Lol. I have a off brand too and it's been working better than I anticipated considering it's on a Champion 6.5hp in a (full sized 2wd) ATV with 19 inch tires, a (less than ideal) 5.4:1 gear ratio AND the driven spring is still in the middle hole. One thing I did notice is that my belt needed a break in period before it started gripping well. Before I get into the mechanics and adjustments of the torque converter let's start with the basics...
Even though the torque converter came as a unit with a backplate did you space the driver on the motor so the inner sheaves flat discs are in great alignment with each other? If not start there.
Does the cart roll freely WITH the weight of the driver? If not some things to consider are the brake(s) dragging, low tire pressure, worn bearings, drive chain too tight or ?? All good? Moving along...
Find out what your gearing and final drive ratios are by using the KartCalculator live app at app.kartcalc.net. In the settings menu change the units to what you prefer, in the "Quick Calc" menu enter your data and it will spit out a bunch of info. For the tire measurement you want the outside diameter of the tire by measuring from the floor to the top of the tread, forget what the tire is labeled as and you only need to measure one rear tire. Report back and we'll keep moving ahead.
I see you have a Honda GX200, that motor should have plenty of get up and go if it's in good working condition, make sure you're getting full throttle at the motor when you're using the gas pedal. It will be a little restricted with the stock air cleaner and exhaust but it shouldn't make it suffer TOO much, not like a bad gear ratio will. Is the governor installed and functional? If it is don't attempt to bypass it as that's a recipe for disaster but there is a long screw with a spring on it that limits the travel of the throttle and therefore the max rpms the motor can turn, you can back out the screw to increase the max rpms safely (to approx 4300) which in itself should help alot and heres why :
The driver clutch stock setup doesnt start to engage until roughly 2300rpm which leaves only 1300ish rpms of (not so much) fun.... increase that to 4300 and now you have another 700rpm of belt grabbing centrifugal force to help. Last but not least if you change the hole in which the drivens spring is sitting in so the spring has more tension it will delay the "shifting" process of the driven giving you more torque for a longer period which helps with acceleration and inclines.
That's all I got for now but as a quick recap:
- check pulley alignment
- check to make sure the cart rolls freely
- use KartCalculator to find potential issues
- make sure the motor is up to snuff
* anickode had a couple great suggestions also which I somehow completely missed until after the fact*
To make sure the torque converter is working as intended and that the motor will wind out get the rear tires off the ground and give it heck, I dont want to sound like the safety police here but please do it in a safe manner so no person nor animal gets hurt if things go awry. Class dismissed!
