw IMO).

Any ideas or best guess as to what the proper length should be?

 

[Half-breeder]

IMO... the arm should be pretty close(maybe a tab shorter) to the same length as the pivot arms at the rims(other end of the tierods)... if not, then your robbing yourself of its FULLEST turning potential. Ofcourse this statement is going by NOT seeing the steering spindles, arm length...

The way to find out the length is... align the wheels as it now. Remove the tierods from the steering wheel shaft arm. Turn 1 wheel fully to its side(left wheel turn left... or right wheel turn right). Measure the distance from steering wheel shaft to the center of tierod connector(the one you removed from that particular side) then subtract 1/4" off of it... this will be the actual 'length' of the arm needed. The tierods will then need to be readjusted to fit... then realign the wheels.

Steering will feel a bit stiffer(than it does now), due to ratio... but youll take turn sharper, and seeing as that its a trailing arm setup... the Achermann 'should' be for the most part proper(inner tire turns further than outer).

 

[CoachGarbs]

IMO... the arm should be pretty close(maybe a tab shorter) to the same length as the pivot arms at the rims(other end of the tierods)... if not, then your robbing yourself of its FULLEST turning potential. Ofcourse this statement is going by NOT seeing the steering spindles, arm length...

The way to find out the length is... align the wheels as it now. Remove the tierods from the steering wheel shaft arm. Turn 1 wheel fully to its side(left wheel turn left... or right wheel turn right). Measure the distance from steering wheel shaft to the center of tierod connector(the one you removed from that particular side) then subtract 1/4" off of it... this will be the actual 'length' of the arm needed. The tierods will then need to be readjusted to fit... then realign the wheels.

Steering will feel a bit stiffer(than it does now), due to ratio... but youll take turn sharper, and seeing as that its a trailing arm setup... the Achermann 'should' be for the most part proper(inner tire turns further than outer).

Thank you, I will look in to that this week.