88 marathon cuts off, pull choke and idles high then jerks...

[Dmontgomery]

I have just recently bought a 88 ezgo, it was running and still is but i wouldnt say its running "good". The acceleration is sluggish, It will start and run ok IF you ease on the gas a slight bit. too much and it seems to "load up" and stall/die, also any kind of hill or load seems to do the same as too much throttle. When this happens if you pull the choke out the engine will fire rev up and the cart jerks/jumps forward then it will run fine for a few minutes then the same, as far as i know it is all stock, in decent shape. new clutch, belts filters, sparkplug etc. also i removed muffler this weekend and put it in a bonfire, checked and cleaned main jet and carb. noticed the exhaust gasket is shot but would that cause these problems? also i am 100% new to carts and know almost nothing other than the basics. What brand of mix is recommended? i know the ratio is 1.5 oz per Gallon can you use syn. in this model? so many questions not enough time lol oh yeah the adjustment screw on carb is 1 1/2 turns out tried down to 1 turn and up to 2 no change in performance. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[Dmontgomery]

Replaced exhaust gasket and a hose that attaches airbox to body the jerking and belt squeak stopped but it still stalls out pull the choke out and it runs ok for a little while still not much power uphill

[Marker]

I was having the same problem, and while checking for anything loose I wiggled the end of my throttle shaft on my carb and it was really loose like it had worn out bushings or ovaled itself out of the years, causing a lean condition. I believe it's because it was able to suck air in through the much roomier than desired throttle shaft bushings, which is why the choke helped it run better for a bit.
I replaced the carb and the problem was solved. I thought I was going to get the Marathon a little more breathing room by putting a BV24 carb on instead of the stock BV18, but when it came in the mail and I took it out to put on the bigger carb, I realized it had already been running on a 24 ever since I bought it 20 years ago. Didn't gain anything I was hoping for but it did fix my problem. Give it s shot. They're cheap. Good luck.

[Marker]

Sorry, Kind of new here. Didn't realize until I had already posted that this post wasn't so recent. Oh well, I hope it helped. If you're still running with the choke on by now, I'm going to be your hero so it was worth looking like an ***.