Cart will not start forward uphill - clutch problem?

[scott_nadeau]

Howdy - I bought a Yamaha cart yesterday - it's an oil injected 2-stroke with the electric motor/pulley starter. My problem is that when I push the throttle to go forward on an incline, it barely creeps along (I believe it is just operating on the starter motor). On flat ground it takes off a little slowly, but once it gets going it goes great.

I have noticed that the primary clutch moveable sheave moves back and forth freely - thus allowing the clutch to engage as soon as it starts spinning. This would lead me to believe that there is a broken spring in the primary (I'm from a snowmobile background, and the drive systems look very similar). I have not taken the clutch apart yet - I wanted to get a sanity check from you guys before doing so.

I also noticed that the secondary clutch moveable sheave rotates back and forth freely on it's shaft, but feels stuck when I try to separate the sheaves (move them away from eachother as should happen while upshifting). Is this normal?

I have cleaned the carb (found no significant problems with it) and charged the dead battery some - it's still low on a load test, so I'm charging it at 2 amps for a few more hours.

I am unable to determine what model/serial this thing is. I can't find any tags after checking the document. It has an aluminum diamond plate utility body behind the seats. The only reason I assume it's a Yamaha is beacause it has a Yamaha motor - maybe it's not a Yamaha?

Anyway - any opinions on my clutch theory? Should there be some spring tension to keep the clutch from engaging before the engine reaches a certain rpm?

[Michael Eddie]

Hi scott, you have a Yamaha G1A the first and almost unbreakable golf cart Yamaha made. You can find the serial number under the rear bumper attached to the fender. A lot of people confuse this cart for firing when it is really running on the starter, so make sure that the cart is actually running. As for the clutch it should be stiff at all times and widen as you accelerate.

[scott_nadeau]

Thanks Matti - I'll check for that serial number. I'm a technical geek, so I want to know all I can know about this machine.

The clutch that is my biggest concern is the one on the motor. I assume this should be stiff at all times and become narrower as I accelerate. My concern is that I can push on the face and make it narrow with one finger - it moves in and out (wide to narrow and narrow to wide) freely. Shouldn't there be a spring inside the cluth preventing it from doing this?

Thanks for the quick reply!
Scott Nadeau
Concord, NH

[scott_nadeau]

And yes - I think it is just running on the starter when it is on an upward incline. I think the clutch engagement is preventing the rpms from getting high enough to actually fire. I suspect that downhill is not a problem because the starter moves the cart fst enough to get the rpms ups. Once the thing is running, it will go 15mph with no problem.

[Michael Eddie]

Hey Scott, you will see that the secondary clutch on the gear box gets wider as the primary clutch on the motor gets narrower. I should have been more specific, I think the 105 degree weather yesterday was getting to me

The primary clutch should move, but with a lot of force. You say yours moves with a fingers force, I don’t know how strong you are but when I messed around with one I could widen it with two hands. I think you should take the primary apart and see what went wrong inside, because it sounds like there is a problem.

Hope this helps!

[marktwane]

My G1A is running ok but making an awfull racket. The clutch seems to engage ok but the faster I drive it the louder the noise. Somebody said to ck the secondary clutch. Any ideas?