New input shaft is noisy as hell. What to do???

[jonequest]

Originally Posted by simple man

Just a thought, have you counted the number of teeth on each gear? From your photos one looks like it has more teeth than the other. I'd measure the exact diameters of the gears also.

I counted the teeth twice before installing it the first time. It also slides in and out as easy as the original and spins the wheels easily with my fingertips on the input spline.

[jonequest]

Originally Posted by Spawn

Don't let it run without a load. You will over rev the motor and melt it down! Someone else did that a couple months ago.

As was said you have some spurs on the gear or it is not shimmed properly that is causing the noise. Bite the bullet and fix it correctly or find a used rear end.

Don't try RC suggestion's, listen to those who work on carts.

Think of us as your "ask the audience" on Millionaire, 8 out of 10 wont be wrong.

I knew running it free wheel would not be a good idea even at half throttle. I am just getting frustrated at this whole thing. I have already R&R my motor and shaft about 7-8 times already pulling 2 batteries each time to get to it.

I don't know about shimming the intermediate gear. How do you shim it? Does the shim move it side to side? I would almost consider replacing that gear too but unless I do ALL the gears there will always be one new gear against an old gear somewhere. I bought the whole cart for $500 (in rough shape) the gears alone would cost more than that if I bought all of them. I honestly don't see how they sell a lot of gears. If mine were to really go bad it would almost be cheaper to buy a whole cart and swap rear ends.

[Spawn]

Thats why I said you may want to swap rears. I know even with cars and other things getting a rear end quite can be a major pain in the ***. I have watched pros pull and drive and pull and drive and have all new gears and bearings and still have a noise or hine. No one ever seems to do as good a job as the manufacturer setting up a rear end.

[jonequest]

Originally Posted by Spawn

Thats why I said you may want to swap rears. I know even with cars and other things getting a rear end quite can be a major pain in the ***. I have watched pros pull and drive and pull and drive and have all new gears and bearings and still have a noise or hine. No one ever seems to do as good a job as the manufacturer setting up a rear end.

I agree with you. I spent a long time again last night learning about "Crowning" gears. It is a method of making a slight arc on helical and other gears to reduce noise. I very slightly hand filed and sanded all 21 groves, smoothing them out equally , then reinstalling the bearings and reinstalling the whole assy. several times. I always get the same result. It whines when spinning. I know have come to the realization that I am likely screwed and have few options.

1) I leave in the noisy input gear and protect the new motor.... but hate driving my cart because it whines loud as hell. I also noticed that the rear bearing felt bad after driving it for about 2 miles the first day trying to break it in. I have since replaced than bearing but I am sure if there is noise it still has too much run-out and will wear the new bearing out as well.

2) I can buy another genuine EZGO input shaft but I am sure it will whine just the same. new vs. old

3) I can reinstall the old shaft that will slowly chew up the input coupler of my new motor. I will at least have enjoyment for a short time.

4) I can try to weld new metal to the spline area of my old input gear and then using my dremel hand grind out new splines using the "new" input shaft (a.k.a. $100 paperweight) and new motor as a guide.

5) I can try to locate a used input shaft that still has splines and swap it in.

I am starting to think that option 4 or 5 are my BEST options. Otherwise as you said find a another rear end that will likely have sat in the rain for years and be worn out with a rusted input shaft. I will fill my rear end with mollasses and wrap a blanket around it before spending more than the original price of the cart on a whole set of gears that I don't know how to perfectly shim. I am not sure what to do at this point.

[Spawn]

I would try option 5
dont do 4 it wont work

[scottyb]

The chances of finding a used input (still good) with wear to match yours are not good.
I tried a half dozen one day and ended up with a new one.
I noticed they all wore a little differently because there is a lot of slop in the so called set up of these gear
sets.

[jonequest]

Originally Posted by Spawn

I would try option 5
dont do 4 it wont work

I didn't think it would either. I imagine hardened steel is not easy to weld to. Late last night I even imagined just putting JB Weld on the shaft and motor together, then reinstalling quickly so it dries as one balanced assy. Then I realized I was truly grasping at straws and should go to sleep.
I will hunt for the used shaft today. Either way I guess I will get the shaft right? Horrible pun but I couldn't resist.

[jonequest]

Originally Posted by scottyb

The chances of finding a used input (still good) with wear to match yours are not good.
I tried a half dozen one day and ended up with a new one.
I noticed they all wore a little differently because there is a lot of slop in the so called set up of these gear
sets.

Oh man, I was afraid of that as well. How did the new one work out? If the old intermediate gear had wear and the new shaft did not was it still quiet?

[scottyb]

The new one made some noise but not as bad as yours?
I have a used one...... but that is just a crap shoot.
I think the best idea was painting it with the blue ink and then determining what you would have to do to gain more contact.

[jonequest]

Originally Posted by scottyb

The new one made some noise but not as bad as yours?
I have a used one...... but that is just a crap shoot.
I think the best idea was painting it with the blue ink and then determining what you would have to do to gain more contact.

I may try that. I have some nice OSHA orange rattle can around the garage. I may clean it with laquer thinner, paint it and hand spin to see what else I can shave. I can return the shaft so I may as well try to get it to work. After that what lube would you recommend for best noise reduction? I am running some 30w motor oil at the moment.