Rebuilt my 87 EZGO Engine, still having issues, please help!!!

[Dave Box]

Sure thing but it is never as straightforward as it seems. The clutch is sitting on a tapered shaft and locked there with the long bolt that you can see in the center. So you remove that and then we insert a spacer rod and wind in a big bolt. As the bolt goes in it will hit the rod which is now resting on the end of the shaft and as you continue to wind the bolt in, it will pop the clutch off.

That's the theory however the manufacturers conspire to confuse you by using different threads on their clutches. If you have the original clutch you will need a 5/8ths steel rod 3 inches long and a 3/4 inch fine thread bolt (hardened) 2 1/2 inches long. Before you start, look into the center of the clutch and you may see a plastic plug in the way. This is protecting the threads that your bolt will use so wind that out (easier said than done) and drive the clutch off. I recommend that the night before you give the crankshaft a liberal dose of liquid wrench or similar as you will have noted from my blog it can be difficult to get the clutch to release especially if it is the original unit.

My replacement clutch needed a 3/8th rod and a 9/16th bolt (both of the same length) and I have heard of someone needing a 14 mm bolt so you are going to have to do some measuring. Hopefully you can lay a measure across the clutch thread and work it out although 9/16ths and 14 mm are very similar.

I recommend that you spray the thread with the Liquid Wrench or PB Blaster etc. and wind in your chosen bolt by hand to ensure that you don't strip the thread. Stripping the thread will cause an involuntary reaction resulting in you ripping off your own genitals in rage.

Good Luck and in our next episode I guess we will talk about removing the flywheel. If you thought the clutch was hard ..............

Dave