1989 that sat for a while

[Jason has a buggie]

I am going to start this out with thanking everyone in advance for your patience and information that may be provided! I am new to Carts and Forums, this is my first post as well as my first cart.

Let's get to it then. I have an '89 Club Car DS ( that has supposedly only sat for 1 yr) and I am no mechanic or even claim to be knowledgeable about motors, but even if it was only sitting for a year it wasn't very well maintained. Anyway, my father-in-law gave me this STOCK cart and he did the basics for me (new fuel filter before and after fuel pump, couple of new tires and power washed the exterior) basically a solid machine but I am the type that wants to bring it back to excellent and reliable transportation.

I have done a little lurking around the threads already posted and looking for a little more personal attention (okay let's call it what it is, hand holding). This '89 Club Car DS again was given to me and will be used as a run to small events or the grocery store in our small community and to the golf course that is less than a mile away to play rounds of golf. I would like to get it into a condition that I feel comfortable that my wife can take it without fear of breaking down and when the boys get of age they can drive it as well (legally).

The things that I have done to the cart so far. I have taken the brakes apart and cleaned them, cleaned the motor as it was caked with white rock dust that seemed to have gotten wet and crusted all over it, installed LED brake/headlight/turn signal/horn.

So down to what I know, the breaks Slowly stop the cart(ordering new shoes and drums), the hill/parking brake has to be pressed ALL THE WAY down in order to latch(I think that the latch is just worn out and needs replaced), going to replace both the generator/starter belt and drive belt. The engine runs okay, maybe burning a little extra oil but it has worked okay for several rounds of golf so far.

What I haven't a clue on: when pressing the "GO" pedal sometimes it hesitant to take off and you have to pump the accelerator or it sounds crazy but even have to back off the throttle to get it to take off, and after it does take off it has only two speeds either all out or what I would call a mid range speed, you can't get a creep speed out of it (for when I am driving around searching for that "OCCASIONAL" errant golf ball).

I apologize for the lengthy introduction and I want to thank anyone who takes the time to read this and give some advise on where to go for technical information, resources, parts, etc.. I am very excited to hear any and all advise that may be coming my way! Hopefully, I will load some pictures soon, if I get some response to this post!

One final thought, I have thought about getting a rebuilt kit for the motor and thought it might be a great learning experience for my boys as well as myself, is it worth the time and effort, or should I ship it off for rebuild, or replace the motor? Wanting advise on this as well. This cart will be either run until I can no longer fix it or I get it running well enough to comfortably sell it to someone who wants it and purchase a newer one and start all over!

[Springbok]

Welcome aboard!

My father-in-law gave me a golf cart for free too, back in 2012. However mine wasn't running, so you're at least ahead of me there.

Here's my build thread (sorry that the picture links are broken, Google "Photobucket blackmail" for more info):

http://www.buggiesgonewild.com/membe...-club-car.html

Your cart is basically the same as mine. And if your motor runs and isn't knocking, I'd hang onto it. The motor that's in your cart is known as a KF82 flathead motor. It's also referred to as the FZ340. It was used in gas-powered Club Cars from 1984-1991. It's a stout little motor that, if treated right, can run for several decades.

[BrutalSoldier]

The engine is junk and its time to throw a Big Block in it.
Seriously though I would check the air box. They get brittle and crack. That will affect performance. Clean the carb they get gummed up and check compression.
This will give you a good understanding if the engine is sound. If it is not there are several Clone Big Block options starting at the few hundred dollar stock engines (far better than the engine in cart) to $1000 race engines.
I have that same cart and it is great from the factory. This is wat I have done to mine so far http://www.buggiesgonewild.com/big-b...p-more-13.html
Be careful around here it is way easy to catch the addiction.

[jdgriner]

I've never seen the flat head engine before, but if it is anything like my 99cc the carb is stupid simple.

I would start with new fuel hoses, go to auto zone and pick up some new fuel hoses, I know that you already replaced the filters, but if you've driven it around a bunch on old gas or with deteriorating hoses, the filters are only like 2-3bucks. I don't remember the exact year, but if your fuel hoses, are so old they are not ethanol gasoline safe, the ethanol will cause the hose to melt from the inside out.

Also a can of aerosol carb cleaner, plastic gloves, safety glasses.

Is the gas at least a year old? If so you might want to dump it out and replacing it with fresh.

Now to the carb, take it off the engine, be careful removing it, sometimes gaskets are made of paper. Don't worry if you destroy one, you can make a new one by tracing the old one on some gasket material you can buy at Auto zone. Or you can buy new ones from the interwebs.

Be careful taking the carb apart, it'll be full of gas. Mine has a float Bowl on the bottom, but we don't have the same engine. Inside the bowl there probably is a float with a needle valve, the floats are normally held in place by a pin.... Pull the pin out and carefully remove the float,more than likely the needle value will come out with it and probably a spring you don't want to bend or lose any parts of this.

Spray carb cleaner down ever hole you see, no matter how big or tiny, I normally take my air compressor and blow 150lbs off pressure through every hole after I flush it out. (hold on tight make sure nothing is loose, don't want to lose any parts while blasting with air), ill go back and reflush with cleaner again before blasting with air.

When using the carb cleaner most definitely use the safety glasses, don't want any spray back hitting your eyes.

Again I've never seen your carb before, this is just some basic carb cleaning info, if I steered you wrong hopefully someone who has your engine will correct me, but I think that will get you through it....

There are tons of small engine carb videos on you tube that will help you see what I've explained... I'd watch a few.

Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk

[Jason has a buggie]

Thanks for the Welcome springbok, a couple of decades, huh, if my math serves me correct I am living on borrowed time with this motor then!!! Just kidding, I know what you mean though.
Brutal Soldier I appreciate the warning about the motor but I think that it will work out for what I need it for (UNTIL I GET BIT BY THE ADDICTION).
JDGRINER, thank you for the information, that is exactly what I was attempting to request was what to look for when going over the machine. I know that there is plenty of things that I can nit-pick on this thing but I want to start out small, catch the important things first and work my way into the bigger projects. Like I said before,
this thing is running right now and with winter coming up I am thinking what a great time to work on the maintenance items(upgrades, monster tires, 40mph speeds can wait) Will definitely be checking in and asking all sorts of questions.

Motor theory I have / Handyman-mechanical skills I have / Engine teardown and rebuild ZERO experience (deprived childhood - Thanks alot DAD) JK I have a great dad we just never did anything with Motors as a kid so I am extremely green when it comes to these things.

P.S. Checked out many posts involving all of you and This is going to be a great place for me to utilize in this project. Again, thanks for your time and knowledge and information.... Be patient with me please as I stated before, Forums are new to me and I am here for knowledge and hopefully someday I can pass some information along to others....Take care all!

[Springbok]

LOL My Dad never worked on cars or motors or anything overly mechanical either. Had to learn it all myself.

[BrutalSoldier]

I was just messing around with ya about the big block if your engine is good by all means keep it they are great little engines.
I have many extra stock parts from the rebuild of my CC. HMU if you need something I might have. I have no problem donating my extra parts to a fellow cart junkie.

[Jason has a buggie]

Service Manual - can someone direct me in the right place for the proper manual. Several places I have looked at on the internet show a picture for one thing but describe a different vehicle. with several costing over $100. Just want to make sure I get the correct manual for the 1989 CLUB CAR DS. Thanks again!

[Springbok]

I have a full manual. PM me with an email address and I'll share it with you.