car keeps cutting out when wide open

[jdlee1105]

I have an 04 gas club car with FE290 engine and it keeps cutting out when I'm running wide open and after reading on here i have unhooked something that i think is the rev. limiter ground and it seems to have fixed the problem so my question is. Why is it running at such high rpms. thanks for any help this is my first cart and i just got it yesterday. later I will be looking into making this thing go faster right now i gpsed it last night with 2 grown men it will go 15mph is that normal. thanks again for any help

[shadowman]

welcome to BGW........12 to 14 mph is stock speed, a peice of advice for you......what you did was unhook the protection that keeps the cart from over revving and blowing the motor up...................thats why its there and what your cart was doing was normal when you hit max rpm the limitor backs it off so you don,t do any damage.................there are other ways of gaining speed but if it were my cart i would hook the limitor back up..................

[invalidsession]

15 MPH is pish, Jeesuz H Christ on a bike would roll faster than that uphill even without pedals. Mine hits 30mph on 20" tires. You need to unleash the beast my man Zip up the governor and ride wild And when your engine goes "boom" contact Tom (Shadowman) @ ISMOKEDMYMOTOR.com. I'm bloody sure he'll help you out with a new one lol


Chris, Shadows salesman

[ecrouse]

Something seems off. If 12-14 is normal and 15 is bouncing off the rev limiter, well, the glove don't fit...

First thing I would do is hook that rev limiter back up. Next thing I would do is follow the throttle cables from the pedal to the carb and see if it's been modified anywhere to make it faster, then when I found that place, undo it and redo it properly.

By properly I mean to where it doesn't hit the rev limiter at WOT.

That's what I'd do but Invalid's idea sounds more fun to watch

[lockman1]

What the ....? Geez Chris!

First thing I'd do is, run it in maintenance mode to see if the Drive clutch is closing all of the way!

It's a start!

[invalidsession]

Originally Posted by ecrouse

Something seems off. If 12-14 is normal and 15 is bouncing off the rev limiter, well, the glove don't fit...

First thing I would do is hook that rev limiter back up. Next thing I would do is follow the throttle cables from the pedal to the carb and see if it's been modified anywhere to make it faster, then when I found that place, undo it and redo it properly.

By properly I mean to where it doesn't hit the rev limiter at WOT.

That's what I'd do but Invalid's idea sounds more fun to watch

Some carts run faster than others, I put this down to varying RPM limiter tolerances. By the same token, some carts run fast and never seem to hit the limiter. Other carts are slower than than the USA Congress passing a vote. This has been mulled over many times. Tom (Shadowman) is an advocate of keeping the cart as designed and he has a valid point. The motor will run to it's design specifications and should ultimately last longer and not to mention the fact that if some lowlife thief should smash his cart into a wall at some unholy rate of knots he isn't going to get sued. Me ? I run mine unlimited. RPM limiter ? Gone. Axle limiter ? You must be joking. My cart runs great for me BUT, I'm the only usual driver. I have a tach to let me know what my motor is doing and I use my cart for the golf course only which by design really doesn't lend itself to high speeds other than the odd burst down fairway No 7 to scare the crap out of the unfortunate slob who's rolling with me. I figure if I'm running around in a Lotus themed cart it might as well have some get up and go. So it's really a simple choice imho. Take the necessary precautions, run like a raped ape and accept the consequences or calm down, smoke a beer, drink a joint and cruiseeeeeeeeee

Chris.

[ecrouse]

Fair nuff, Chris. I'm new to these carts but I've been working on 2 and 4 wheeled toys for some 30 odd years now, mechanical things just make sense to me. I figured the main differences in stock speed, aside from RPM variations was from inconsistencies in the VTCs.

Now I'm all for making things Batpoop Insane Fast so I get that but sounds like you've done that as right a way as it can be done and with eyes wide open as it were :) I'd argue that OP has done himself a disservice fixing the problem by removing the rev limiter, seemingly without any of the knowledge or alternate safeguards you have.

I see it in the order of Tach > rev limit light > rev limiter > no safeguards at all. OP could get a tach but if it were me, I'd hook that rev limiter back up and adjust the throttle not to hit the limiter at WOT till I got the tach working cause I don't want to dump $1500 in to a new motor after I blowed mine up :)

If it won't go fast enough for me within it's designed limits, well, it's time to change those design limits and go all Tim Allen on the thing. Can I fit a Ford 490 in a Carryall 2? There's a lot of room under that dump...

Anyhoo, lots of good stuff on this site and people who seem to know their GC stuff, so if y'all don't mind I'll hang around.

I will take that beer though

[invalidsession]

I'm glad you see and understand my point Ecrouse. All things are not for all people. I like to have a blast on my cart occasionally, others feel no need to race to Walmart to attack the Geritol aisle whilst in the full and abject belief that the fat lady in the mobility cart with thirty seven items (all lard based) and steadfastly wedged in the "5 Items or less" aisle with coupons she clipped from 1977 will somehow, miraculously, find the last twelve cents in a purse stuffed with used tissues, spent chewing gum and a condom that last saw the light of day on a hopeful evening during the Reagan administration when she weighed less than a confused Whale on a beach in New Jersey.

But don't let me put you off. There are some sensible people here

Chris

[shadowman]

the one thing most people here will never get is that 9 out of 10 times with a golfcart yeah the glove don,t fit.......now you may never see this if you just own your own cart and its the only cart you work on, spend some time jumping from cart to cart gas and elec. then you,ll get my drift................they are set up for 12 mph stock speed but some go to 14 mph heck some go to 17 mph and never see the rev limitor......my old gasser goes to 25 completely stock before it knocks on the limitors door but if you have a cart no matter what speed its tapping out at when you here the 1st tap its time to back off................there are other ways around it........................

[invalidsession]

Originally Posted by shadowman

the one thing most people here will never get is that 9 out of 10 times with a golfcart yeah the glove don,t fit.......now you may never see this if you just own your own cart and its the only cart you work on, spend some time jumping from cart to cart gas and elec. then you,ll get my drift................they are set up for 12 mph stock speed but some go to 14 mph heck some go to 17 mph and never see the rev limitor......my old gasser goes to 25 completely stock before it knocks on the limitors door but if you have a cart no matter what speed its tapping out at when you here the 1st tap its time to back off................there are other ways around it........................

See what I mean ? Toms cart is plenty fast before the limiter hits. 25mph on an unmodified golf cart is fairly flying All jokes aside, given the average at best braking capabilities of a CC and steering that is more vague than an octogenarian Cadillac driver heading for the post office on pension day it's verging on downright dangerous. Tom has to be the only person I know who preaches "keeping it stock" while all the time he's thundering around PA at 25 mph I think he has secrets he isn't sharing with us

Chris.