Yerf Dog Power Loss I am stumped

[Sir Cartzalot]

My son and I restored this 30032 and it was running great until the other day. Everything on it is new except the OEM fuel and brake rods etc. The chain popped off and I removed a link and adjusted the engine placement to make it tighter. It seems like right after that it lost power and now the top speed is like 14mph on flat concrete and it lost appx 30% of the power. It has a predator 212 with a stage 1 kit, 30 series TC, and a live axle kit from BMI. I took the TC cover off and the pulleys and belt look fine as do both sprockets. I don't think something got in the carb since it'll start fine and has good throttle response still it just feels so weak now. Any ideas on what it could be are appreciated maybe im over looking something.

 

[Whitetrashrocker]

Your picture of the chain, it looks crooked. Looks like the axle sprocket need to move to the passenger side about an inch.
That will help with the derailment issue.

As far as loss of power? You said the engine still runs fine? Lets see your cvt belt. If it doesn't say Comet, then its probably a yak hair and greese special.
Its most likely shot.

Denny will chime in shortly with his PSA.

 

[Edwin Spangler]

I used that air filter for about a month before my mysterious power loss. Turns out the filter wasnt filtering much and I burnt up my rings. I assume tht sock that comes with it would have helped but I didnt know that at the time and didnt use it.

 

[Sir Cartzalot]

Your picture of the chain, it looks crooked. Looks like the axle sprocket need to move to the passenger side about an inch.
That will help with the derailment issue.

As far as loss of power? You said the engine still runs fine? Lets see your cvt belt. If it doesn't say Comet, then its probably a yak hair and greese special.
Its most likely shot.

Denny will chime in shortly with his PSA.

I waited like 3 months trying to find one and I even paid for one and waited 4 weeks to find out they in fact didn't have it in stock lol. I ended up buying one from go power sports. The chain came off because I didn't adjust the motor after it stretched etc and I moved the motor over to the passenger side a bit and straightened it up more.

 

[Sir Cartzalot]

I used that air filter for about a month before my mysterious power loss. Turns out the filter wasnt filtering much and I burnt up my rings. I assume tht sock that comes with it would have helped but I didnt know that at the time and didnt use it.

Damn I would have never guessed that usually small engines like these are pretty tough and more durable than that, but weird stuff happens. I'll run the sock on mine lol.

 

[Hellion]

I used that air filter for about a month before my mysterious power loss. Turns out the filter wasnt filtering much and I burnt up my rings. I assume tht sock that comes with it would have helped but I didnt know that at the time and didnt use it.

I just recalled one of the first few cone filters I bought came with a 1/4” thick foam tube to go around it, a pre-filter basically, and it was tight fitting. I got it from GoPowerSports but I don’t see those much anymore quite frankly.

Didn’t your Stage 1 kit come with the header pipe?

Take the cover off of the TC and let’s see the condition of it all.

 

[Sir Cartzalot]

Your picture of the chain, it looks crooked. Looks like the axle sprocket need to move to the passenger side about an inch.
That will help with the derailment issue.

As far as loss of power? You said the engine still runs fine? Lets see your cvt belt. If it doesn't say Comet, then its probably a yak hair and greese special.
Its most likely shot.

Denny will chime in shortly with his PSA.

I just recalled one of the first few cone filters I bought came with a 1/4” thick foam tube to go around it, a pre-filter basically, and it was tight fitting. I got it from GoPowerSports but I don’t see those much anymore quite frankly.

Didn’t your Stage 1 kit come with the header pipe?

Take the cover off of the TC and let’s see the condition of it all.

 

[Denny]

ONLY USE GENUINE COMET BELTS!!! I get mine from Go-Kart Supply.

 

[Hellion]

ONLY USE GENUINE COMET BELTS!!! I get mine from Go-Kart Supply.

The whole kart looks way, way too clean and like it hasn’t even been run.

Surprised to see “GoPowerSports” on the belt. Could it be a Comet belt that's “private labeled”?

 

[Edwin Spangler]

View attachment 162358


The whole kart looks way, way too clean and like it hasn’t even been run.

Surprised to see “GoPowerSports” on the belt. Could it be a Comet belt that's “private labeled”?

AI says:

Direct Imports: Many of their entry-level, store-branded go-kart and minibike belts (like the common 669, 725, and 788 numbers) are built to spec by Chinese suppliers in bulk and slapped with GoPowerSports branding. [1]

-And it looks like their "next best to Comet" is no longer sold. Rotary was teh name.

 

[Sir Cartzalot]

View attachment 162358


The whole kart looks way, way too clean an

View attachment 162358


The whole kart looks way, way too clean and like it hasn’t even been run.

Surprised to see “GoPowerSports” on the belt. Could it be a Comet belt that's “private labeled”?

View attachment 162358


The whole kart looks way, way too clean and like it hasn’t even been run.

Surprised to see “GoPowerSports” on the belt. Could it be a Comet belt that's “private labeled”

AI says:

Direct Imports: Many of their entry-level, store-branded go-kart and minibike belts (like the common 669, 725, and 788 numbers) are built to spec by Chinese suppliers in bulk and slapped with GoPowerSports branding. [1]

-And it looks like their "next best to Comet" is no longer sold. Rotary was teh name.

View attachment 162358


The whole kart looks way, way too clean and like it hasn’t even been run.

Surprised to see “GoPowerSports” on the belt. Could it be a Comet belt that's “private

d like it hasn’t even been run.

Surprised to see “GoPowerSports” on the belt. Could it be a Comet belt

View attachment 162358


The whole kart looks way, way too clean and like it hasn’t even been run.

Surprised to see “GoPowerSports” on the belt. Could it be a Comet belt that's “private labeled”?

Like I said everything on the kart had been replaced meaning all brand new stuff. I just got the steering problems fixed and no matter how hard it's run it'll always be clean I am very particular about my stuff.

View attachment 162358


The whole kart looks way, way too clean and like it hasn’t even been run.

Surprised to see “GoPowerSports” on the belt. Could it be a Comet belt that's “private labeled”?

It had some grime like dirt and black belt residue I wiped off so that I could see everything better before taking the picture. The thing that concerned me was the metal flakes within the grime. This rebuild only has maybe 5 hours of riding on it which most was on the concrete roads in our neighborhood. The back side of the jackshaft side pulley did have a couple of rough spots from where the chain came off, but other than that I dont see anything else.

 

[Karttekk]

Not sure if it will help but the chain needs a little bit of slack or droop. If it's too tight it will bind up and cause the engine to labor. Try another belt as suggested since it may have gotten hot and glazed over. This place has good deals on belts. Check tire pressure too, low pressure will cause performance drag.

Drive Belts for all types of Industrial Equpment and Powersports

Belt Palace, Replacement belt Store

beltpalace.com

 

[Sir Cartzalot]

Not sure if it will help but the chain needs a little bit of slack or droop. If it's too tight it will bind up and cause the engine to labor. Try another belt as suggested since it may have gotten hot and glazed over. This place has good deals on belts. Check tire pressure too, low pressure will cause performance drag.

Drive Belts for all types of Industrial Equpment and Powersports

Belt Palace, Replacement belt Store

beltpalace.com

It went from going close to 30 to like 13 mph. The belt to me looks fine other than a slight fraying on the out edges. I'll go ahead and order another belt. Someone on reddit said when the chain popped off he could have over revved the governor. Is that possible?

 

[Karttekk]

It went from going close to 30 to like 13 mph. The belt to me looks fine other than a slight fraying on the out edges. I'll go ahead and order another belt. Someone on reddit said when the chain popped off he could have over revved the governor. Is that possible?

I'm not sure about that, hadn't heard of that ever happening. Do you know how to adjust the governor? Loosen the 10mm bolt on the gov arm at the engine, turn the center stub counter clockwise I believe until it stops, hold the throttle butterfly wide open then tighten the 10mm bolt. This eliminates the governor as a culprit. Check if a spring may have inadvertently popped off when the chain did. The long thin spring goes from the gov lever to the carb butterfly.

 

[klad]

I had a yerf 3202 i believe with this problem. How tight is that chain if you over do it you'll put a ton of resistance on the motor and the jack shaft bearings in the cvt make sure thay bearing is still OK if that chain is tight also make sure your sprocket and chain match properly

Picture of you pulling the chain slack out would help so I can see

 

[Whitetrashrocker]

 

[Sir Cartzalot]

I had a yerf 3202 i believe with this problem. How tight is that chain if you over do it you'll put a ton of resistance on the motor and the jack shaft bearings in the cvt make sure thay bearing is still OK if that chain is tight also make sure your sprocket and chain match properly

Picture of you pulling the chain slack out would help so I can see

Thos is my first time ever having a gokart, but I done the chain like I always did on my motocross bikes. I'll go loosen it up some and test drive it.