What is a clone replacement?

jecartag

Hey yall,

Ive posted a couple times today and am really excited about rigging my cart. I have a 1988 EZGO Marathon with a 244 Robin that was left out in the weather for about 2 years and not its pretty locked up in multiple places. I am going to strip everything down and clean it, but I want to have a backup plan. If I need to replace the engine, I am not sure what to replace it with. The cheaper the better because I am just graduating from college, but have most of the tools I will need to do the job.

I have seen some things on using a Clone engine, but am not sure what this is and I don't know too much about it. Also, any general tips of basic things that I will need to do on this specific cart to replace the engine would be helpful.

If anybody has come across any how-to references, that would also be greatly appreciated!

Thank you so much!

BGW

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slonomo

"The Clone" is just a Chinese version (knockoff) of the Honda GX390 engine. This engine is common on pressure washers and generators. They run really nice. Many mfgs make their own versions, mostly in the 420cc and 440cc sizes.

http://www.buggiesgonewild.com/clone...-vs-vegas.html

http://www.buggiesgonewild.com/clone...40-review.html

1989Marathon

slo, reverse, reverse, reverse! Sideways secondary clutch...

slonomo

OOOF! When did they start mounting them frontways? Well, it can be done, but it's much more difficult on the sideways engine.

sho305

Right, if your old 2 stroke engine runs in reverse a 4 stroke can't do that to give you reverse gear. You lose reverse or need to put a cradle and trans from a 4 stroke cart in there. 4 strokes have a reverse gear in the trans, 2 strokes don't.

pachanga90

Yep,you will need to find a Marathon 4-stroke rear axle assy.then build a mount for the motor.The axle will bolt in,so no real issues there.

army

It's really hit and miss on the 4 stroke transaxles in my area. I searched for over a year for one to put in my `90 Marathon, finally found one, bought it and then found and bought two more of them right away. That was a couple years ago and I haven't seen another one for sale since.

pachanga90

If you can do some fabrication work,any yamaha or ezgo Txt 4-stroke axle will work,as long as the hub width is the same or slighty wider.I used a G2 axle in my Marathon,with 2 driverside axles(i think,been a while,one is longer than the other,i used 2,long ones) for width.Hope this helps.

army

That's a good point pachanga.. I have a `96 Club Car and the transaxle looks like it would bolt right into a leaf spring Marathon. I have done any measuring but visually it's pretty close to fitting. Also, the brake cables on it appear to be the same as what's on my `90 and `93 Marathons. The driven pulley is on the right side in a Club car, which isn't a problem unless you have a 1996 like mine. I think that was the cutoff year for the opposite direction pulley rotation but I don't recall if the pre-96 or the `97's and up are like mine. Anyway, the engine rotation is backwards which means using a jackshaft or accepting a slower top speed because you're actually driving in reverse when you're going forward.

Btw I like your tagline. I have a 1950 Ford pickup with the original 239 flathead in it. Not gonna win any drag races but it's a sweet old motor.

pachanga90

The 96' Club rear will work,the rotation is correct,you just put the.motor in backwards,gearing will be correct as well.