FE290 engine rebuild

[CP241]

Everybody has a little different way if doing things, but I thought to help someone out in the future, I'd document a FE290 rebuild start to finish.

I bought a 93 club car carryall I in pretty decent overall shape. I really didnt "set out" to buy this cart, it came in an auction I won with 2 other carts. And really all I wanted was the seats from one of the other carts and a few other parts
The carryall was just a bonus

So I thought I'd look into it. Jumped the missing key switch, hit the pedal. Motor spins great. Good blue spark. No compression. By no I mean zero. I dropped a tbsp of oil in the cylinder and it maybe bounced up to 10psi so I checked the valves, thinking maybe cam gear rivets. Nope, valves are moving. Adjuated to .005 and no difference.

So come along with me on an adventure to see why it has no compression and what its gonna take to make this cart functional again

This will hopefully serve a purpose as sort of a "how to" for someone else looking for directions to remove the engine to replace the ignition coil, access something or another, or even rebuild the engine if they so desire

Pics attached are of the cart exactly as I got it. Appears 100% complete minus the key switch. And it had the sear bottom, though it weighed about 75 lbs due to being completely water logged

[CP241]

STEP 1 - ENGINE REMOVAL


First we gotta pull the sucker out.

First, remove the (2) 13mm bolts on the exhaust flange, and the 13mm bolt on the support brace. This one has 2 springs holding the muffler to the support in the rear, though most newer ones have a band clamp. Which is sometimes so rusted it's easier to take a pair of tin snips and just cut it.

Then remove the airbox and fuel line from the carb. Remove the pulse line connecting the fuel pump to the crank case.

Then remove the 10mm nut holding the ground wire to the dipstick tube.

[CP241]

Next, remove the drive belt by rolling it off the rear clutch.

Remove the lock nut (13mm) on the starter/generator brace. This is the bolt that sets the adjustment and belt tension. Remove the (2) 15mm nuts/bolts holding the starter/generator onto the bracket. At this point you can either disconnect the power, ground, and field wire or just swing it off to the side. I just left it connected since there is no battery in this cart.

Locate the ignition coil kill wire near the dipstick tube. Disconnect it from the bullet connector.

Locate the wire for the oil level sensor and disconnect it.

[CP241]

Pull the cable running from the governor to the carb out and set it aside on top of the transmission. Note this one was wrong. It should route underneath the starter/generator bracket so its away from the muffler.

Remove the e clip from the governor cable and remove the governor spring from the governor (note this is the spring you would want to apply a zip tie to if you wanted to go faster). Put the e clip back on the cable once it's out of the bracket so you dont lose it :)

Then pull the governor cable and ignition kill wire, previously disconnected, through the straps and set them out of the way

[CP241]

Then remove the 2 13mm nuts or bolts (depending on the year) from the rear. On the pre-97 this is a lot easier because it's much more open.

On the 97+ with the unitized transmission you will have to remove the driven clutch to get to the one on the passenger side. The one on the drivers side is pretty easy. There are 6 bolts on the newer ones. Only use the 2 in the middle. The outer 4 corners are only removed if you want to separate the engine cradle from the trans. I'll get a couple pics from my 2002 DS

Then remove the 4 bolts underneath the bottom. You'll have to hold the top nut with a wrench, again all 4 are usually 13mm.

[CP241]

At this point, everything should be disconnected and clear to remove. Pull it out through the seat opening. It's not that heavy, your wife's purse probably weighs more

Now I pull the clutch, cover the carb and exhaust port with some plastic bags and hit it with the pressure washer. Makes less mess dropping caked dirt and nastiness on the bench. (And by the looks of my bench, clearly I frequently skip this step).




More to come. I'll start taking the motor apart tonight and measuring tolerances. I suspect we will find a broken piston ring but we will have to wait to find out :) much more to come

[buggyAl]

CP241

This is great documentation. Can't wait to see the whole project. Thanks

[CP241]

Originally Posted by buggyAl

CP241

This is great documentation. Can't wait to see the whole project. Thanks

Thanks. Hopefully it will help somebody. Repair manuals are out there but sometimes it helps to have "real life" pictures and "normal.person speak" language.

I don't know exactly how far I'm going to go with this cart "overall". I'm currently exploring job opportunities way out of state, and preparing to move. So likely I wont have the time to finish the body work, find a roof, etc. But I'll definitely have this one up and running like a top this week, providing partzilla cooperates and has everything I need in stock (they usually do)

I'll conclude with a list of part numbers for everything used.

[jclark138]

X2 what buggy Al said. Much appreciated.
Best wishes on your potential move-

[LukeL]

Great guide! If I ever find myself having to do this I know where to look. And who to ask... thank you.