shorter belt problems

bbrazil

put the dayco 3004 on my 1984 ezgo. the problem is at full speed the belt rides too far down on the driven clutch causing the cart to bog down when the belt is pinched in the clutch. Is my clutch opening too far? or is it not fully opening? How far should the belt go in? with the oem belt this is not a problem. has anyone else had this problem?

BGW

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sharse36

I have the same problem with the shorter belt on my cart. The driven clutch garbs the belt and its like slamming the brakes on. Put the stock belt back on and works great.

I was looking at the motor mounts and I have a bad one. So i block one side of the motor frame so it would not move when at high speed and the belt still did it. I'm looking at the driven clutch to see it needs any thing or replaced

BrewCityMusic

Where's Dave Box when you need him - there are actually two different clutches on the Marathons, and the 3004 is actually too short to use on one of them - hang tight, I'm sure he'll be along soon to help you guys out, he's a pretty serious advocate / guru regarding the shorter belts ....

Dave Box

Hey Dale, at 12.14 am Dave Box is tucked up safely in his pit having mildly erotic dreams about running a golf car repair facility.

Just thinking about how the variable transmission works as the drive clutch closes the driven clutch has to open by the same amount otherwise the belt would get pulled tighter and tighter. The purpose of the shorter belt is to keep the belt lower on the drive pully which effectively lowers the gear ratio at any given rpm thus increasing low end torque (although lowering top end speed).

Guys (and this is just a guess) I can imagine that at speed something lets go and the engine moves towards the driven pully. This would be like a downshift as the belt would move back up the driven pully and you would feel the car slow rapidly. Now if your belt is 7/8th shorter than stock then the engine would have to only move 7/16 inch to have the feeling of instantly changing the belt from modified to stock.

Of course you may also have clutch issues, a weak spring would cause the sheaves to open too quickly and the shorter belt would make that condition more noticeable, although wide open should be wide open regardless.

I know this sounds dreadfully smug but the only advantage of rescuing a beater is that every single wretched thing had to be replaced so with two new clutches the shorter belt really did work, not that makes you feel any better.

Dave

bbrazil

I too noticed that i have a bad motor mount on the drive clutch side in the rear. I am going to replace and see if that might be the problem

pachanga90

Re:at 12.14 am Dave Box is tucked up safely in his pit having mildly erotic dreams about running a golf car repair facility.

WAY TOO MUCH INFO!!!!!:lhmo :

Dave Box

Hmmm, on reflection maybe that first sentence did not add to the thread, oh well what's done is done.

pachanga90

Since when do we stay on topic Dave?Thats half the fun,drifting off in another direction!!

BrewCityMusic

I never thought about the engine mounts, Dave - good call. Mine were shot (and I mean SHOT) and before I replaced them the engine would move so far as to allow the driven clutch to actually rub (probably the better part of an inch and a quarter) - with a shorter belt, you're right, that tolerance would go down considerably and throw the proverbial monkeywrench smack in the middle of everything.

Note: Get your engine mounts on Ebay, I found a set for right around $20-ish shipped as versus $14 each through most parts vendors. They're a bit tricky to install as you have to drill out the old rivets, but it's still a job you should be able to tackle with the engine in the cart in a short afternoon.

And Dave, seriously - you need help. Never change, Amigo !!!!!

rokcrlr

I put the 3004 belt on my 88 a few weeks ago and it is working just like it is suppose to.Great improvement over the stock belt.