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08-10-2009, 09:31 AM | #1 |
Not Yet Wild
Join Date: Jul 2009
Location: Pittsburgh, PA
Posts: 16
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Old school Clutch problems
I have a 79 E-Z GO that I have been working on. I really believe I may have some clutch issues. I have spent hours reading through the forums educating myself on how the clutch works in the carts. I have really learned a lot, there has been a lot of good information posted. I know some of the basics about clutches, based on my experience working with my Polaris atvs.
I have seen similar posts with my issue, but I could not find an exact answer that seemed to match what I am looking for. When you press the gas, the motor starts and moves slightly forward (in jerking motion), but it does not seem like it has enough power to pull out. It all most seems as if it is in too high of a gear (same thing happens in reverse). When the back wheels are off the ground the motor seems to run strong. When on the ground and you give the cart a push it picks up speed and then runs well. So it seems like it is having a problem in the low end. I know I probably need a belt. Mine is very worn. Could the belt be the reason it is having problems pulling out? I know the clutch is probably worn as well. I was thinking of taking it apart and cleaning it. Before I spend too much money, I want to know what I am going to have to put into it to get it running good. By the wear patterns on the plates, it does not seem like the sheaths are moving in and out on either the drive or driven clutches. On the driven clutch, the belt is near the center of the sheaths and is only riding toward the outside about an inch or so. I can see the wear pattern and I can see the belt moving when the back wheels are up off the ground. I believe the belt should be traveling toward the outside edge of the driven clutch sheaths. How close to the edge should it travel? Furthermore, I read how to take off the belt in other forums, but the tension is so tight, I cannot get the old belt off. I can get some slack by squeezing the belt and the driven clutch opening slightly, but not enough to get the belt over the sheathes on either side. Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated on how to get the old belt off. I was thinking of cutting it, but I figured I would have just as many problems getting it on the new one. I will start here and see what suggestion are made, then I will follow up and let you know where I stand. |
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08-10-2009, 10:41 AM | #2 |
EZ Like Sunday Morning
Join Date: Jun 2009
Location: Owatonna, Minnesota
Posts: 465
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Re: Old school Clutch problems
It sounds like the issue I was having with my 1982. After running for a while the drive (engine) clutch would stick engaged (compressed) and wouldn't re-start without tapping the rear housing with a hammer to get it to release. I took the clutch off to take it apart only to find the rollers all had flat spots so when they would slide to the end of the weights/fingers they would hang on the flat spots.
So I called around only to find that you cannot get the rollers so I had a good welder use a wire feed welder and build up the flat spots so we could grind them round and smooth. You need someone with a steady hand on the welder and grinder (which is why I didn't do it myself) but we had success. I put the cart through it's paces this weekend and got it hot with a lot of hill pulls and never got it to hang up once. Hope this helps. |
08-10-2009, 06:00 PM | #3 |
Not Yet Wild
Join Date: Jul 2009
Location: Pittsburgh, PA
Posts: 16
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Re: Old school Clutch problems
Thanks for the info. After re-reading my post, I forgot to mention one important thing as well. In the Drive Cluth, it seems as if it is stuck about halfway. The belt is riding in about the center of the sheaths and they do not seem to opening or closing. This is probably the reason I have been unsuccessful pulling the belt as well. I am going to try and pull apart the drive clutch and see what I can find.
Any other replies are greatly appreciated when I am in the process of doing the work. |
08-10-2009, 10:02 PM | #4 |
EZ Like Sunday Morning
Join Date: Jun 2009
Location: Owatonna, Minnesota
Posts: 465
|
Re: Old school Clutch problems
With the clutch half engaged there will be part of the shaft sticking out of the back of the clutch, hit that with wd-40 and tap the housing with a hammer to see if you can get it to release. Once you get it to release I would pull it off the engine and dis-assemble it, clean and grease it. Then before you put it back together you can compress it by hand, so I would do that quite a bit to make sure it will release when it is supposed to.
I got my 2nd cart running tonight and I think the clutch will have to come off and be greased as it doesn't release very well, but we will see after this weekend. Yes, with the clutch 1/2 engaged the cart won't start with pushing it and you won't get the belt off.....you need to get the clutch to release then you can get the belt off then pull the clutch. Good luck |
08-11-2009, 06:23 AM | #5 |
Gone Wild
Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: OKOBOJI, IA.
Posts: 247
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Re: Old school Clutch problems
the belt is not the problem unless it is slipping on the driven clutch and not allowing it to spin.
the belt should be at the top off the driven clutch and the bottom of the drive clutch with enough slack to almost pinch together in the middle. with the wheels off the ground and the seat off floor it and see if either clutch moves. the drive clutch should close and the driven clutch open (the driven clutch will only open at high rpm's with the wheels off the ground) good luck, Dew |
08-20-2009, 09:38 PM | #6 |
Not Yet Wild
Join Date: Jul 2009
Location: Pittsburgh, PA
Posts: 16
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Re: Old school Clutch problems
I finally had some time to tinker tonight. I got the drive clutch off with no problems, thanks to the tech forum and the advice on using a 3/4” bolt, a rod and an impact gun. It cost me $3.50 for the bolt at Tractor Supply and I had a piece of rod in my garage and it worked great.
My past experience with CVTs has only been on my Polaris quad. I have had my clutches apart a few times to upgrade, so I know a little about clutches, but I am not an expert by any means. Many things that looked familiar on the EZGO (compared to the Polaris), but the drive clutch just don’t seem like it is working exactly right. The first thing I noticed was large groves in the shaft closest to the spider gear. I took some pictures and I will try and upload them below. My guess is these groves are not supposed to be there. The second thing I noticed was that the moveable sheath was very sloppy and loose on the shaft. There was at least ˝-3/4” of play where the roller is compared to the posts to the left and right. I uploaded a photo of this a well. As you can see I leaned the moveable sheath to the one side. My guess that the sheath should not be that loose…it is probably loose from riding on the grooves and causing the bushing to round out. The rollers and weights seem to be in good shape. I could not see any visual problems with them. The groves that were on the shaft are actually causing the moving sheath to hang up and bind when the motor is running. That is why the clutch was originally sticking about half way closed as I mentioned earlier in this thread. I found if I grabbed the cover and moved it around it would free back up and come out now that everything is clean, but the binding is the main issue. Every time you start the motor and the clutch spins the moveable sheath binds on the grooves and I am back to square one. Can someone give me some insight about this clutch? Is it junk or is there possibly a piece missing that someone did not put it back together correctly. As you may have seen, the cart really never ran right. Before messing with the clutch, you had to push it to get it moving. If you just stepped on the gas it surged forward, but did not have the power to pull out. Then when it came up to speed it would run good in the mid to top end. It just did not seem like it had enough power to pull out. Any thoughts or assistance on what I should do next would be greatly appreciated. |
08-21-2009, 06:30 AM | #7 |
Gone Wild
Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: OKOBOJI, IA.
Posts: 247
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Re: Old school Clutch problems
Not sure ,but i dont think you can get parts anymore.
might have to invest in a new comet clutch. hows the motor run with out the clutch on? |
08-21-2009, 09:58 AM | #8 |
Gone Wild
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: Eldon Missouri
Posts: 977
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Re: Old school Clutch problems
Would it be feasible to have the shaft turned down, the housing bored out and a bushing added to the housing ? A local machine shop should be able to do this for you pretty cheaply. I'm not sure if you use the same terminology here in the USA but back in England we use a material called "Oilite" for the bushings. As I recall, it is a bronze material that absorbs oil and is thus self lubricating. We used this method for restoring worn shafts on lathes etc and it worked very well under some very harsh operating conditions.
Chris. |
08-21-2009, 10:44 AM | #9 |
Kid no more!!
Join Date: Feb 2007
Location: Bradford, Ontario, Canada
Posts: 750
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Re: Old school Clutch problems
Hi Jbar.
After seeing the pictures of your clutch, i hate to say it, but its worn out past resonable repair. In the last picture where you show where the clutch weights are supposed to be and were it slides up and down in the weight grove. That whole thing is extremely worn out. There should be pressure bushing sliders there and i can see that the sliding clutch sheve is crooked to begin with, all your bushings are shot. Best bet, performance wize, and safety wize, is to get yourself a new comet clutch ezgo p/n 23192-G1 and get carting! |
08-23-2009, 07:08 PM | #10 |
Not Yet Wild
Join Date: Jul 2009
Location: Pittsburgh, PA
Posts: 16
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Re: Old school Clutch problems
I believe you guys are right about the clutches being bad. I just wanted to confirm. InvalidSession, you are exactly right as for the terminology. I thought that exact thing. My dad is a retired machinist and he said the same exact thing you said, he even used the same name of the material you mentioned. My only concern about having just bushing made is that there may be other issues with the Drive clutch as well. To make things worse, I know I am going to need a Driven clutch. My guess is that it is just worn out as well. I have been looking around at prices and I just don’t know if it is worth spending about $400 for a new Drive Clutch and Driven Clutch and new belt.
To answer a question above, the motor seems to run pretty good. As I mentioned earlier, when you push it to get it rolling it runs good on the mid to high speeds. I just had it out today riding it up and down my road. There is a little smoke, but there is a chance that the gas is just old or even not mixed properly. So I am at the point to decide to invest money in this cart or sell it off and start over on a new ride. From my research, it looks like the clutch from 76-88 is all the same. Maybe I will get lucky and can get some used clutches out of a newer model in the mid to late 80s. I may be able to pick up an 85 with a bad motor for pretty cheap and piece the two together. Does anyone know if the rear end from 76-88 are the same (dimensions, how they connect to frame)? Basically, if I got a rear end from an 85, will it bolt on to my 79? It looks like there are only 6 bolts that hold on the rear end. 2 on each frame rail and 1 to hold on the shock bolt on each side (plus the brake cables). If the clutches are the same, there may be a good chance the entire rear end is the same. I know they changed from a keyed hub/axle to a splined hub/axle, but it does not look like anything else has really changed. If anyone has an 80-88 2 Cycle EZGO and could snap off a few pictures and upload them or even send them to me it would be greatly appreciated. I believe by looking at the pictures I would be able to determine if it would bolt in to my frame. Please take some pictures of the bolts under the shocks and springs near the wheels. Once again any help is greatly appreciated. |
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