1990 Yamaha G2 Slow - Governor Adjustment Question

[shesabute]

Just picked up a Yamaha G2 Gas Cart and like others have expressed in a few posts on here she's a little slow. I read through a lot of posts on here and found some information on adjusting the governor and tried tightening the 10mm nut on the long governor bolt, but that had no effect and quite the opposite - it caused the cart to act a little slugglish when initially depressing the accelerator. After tightening the governor 10mm nut as described on several posts regarding Yamaha G2 governor adjustments it seemed like the cart would not accelarate as quickly and there was a brief pause and hiccup when initially depressing the accelarator. Being new to this cart and golf carts in general I loosened the nut back to the original thread position and the cart then ran like it did before. My question is if I identified the location of the governor and tightened the right bolt and if there's something else I can do short of purchasing a governor or other kit to increase speed and performance of the cart. i took a couple pictures which I am including here to ask the experts on here if I identified the governor and 10mm nut correctly and to seek advice on any other adjustments that can be done on this governor to provide a little extra speed. The first pic is from the driver side rear of the cart from behind the rear differential and the other pic is from the passenger rear side of the cart. Is the long bolt and nut shown in the first pic the right bolt to tighten for the governor adjustment to increase speed? Are there any other adjustments that can be made to the governor and if so can you explain by describing from the picutres what parts need to be adjusted? If nothing else can be done to increase speed other than what I've tried by tightening the 10mm nut on the governor long bolt show in image one or by adjusting any other parts or nuts and bolts on the governor do you have any other tips for increasing speed by making other adjustments like to the accelerator or carb cables, etc? Like I said I'm a newb when it comes to gas carts and really all things mechanical but I enjoy learning, have learned a lot already from knowledge shared on BGW, and would appreciate any advice to speed up the old girl a bit. Thanks, Brian

[cgtech]

First pic w/ red box is correct one to adjust. Just wrap a ziptie around the whole thing and pull it tight to simulate tightening the locknut. This should get you about 18-19 mph max speed. Do not adjust the cable in the other pic unless something else comes up to indicate it needs adjusting (can easily lead to backfiring, loss of low speed control, loss of top speed).

[shesabute]

Thanks. I am totally confused as how tightening the governor nut then could lead to a completely opposite effect of what normally is the procedure to increase speed. That the cart speed was reduced and not increased by tightening the governor long arm bolt makes zero sense. I am going to zip tie the thing as tight as possible and see if perhaps I didn't tighten enough. I tightened until about 1/2 inch of new thread appeared on the arm bolt and then tested the results which like I said were piss poor. I'll try to tighten up to the max and if that fails as miserably I'll ask around on the forum again what could cause the governor to not correctly react accordingly when the long arm bolt is tightened.

[shesabute]

I tightened the governor long bolt down as far as she'll go. When I first started the cart up after tightening the governor long bolt the cart once again acted sluggish on the first go and sputtered and backfired a little before taking off. My wife drove the kids down to the school bus earlier and said that this morning it did the same thing on first startup and go so there may be something else that needs to be adjusted. The tightening to the maximum of the long governor 10mm bolt did zippo to increase speed and I tightened over an inch down on the bolt so I would have thought that much tightening would have done something to improve the cart's speed. I think I need to look into some other things that may be going on with the throttle or carb cables or other ailments and adjustments these Yahama G2's need to increase speed and correct sluggish/hiccuping acceleration when cold. I timed the cart before and after with my wife driving next to me in our truck and with a GPS speedometer app and the max the cart will go on any somewhat level grade with either a slight up or down hill slope or completely level is 14mph. Based on others tightening the governor long bolt and seeing increases in speeds up to the 18-20ish mph range something else I'm afraid is effecting the cart's speed performance. I'm sure there are other posts scattered all around about similar issues we are experiencing with our new (old) Yamaha G2 Gas cart and poor/sluggish performance and backfiring issues. The backfires I am talking about by the way are extremely muffled and seem more like a thump under a manifold or something. Not sure that means diddly squat but the backfires I'm talking about are nothing like some of the other small motors I've had that were little firecrackers when they backfired. Appreciate any help that might help me fix up old bessie and get here running a little faster. And just an FYI this cart was immaculately maintained - owned by the same family since it was purchased new in the early nineties, never stored outside for long, maintenanced according to the book, etc. If it was like the last cart I owned I'd just chalk it up to the thing being a piece of junk but this old girl is far from that and quite a pretty little specimen for her age... Thanks for any troubleshooting help that helps me get her running faster and without so much coughing, sputtering and backfiring when starting her up and on the first go.

[motojoe1988]

Check the valve lash?

[shesabute]

Originally Posted by motojoe1988

Check the valve lash?

You're not messing with me are you motojoe? Seriously I don't know what a valve lash is, but I don't think you are joking about this type of valve based on a couple quick searches for what this valve is, where its located on the cart, and what its purpose is. I found a few posts that seem to discuss this type of valve and "valve clearance," but I have some learning to do to figure out what and where it is and how to check it and fix it if needed. About all I have done other than messing with the governor bolt is I took the air-filter out and blew a minor amount of dust off of it, and checked the hoses (fuel and air) for tight connections, cracks, etc. the spark plug looks brand new, but like I said these people were pretty meticulous and everything looks clean as a whistle so it might not hurt to try another plug..??

When my son was pulling it into the garage so I could look at the air filter and hoses it back fired louder than I have heard it before. Not sure that means anything. Basically in what very little I know about carts and small gas engines in general I am guessing the slow speeds, sluggish startup, and initial acceleration hiccups, and backfiring are related. I know combustion engines need a spark, fuel and air. Maybe one of the various fuel/air hoses, lines, connections, valves, spark plug, etc. etc. pertaining to the fuel and/or air and/or the mixture of the two, or the spark plug is causing the sputtering and hiccuping and slow speeds. That about narrows it down to troubleshooting the entire engine so I must be getting closer. LOL. I'm just reading up on some posts about similar issues and what was used to remedy these types of problems for other people in the past and will probably chase every last one of the suggestions, including the kanooder or valve lash as its called until the slow speed and sputtering/backfiring/cold starting issues are resolved.

Appreciate the help motojoe and I will check the valve lash unless it requires a level of mechanical know how far above my current level or an insane amount of time I don't have to learn how...

[Mike Mac]

Don't waant to get into this, I'll let CG coach you, but think you now need to adjust throttle linkage. Then start reading this site and do all the maint on the car as you learn. These cars need very little work on them after a maint program is done!!

[Mike Mac]

And, make sure the torque cable is there!!

[shesabute]

So the valve lash looks a little involved and I need more time to dive into that idea. I adjusted the pilot and throttle top screws according to the manual back to what I think is the correct stock setting and it seems to have improved the sluggish and initial sputtering starts/backfires. She still tops out at 14-15mph though. How people here are getting 19-20 mph with a purely stock setup is beyond me. I'm really starting to wonder if it isn't as simple as the rev limiter, yet 14-15 is a far cry from 19-20 that others claim to have gotten with a stock setup. I'll keep searching though.

I'm starting to see why cg recommended checking the valve lash now that I understand it and have tried most of the common/simpler remedies for slow speed performance. I also have tried a new spark plug, but have yet to try anything with the fuel filter or lines or the muffler/exhaust which some posts seem to highlight as a potential source of slow top speeds. There's a pretty decent post on here talking about how to check the valve clearance on the compression stroke and references to marking TDC with a pencil or screwdriver. Some of you probably know the post. Hold on I'll open another tab and find it again - here - http://www.buggiesgonewild.com/gas-y...stion-tdc.html

As I really don't know how to adjust the valve clearance beyond reading about how to check and measure the clearance if someone knows of another post with a little more detail/illustration/description on how to raise/lower/adjust the valve clearance I'd appreciate all the help I can get in understanding this procedure a little better than trying to piece it together from fragmented posts.

[cgtech]

Heres the service manual. The airbox must be sealed up tight to run right, all 4 rubber straps (or equivilent), rubber seal inside lid, air filter, ect. Carb needs to be adjusted right (see pics, could be cause of backfire in intake as you described). For all throttle cable adjustments, you will need 3 things, a good battery to crank motor, access to pedal area (remove panel covering pedal area from floor mat area), and access to the governor arm area (easy to remove rear body, 3 screws at lip where rear of seat rests, and 2 screws at rear edge of golf bag area). Adjust rear cable (from gas pedal to governor arm) until most all slack is gone. Adjust front cable (from governor arm to carb) until a balance is found where the carb is not opening before gas pedal switch starts cranking motor (found by slightly pressing gas pedal with key on), and max throttle opening at carb at full gas pedal press is achieved. If this seems confusing, feel free to add more questions.