Dented primary clutch cover

[Peter W]

Thanks for the diagram, sccowboy. The dents are pretty much all the way round component #11, about 1 inch in from the inner edge and, like I said, about one eighth to one quarter of an inch deep. My guess is that, at some time in the past, someone has tried to remove the clutch from the engine without a proper puller and has tried to get it to move by giving it glancing blows with a hammer or mallet. I guess that it should be OK, as long as the fly-out weights don't fly out to closer than a quarter inch from the cover (#11).

[TomStark]

Originally Posted by ez go go

Not contesting that it won't crank Tom... I'm simply saying what Rib said... Gas ain't what it used to be... Just letting the guy know that it's definitely a possibility.. Today's fuel products are diluted with ethanol and are notorious for short life span and ability to clog and varnish very quickly... Not to mention the part that the ethanol attracts water and we all know what water will do to aluminum... Was just throwing it out there...

I understand. What gets me, and I hear this stuff all the time, "Oh the gas is how old? Oh that is why it won't start" and one of my favorites this was a guy with his snow blower "I start it and when it gets hot it dies and I have to wait for it to get cool before it will restart, then as soon as it gets hot it dies." Yeah, that diagnosis was based on it runs a few minutes and dies, then won't start for 5 or 10 minutes and repeats. Oh yeah that is "proof" that it is a heat problem. I had him bring me the snow blower and I started it, and as soon as it started to dies from "heat" I loosened up the gas cap and that must have cooled the engine down because it perked back up and ran fine. So a blocked gas vent can apparently cause a heat problem.
Sorry, I get a little "up set" when things are thrown out there as fact or as the problem when the reality is they are a maybe. There is a big difference between "If the gas is old enough it may give you issues" and "Yeah it won't run on gas that old."
Sorry, I know I am a nit picker. I keep hearing no one likes a nit picker, yet it seems when no one else can do something or find a problem, the nit picker gets the work! LOL!
Did not mean to insult you or call you wrong, but old gas is only a maybe problem. My generator has no issue with gas now several years old, my old riding mower, that was another story, every year at least twice I had to pull the carb, and clean it and unstick the float to make it run!
Tom

[Peter W]

Returning to the question in my mind about the age of the buggy, given that the identification plate has been removed from the passenger side of the dashboard glovebox area, is the serial number stamped anywhere else on the chassis or body?

[sccowboy]

If you post some pics we may be able to narrow it down.

[kgsc]

If it was built in 2003+ there should be a sticker on the cross rail above the motor. Date code will be on it. If not there then this cart was probably rebuilt in 2003 from an earlier year. Look at where the steering column bolts to the floor. 3 bolt usually means pre 2001 1/2. 4 is 2001+

[Peter W]

Thanks for all your helpful comments, guys. The buggy wouldn't start today, although it cranked okay, and, looking around it again, I found that the body panels had been resprayed quite poorly with quite a few bits of bodywork filler underneath. The oil level dipstick was also missing. The bottom line is that I don't feel sufficiently confident about it to buy it. So the search starts again!

Later this week, I'm going to look at a more genuine 2006 gas TXT with only 750 hours on the meter but with a few scrapes and scratches on the bodywork, and a cosmetically superb 2007 gas Club Car Precedent.