Primary clutch rattle

[tom72vettesrule]

I have a 2005 club car precedent gas with the fe290 engine. It has developed a rattle/squeaky noise from the primary clutch as it ranges between low and high range. Its quiet at low or high speed. Rattles/squeaks at light load moderate speeds. Do I need to rebuild the clutch or should I just replace it? I'm very mechanically inclined. Just my first golf cart. The belts are both new.

[CP241]

The first thing I would look at is the clutch sheaves (the inside "V" where the belt rides). Ideally they should be ruler flat. If it's wavy then it's worn and I'd probably just buy a new clutch and call it a day.

If they are flat like they should be, it's probably either worn buttons inside the clutch, or something has come loose inside the clutch. There are some little pins the flyweights ride on that I've had come loose and rattle around in there.

Truthfully, you really won't know until you remove it and open it up. See what you've got in there. But if the sheaves are worn (known as dished out) I'd just get a new clutch and save the old one for spare parts. An OEM clutch is big bucks, but will provide a long life. I have had good luck with aftermarket ones though also, the ones that look just like an OEM one. Around $100. I don't know long term what kind of service life they have compared to stock, but I'm currently still running one on my carryall for about the last 8 months with no issues at all.

[Springbok]

What makes you sure it's the drive (primary) clutch? It could be the driven (secondary) clutch. I have an issue right now that I've identified with one of my driven clutches. It was rattling at moderate speeds when not under load, mostly on flat ground or going downhill. When under load (such as hill climbing) the sound would go away. I swapped clutches with another cart of mine that's being worked on and the rattling sound immediately went away.