1984 - 1985 Marathon Golf Cart Issues

[cart around]

That is one of the mount bolts. There are four on each side.

You can leave the head on the cylinder. There are no valves to worry about. Position doesn't matter.

When you are reinstalling it, you will want the rod extended just for ease of access.

There are snap rings holding the wrist pin in. Remove those, and turn the piston around.
Remove the rings, and stick each one in the cylinder to measure the end gap. Now, if the head was removed, you would stick each one in about an inch from the top.

Since this is a new cylinder, I would say it's ok to stick the rings in from the bottom a few inches to measure them. Push them in with the piston to make sure they are straight. I will edit this in a few minutes to let you know what page it's on. You may, or may not need to file the ends of the rings to get the right gap.

Put the rings on a flat table. You should be able to look at them to see which side is beveled. The bevel goes up when installing on the piston.

When reinstalling everything into the cylinder, you should be able to squeeze the rings with your fingers to get them to slide into the cylinder. That's why you want the rod as long as possible. Don't forget to install the cylinder base gasket first.

EDIT: Page H-1 Ring gap is .008-.016". You want to get as close to the .008 as possible. If the gap is already bigger than that, there is nothing you can do. Since this is a new cylinder, and piston that has never run, We will call this a fresh rebuild. That means the gas ratio should be 40:1 for the first tankful. You should also lube the cylinder with 2 stroke oil during assembly.

[Dabble Inn]

Great detailed instructions CA ......

OUCH on that pic looking into the exhaust port, yep that engine has never ran...

Yippee on still having an original 'Mikuni' carb.....

One more small piece of advice, when removing piston pin there should be two spacers on it that will fall out (unless you catch them). Be careful not to let them or the snap rings fall down into the case, I always put a rag over the hole so nothing gets in there anyway.

[BlackKnight]

So i should install a new cylinder base gasket for sure.
Should i use any gasket dressing etc.

Also you mentioned be sure previous work on case had sealant on it. Thats the bottom end crankshaft area?

[cart around]

You could put a little dab of something to hold the gasket in place.

Yes, the split line is where the two lower case halves bolt together.

[BlackKnight]

So it looks like he did use a sealant on the lower case halves. Something that’s gray.

So I’m going to try to do this piston thing maybe this evening just in case I need my wife’s assistance. On another note looking at the driven clutch the cover had a crack with duct tape on it. Plus it looks like there’s a big hole. Like a washer wore through it. Should I take a look inside while it’s easy to do With the engine out.lubricate anything check anything?

[cart around]

Just throw it away. You can run without it.

[BlackKnight]

So I removed the 3 screws and opened up the cap. A small amount of black dust fell out and the inside cover is coated.

Can I spray down the insides with a brake cleaner?

I will use some Moly lube in both clutches just to be safe.

When I squeeze both sides of the driven clutch with one hand it does widen the opposite side of the clutch is that normal?

[cart around]

Clean it, and use a graphite type lube. Molylube, or dryslide. No grease or oil.

[BlackKnight]

So the rings "bevel" higher on cylinder wall lower near piston head?

[cart around]

Look at the picture in this link. The flat top side of the piston is considered up.

The bevel side of the rings go up. http://www.golfcarnews.com/technical...-mayjune-2008/


Your other question about the clutch. No, it's not normal. That clutch is going to slip. You will have issues climbing hills.