1995 gas Ds

[Fishinforce]

First off thanks for the add. Here are just a couple pics of the cart I just picked up. Trying to decide on a few things and would like some opinions. There is a budget lol. Wife wants to be able to put her jet ski or 16’ aluminum v-hull in the water and take it out with the cart. She also wants it to be a bit faster then the neighbors. We are on the va coast so it is flat to the ramp, the ramp is a normal incline. Questions are, lift or not lift? Which tow hitch? Option for speed but not loose torque to tow? The rear seat does not fold down , so any ideas to convert without getting new assembly? Last , when depressing the pedal the micro switch clicks right away but the starter will not engage till pedal is about 3/4 of the depressed, is there an adjustment? The cart is a club car 1995 DS gas with a KAWASAKI engine. Thanks

[Fishinforce]

Sorry- not sure why the pics went sideways

[Fishinforce]

Anybody??????

[CP241]

Biggest question is how heavy is the boat? I don't know that I would recommend launching a boat with a golf cart... especially pulling it back out of the water up a steep and likely wet/slick surface. A DS is a short wheelbase designed to haul a couple people and golf clubs around a golf course, nothing more.

My recommendations would be first, make sure the engine is running right. Remember it is 20+ years old and probably tired. Do a compression test, adjust the valves, do a general tune up and make sure it's good before risking safety and property trying to pull a boat out. Compression should be 160+psi. Anything below 140 is tired and ready for a rebuild.

I would also inspect both clutches and the belt. Get an OEM belt. If there is any waviness on the clutch face where the belt rides then replace it. A machined secondary clutch (in the rear) can help quite a bit with torque.

As for lift vs. No lift, if towing something heavy regularly, I'd personally recommend against it. And get a set of HD springs for the rear. Lifting it only raises the center of gravity and will make it more unstable.

[Fishinforce]

Thank you so much for the reply. I totally agree with not doing the lift, that was my thought as well but wanted someone else’s opinion.

The drive clutch face is worn so will replace that. The machine rear clutch, where can I get a machined one and what is the benefit.

Previous owner already installed the HD springs.

Will do a compression test here in a bit.

Boat weighs 700lbs ramp is not steep thankfully

[Fishinforce]

CP241 I can’t believe it, even had to check my gauge for accuracy. Compression is 163 and will hold it.

[CP241]

That's about as perfect of compression as you could hope for! The FE290's are pretty bulletproof motors, as long as you don't overrev the crap out of them.

Click the "site sponsors" link at the top of the page. Contact David Hicks at revolution golf cars, or cart parts plus (usually referred here as CPP) both offer machined secondary clutches. Machined clutch will provide better torque than the stock clutch does. Get a spring as well for it. It will hold the clutch closed longer with a stiffer spring, requiring the engine to spin faster before it opens up. This keeps the belt on the outside of the clutch for longer (increasing torque) before opening up and dropping the belt down to the center (increasing speed).


That said, 700lbs is a lot of weight behind a golf cart. My Carryall Turf2 (longer wheelbase, FE350 motor, 4'x4' dump bed and a factory trailer hitch) was only rated at something like 800lbs. Granted, I've pulled WAY more than that with it with hay bales (a 5x6 hay bale weighs somewhere between 1200-1500lbs) and it did fine, but I didn't try to scale any hills with them either, just pull across the field and rolled them off the trailer in the goat pasture.

Not to say that your DS won't do it, but asking a FE290 powered DS to pull 700lbs up a boat ramp may be asking a bit much from it. I don't think a stock DS weighs much over 600lbs... I'd be careful!


As for the starting and microswitch, see my response to someone else here http://www.buggiesgonewild.com/gas-c...-governor.html


Though, the starter should start to turn as soon as the microswitch clicks. If not, the brushes may be worn and are easy enough to replace. Or you may be running into what seems like the typical "club car hesitation". I've had several... Some of them you have to hold the pedal for 3-5 seconds occasionally before the starter turns. Others it turns right away. Haven't figured out exactly why, but seems that some have a hard time overcoming the compression stroke of the engine. Both of my DS's now spin instantly. My Carryall would spin instantly 90% of the time, but 1 in 10 times it would hesitate. I changed battery, cables to starter and solenoid, grounds, brushes, even swapped the starter with a known good one; nothing seemed to make any difference at all so I just lived with it. It never once failed to start so I didn't worry about it.

[Fishinforce]

Thanks for the reply I really appreciate it