[phousel]

Originally Posted by tjdmlhw

This is a question for those of you who have gas powered golf carts that are set to go over the legal 20 mph limit. Our cart was capable of doing up to 25 mph on a flat roadway, so we decided to have the governor set to 20 mph. But the cart now will only go about 16 going up hills. Is this what the rest of you are experiencing with your 20 mph carts?

Another issue is going down those same hills, it is almost impossible to keep it from going over 25 (if I give it half throttle, it will easily go up to 30), which by definition makes it an illegal vehicle. Our mechanic says there is nothing he can do about this.

I would just like to know if this is normal for a golf cart.

Check the "spark arrestor". It may have "collapsed" due to rust. This will definitely restrict the engines power. Easy to remove - it is on the outlet of the exhaust pipe.

[PGApromike]

Someone already mentioned the clutch spring and they are correct. You didn't mention 2 or 4 seater. I am guessing if it is that sluggish, it's a 4 seater. That would add 250 lbs without extra riders. Spring costs between $60-100 plus labor. That varies sending again on 2 or more seater.
Last spring I changed on 2 seater took about 30 minutes.
Good luck.

[Nordhagen]

After reading all this, I’m sure glad I have an electric cart😎

[rhood]

Originally Posted by CoachKandSportsguy

that's faulty logic. . .

the torque/power created go 20 Mph over flat land cannot maintain speed when climbing a hill, because more torque/power is needed to over come the additional gravitational pull. More torque/power is needed than the engine can provide.

simple. .

the governor on a gas engine is not the same as auto pilot on a car, where the computer uses the speedometer to increase or decrease power to maintain a constant speed. .

Are you saying that the pull of gravity is more at the top of the hill then at the bottom?

[biker1]

My drive belt is 9 years old with 33K miles and is still in spec. Part Number JC0-G6241-01. This is not the OEM belt from Yamaha in 2014. Carts and Clubs replaced the OEM belt with the current belt in 2016 because of less than smooth starts from a stop.

Originally Posted by Topspinmo

I tried heavy duty belt made by gates. It was hard to get on due to the stiff beefed up design, it had extended delay when you stopped and started back up. I didn’t like that even though it would lasted very long time, the down side IMO would be extra wear on clutch face disks IMO due to harder material. did I mention it extremely hard to get off. Nearly impossible. I thought i was going to have remove mount bolt on secondary clutch just get it off.

I buy OEM belts they last about two to three years and I’m careful with jackrabbit starts and taking off in steep grade. I also clean belt and clutch faces every 6 month or so. Even after 2 years or more on the belt starting to separate. I can feel when my belt starting to go bad, feel slight vibration during acceleration knowing it’s either needs cleaned or getting bad enough to change soon.

If you happen to be on MMP and your really old drive belt separates and falls off. Maybe you’ll be lucky if I’m traveling by? I carry extra good used belt, take about 4 mins to install.

[Donrid]

Dont worry about what it CAN do. Just observe the speed limits.

[Rocksnap]

Originally Posted by Topspinmo

I tried heavy duty belt made by gates. It was hard to get on due to the stiff beefed up design, it had extended delay when you stopped and started back up. I didn’t like that even though it would lasted very long time, the down side IMO would be extra wear on clutch face disks IMO due to harder material. did I mention it extremely hard to get off. Nearly impossible. I thought i was going to have remove mount bolt on secondary clutch just get it off.

I buy OEM belts they last about two to three years and I’m careful with jackrabbit starts and taking off in steep grade. I also clean belt and clutch faces every 6 month or so. Even after 2 years or more on the belt starting to separate. I can feel when my belt starting to go bad, feel slight vibration during acceleration knowing it’s either needs cleaned or getting bad enough to change soon.

If you happen to be on MMP and your really old drive belt separates and falls off. Maybe you’ll be lucky if I’m traveling by? I carry extra good used belt, take about 4 mins to install.

Two to three years on an OEM belt? I’d have 10,000-15,000 miles on the belt by then! Which I’m pretty sure the belt won’t last that long. I’m changing the drive belt at 2,500 miles, the starter/generator belt at 5,000 miles. Yes, I can feel a lil funny business with the main belt at 2,000 miles, belt looks fine, but I chalk that up to it perhaps starting to slip a bit.
For traveling distance, I’m full throttle 98% of the time. Same for starts and stops. I don’t baby the throttle. The clutches do the work so it really doesn’t matter how you throttle it.
Im used to CVT’s on high horsepower snowmobiles. Which is safe to say a much higher stressed application for a belt. Heat was their Achilles heal. And a properly maintained clutch.
As for our carts, I’d do a belt replacement by time or mileage. Mileage is a no brainer, every 2,500 miles. As for time, a lightly used cart belt should last for several years without issue. But for piece of mind, I’d keep an eye on it at 3-5 years.

[ron32162]

OMG that's why brakes are put on golf carts, cars, bikes ,etc. Just because you can go 150 miles per hour on a car it does not mean you have to because it goes that fast.

[ElDiabloJoe]

Originally Posted by tophcfa

The OEM spring in the secondary clutch of gas Yamahas is optimized for golf course usage, without high speed gears. Yamaha’s Personal Transportation Vehicle line of golf carts (the carts used in the Villages) have high speed gears, allowing them to travel at 20 MPH without stressing the engine, but still come with the softer secondary clutch spring found in their line of Fleet Carts. An easy fix is to swap out the spring in the secondary clutch with a stiffer spring and replace the OEM drive belt with a heavy duty belt (G Boost and Kingzilla both make excellent belts). The fix doesn’t increase speed, just torque, which helps with hill climbing. I swapped out the secondary clutch spring in our Quiet Tech last winter, with a green spring from power equipment man .com, and have noticed a significant improvement in hill climbing.

I would highly recommend Don Plowman's performance kit. Higher speed and torque balanced. Plowman's Carts in Flint, Michigan. I've trailered mine up there twice for The Master to do his thing to my buggy.

[G.R.I.T.S.]

Have a speedometer installed and monitor your speed.

[midiwiz]

Originally Posted by tjdmlhw

This is a question for those of you who have gas powered golf carts that are set to go over the legal 20 mph limit. Our cart was capable of doing up to 25 mph on a flat roadway, so we decided to have the governor set to 20 mph. But the cart now will only go about 16 going up hills. Is this what the rest of you are experiencing with your 20 mph carts?

Another issue is going down those same hills, it is almost impossible to keep it from going over 25 (if I give it half throttle, it will easily go up to 30), which by definition makes it an illegal vehicle. Our mechanic says there is nothing he can do about this.

I would just like to know if this is normal for a golf cart.

let's try some logic.

1) most gas carts are 1 cylinder.
2) most carts with 1 cyl. has low HP
3) body weight is part of the physics equation for max potential speed
4) hill, degree of incline as that pertains to resistance

5) finally - any 1 cyl. engine has little ability to haul a ton of pounds up a hill without slowing down.

[Bill14564]

Originally Posted by midiwiz

let's try some logic.

1) most gas carts are 1 cylinder.
2) most carts with 1 cyl. has low HP
3) body weight is part of the physics equation for max potential speed
4) hill, degree of incline as that pertains to resistance

5) finally - any 1 cyl. engine has little ability to haul a ton of pounds up a hill without slowing down.

Logic aside, the 1 cyl. engine in my golf cart can haul a half ton of weight up a hill at more than 16mph.
- I’m not sure if it will slow down below 20mph, I haven’t driven up to Stillwater Trl to try it yet
- It would be interesting to see 1,500 lbs of humans in a 500 lb gas golf cart to reach the ton of pounds in statement 5

[Topspinmo]

Originally Posted by Nordhagen

After reading all this, I’m sure glad I have an electric cart😎

True electric carts have more torque but less range and less torque when batteries are draining. I’ve had both and both served the purpose.

[Topspinmo]

Originally Posted by biker1

My drive belt is 9 years old with 33K miles and is still in spec. Part Number JC0-G6241-01. This is not the OEM belt from Yamaha in 2014. Carts and Clubs replaced the OEM belt with the current belt in 2016 because of less than smooth starts from a stop.

Can agree or disagree?

Look at belt it will be separated for age and heat friction. Yep, I could made my original belt last that long but I didn’t like slipping and vibration during acceleration. I could still have ordinal tires on my car even it tread worn off, but I don’t like living on edge…

[biker1]

Nope. I remove and inspect it regularly. It shows no sign of wear and the width is still in spec. It doesn't slip or vibrate.

Originally Posted by Topspinmo

Look at belt it will be separated for age and heat friction. Yep, I could made my original belt last that long but I didn’t like slipping and vibration during acceleration. I could still have ordinal tires on my car even it tread worn off, but I don’t like living on edge…