244 rebuild

[ezgochuck]

In the morn. 1/16/11 iam putting my 244 back together. Have all new stuff for it piston, jug, bearings the whole nine yards. Any tips or advice on this project, this is my first two stroke rebuild have done several bigger four strokes but never a golf cart .

[steveb05]

I was in the same boat 2 months ago. Many (and I'm talkin many) 4-stroke motors but this buzz saw I have now was my first 2-stroke. Same rules apply though except no assembly lube...just spray with 2-stroke mix. Don't forget the torque wrench and a retorque after a couple of drive cycles.

[madoc1]

if you have the crankcase split, be sure to use a gas resistant sealant when assembling. permatex has a good one in grey usually used on motorcycles.etc. on the pistons, note where the locating pins are.

not a hard job and fun.

[ezgochuck]

Thanks I was all ready to lube it up just like and old 350 chevey good thing you posted and helped me out . Will keep posted on the out come

[Dave Box]

Now would be a good time to light a fire and bbq the muffler.
Remember the port on the piston skirt faces away from the exhaust port.
Get the head bolts in the right holes.
A little loctite bearing seal on the outer edge of the crankshaft seal won't hurt.

Dave

[steveb05]

Dave...I've found your suggestions to be spot on but I have a question. With reed valve engines, dont you want the seal to "pop out" rather than that pressure going against the reeds if you have an ignition problem? I've had an old-timer (unsponsored) dirt bike racing guy tell me to put the seals in dry for that reason...just a question...he may be smoking something (lotta crashes and he's old now).

[ezgochuck]

Why not use engine lube when putting together, and does anyone have an on line manual for this machine. I have took good photos and put bolts and parts together with notes on where they go. Got a great deal on my engine kit, and had to buy a donor engine too as my crank was shot found a good engine for 100 bucks so it will be the rebuilder mine is for spare parts now. The guy I got this one from has 30 or more engines and lots of misc. ezgo and some other brand x parts around good man to know

[Dave Box]

Steveb,
My take on this (and heaven knows I am not infallible) is that due to manufacturing tolerences and just plain wear the seal may not always sit tight in the crankcase. There are quite a few threads here where the problem is that a seal has just fallen out and is resting on the crankshaft. Now if it was a simple matter to push the seal back in I would say just push it back in, but in my experience replacing a seal or two consists of blood, sweat, tears, misery, squalor, degradation and Lord's name of taking in vain. OK that may be going a little too far but it isn't fun and my feeling is to keep that little sucka in there nice and snug.
I can see your concern that if the crankcase were to pressurise you could rupture the reed valve but I can tell you from personal experience that the seals will give up first. What happened in my case was that the fuel pump diaphragm split and overnight the fuel tank siphoned into the crankcase. My first indication that something was wrong was that the garage stank of gas, looking underneath I saw a puddle of gas under the cart. Without putting 2 and 2 together I tried to start the cart and the starter turned half a crank and stalled, so I tried again with the same result and then one more when it span and started. I got it out of the garage and it died. What had happened was (of course) the crankcase had filled with gasoil and as the piston went down it met an uncompressible force. Torturing my newly rebuilt engine three times was enough blow the rubber out of the seal but not damage the reed.
So I think that a little bearing lock will have more pros than cons although I should have said not to use the version that locks it in forever.
Dave

[steveb05]

Chuck...You don't want anything in there that might inhibit the flow of the air/fuel mixture as that is the source of the lubrication. Anything thick would "gum up the works" as they say. Its not like a pressurized oil system that can move the lube out of the way once the engine is running.

Dave...I understand. My 340 that I put in had some issues in the stator assebmly that I didn't notice when I rebuilt the egine. Once I got it back together and started it up, it ran kinda funny. Thinking maybe it was just running a bit fat and I could clean it out with some RPMs, I gave the throttle a kick. After picking my ear drums back up off the floor and putting them in a zip lock bag for transport to the doctor, I indeed found my PTO seal resting against the clutch. Personally, with the size of the bang from the points opening at BDC, I'm glad that was the only thing to be repaired.

Guess the lesson in both cases is, think about what the situation is telling you. Don't start a dripping engine and be dang sure your points don't have a bad spring! (oh and yes, they were brand new...but when I pulled them back out, the spring steel had a crack in it...manufacturer defect)

[ezgochuck]

I see what your saying with the lube and would be right after I sat back and looked at it that way. Hope you all are around this after noon about to head out and start on this project.