1988 Gas Club Car DS (KF82) very slow acceleration and on hills

[awdixon]

I just recently bought a 1988 club car ds with the kf82 motor. When I first got it, it was hard to get it to start but it would run pretty good once it did start. I cleaned the carb, put fresh gas in it, replaced the spark plug, and tightened up the starter belt and now it starts great every time.

The main problem is that it has been super slow to accelerate and slow going up hills pretty much from day 1. Overall top speed seems to be below the 12-14 mph that the book says it should have in general. Probably getting more like 5-10 depending on the situation. Any ideas?

[Springbok]

Sounds like a frozen clutch. Put it in maintenance mode, run it in neutral (flip that little yellow cam on the back of the shifter handle), and watch your clutches. They should be doing this:

You Tube

You Tube

[awdixon]

Okay after watching that video and comparing, my drive clutch is definitely moving inward much slower than the video you shared. I also drove it with the seat off earlier to watch the clutch while driving and it doesn't go up as high on the drive clutch as it does running in service mode. Not sure if that's normal or not.

[Springbok]

As in the video, as you increase the rpms of your motor, the drive belt should rise up within the drive clutch (front clutch) as the sheaves pinch together, and the belt should sink down within the driven clutch (rear clutch) as the sheaves spread apart. This dual-clutch setup acts as a torque converter that gives your cart the power it needs at the wheels. If one or both clutches aren't operating properly, it's like not being able to shift gears on a ten-speed bicycle when you come to a hill.

The clutches in the video of my 1990 cart are what I would call normal. I run this cart with a 4" lift on 22" tires with these stock clutches and it runs up hills as good as it should for the stock motor. You'd have to post a video of yours in order for one of us to confirm if it looks like it's not running right.