predator 212

[dmccormick68]

Hello, My son has a predator 212 on his go kart. He installed a alum. flywheel, after market exhaust, and larger jet in the carb. He also removed the governor. He has ridden it a few times, but the last time he tried to crank it, It was like it had to much compression. You could barely pull the cord. A few times it backfired and shot flames out the exhaust. We checked the valve lash and it was good. Anyone know what we should check next? This is our first go kart so we are at a loss of what else to check.

 

[Russ2251]

Check for sheared flywheel key.
This can happen if improperly torqued.

 

[chancer]

How did he remove the governor. You must open up the engine and get all the internal gov. parts out. If not the plastic parts can jam up the engine, also some people will miss the steel thrust washer in there.

 

[dmccormick68]

Flywheel key is ok. And yes he removed all of the governor by opening up the engine. Also removed spark plug and it pulls over easily but when we put plug back in it was very hard to pull again.

 

[OzFab]

Did the camshaft go back in correctly?
Is all the valve gear (lifters, pushrods, rockers) aligned correctly?
Have you checked valve lash?

We had a very similar scenario just a few weeks ago; turned out one of the pushrods had slipped out from under the valve rocker...

 

[dmccormick68]

We made sure not to disturb anything when we removed the governor. The valve lash was correct. The rockers were correct. He has driven the kart and it ran fine. Just the last time he went to go riding it would not pull. It was running fine when he last put it up. Anyone else know of something to look for? We are at a loss.

 

[Half-breeder]

Oil in the cylinder can cause the rope to pull really hard w/ the plug in... and easily w/ it out...

---------- Post added at 09:23 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:18 PM ----------

Fuel does too... it's possible that the float "may" be sticking... causing fuel to dump into the cylinder(which isn't good.

Just something to check...

 

[dmccormick68]

Half-breeder how would I check this and what would be the solution to fix it?

 

[KartFab]

Is the timing off?

1) advanced timing on flywheel somehow screwed this up? Are you 100% sure it's compatible? Hemi vs non-hemi predator parts?
2) cam lines up with the dots? (Will have to pull the crankcase cover to check that.)

 

[Poboy kartman]

Half-breeder how would I check this and what would be the solution to fix it?

Pull the spark plug wire off the plug....crank the engine several times...then pull the plug and look at it...shine a light in the spark plug hole and rotate the engine untill the piston is all the way up....

For this to be the problem....there would have to be a lot of fuel or oil....

It's possible...but I think valve lash....I would re-check that....(make sure you are TDC on the compression stroke...)

If you're sure the timing key and cam are installed correctly....it's the most likely culprit IMO....