Yamaha EFI golf cart question

[tophcfa]

We have a 2014 Yamaha gas Electronic Fuel Injected golf cart that is making an annoying rattling noise when accelerating. As far as I can tell, the rattling is coming from the cylindrical shaped heat shield located under the drivers side of the seat, which covers the carts muffler. The heat shield is made up of two pieces, which are spot welded together. A couple of the spot welds have failed. The rattling only happens when accelerating, and then stops when the cart reaches full speed or is decelerating. The rattling seems to have gotten much louder recently (another spot weld probably popped loose) and is really starting to bug me. If only I could get the cart into my garage up north, I could fire up the Hobart welder and try to fix it myself. Unfortunately, I don’t have the resources at our Villages home to fix it. I thought of trying to wrap a hose clamp around the heat shield and snug it together as a MacGyver type solution, but I can’t find a wide enough diameter hose clamp.

Has anyone else experienced this problem, and if so, did you find a solution? Any helpful advice would be greatly appreciated.

[villagetinker]

Bring your cart over and you can borrow my welder, send me a PM.

[Indy-Guy]

You may need to replace the main belt a worn belt will cause a vibration like you are describing.

[OnInTwo]

Common problem on older models that will only get worse. Replacement muffler has been upgraded. Bought replacement 6/21 for my 2013 from partzilla (website) for $160 including shipping. Part numbers 7CT-E4613-01-00 - GASKET,EXST PIPE - Replacement part for 7KY-14613-01-00 and GCA-JW8E4-71-00 - JW8 MUFFLER RETROFIT KIT - Replacement part for JW1-E4710-20-00. Install took about 30 minutes and was easy peezy. No more rattle and much quieter.

[villagetinker]

I was not clear in my initial reply, I have a minor injury, so while I would normally do the welding myself, I am sure I cannot currently do this now, so that is why I offered the use of my welder.

[TommyT]

Common problem on older models that will only get worse. Replacement muffler has been upgraded. Bought replacement 6/21 for my 2013 from partzilla (website) for $160 including shipping. Part numbers 7CT-E4613-01-00 - GASKET,EXST PIPE - Replacement part for 7KY-14613-01-00 and GCA-JW8E4-71-00 - JW8 MUFFLER RETROFIT KIT - Replacement part for JW1-E4710-20-00. Install took about 30 minutes and was easy peezy. No more rattle and much quieter.

I had the same muffler issue not once but TWICE !!!!

Muffler replaced under warranty back then. Stated there was an issue with mufflers made back then. Try calling the Dealer where it was purchased and see if the mufflers are still being covered...

[tophcfa]

I had the same muffler issue not once but TWICE !!!!

Muffler replaced under warranty back then. Stated there was an issue with mufflers made back then. Try calling the Dealer where it was purchased and see if the mufflers are still being covered...

It’s a 2014 that I bought used in 2015 with only 104 hours on it. It is a cart that was retired from the fleet of carts used for the Lifestyle Visits. No longer under warranty. I purchased a large spool of stainless steel hose clamp material from Amazon and am going to custom make some hose clamps and try to cinch up the heat shield to stop the rattling. If that doesn’t work the next step would be to try welding it. Last option would be to replace with a new muffler and heat shield. The cart runs perfect otherwise, and with the price of new carts I will find a way to fix it.

[tophcfa]

Problem solved, two large hose clamps did the trick, one on the top third and the other on the bottom third of the heat shield. Rattling completely gone, sounds like new : ) Want to give a shout-out to the villagetinker for his kind offer to assist me with the project, but ultimately the problem was fixable without having to weld the heat shield.

[mrf0151]

You can get a reconditioned muffler from Todd Casey or The Villages Cart Stores for about $75.00 installed. If it is just the shield, then the simple spot weld will fix it.