Predator 670cc issues?

[FabricaTim]

I have the predator 670cc and it didn't seem like it's getting full power. The comet duster 94c does not engage fully. I am seeing a little bit of grey smoke from the muffler. The belt only makes it about half way up the sheave. My Duster is using the pink spring with 6 pucks and the driven clutch spring is in the first hole. Any help would be much appreciated. Thank you.

[darwinpayne2000]

It's been awhile, so let me think back to the early days . . .

I am assuming for the moment that you have the center-to-center distance set appropriate for the belt that you purchased. If the belt is too long for the C-to-C distance, then that would explain why you only get half the engagement you're looking for. I'll also assume that you have the offset for the driver/driven clutch set correctly. Nothing in your description indicates that it wouldn't be, so . . .

I'm running a Briggs and Stratton V-twin, so the setup should be similar. When I bought my Duster clutches, the driver clutch came with the pink spring and 6 pucks, similar to what you're describing. That was the recommended configuration for a B&S V-twin engine. I recall that the setup worked fine with my engine (14 hp at the time). Theoretically, the same setup should also be working for your engine. However, I suspect that I already had the governor disconnected when I installed the Duster clutch.

A couple of suggestions.

Disconnecting your governor may help because it limits the engine to about 3200 rpm. These V-Twins will certainly rev higher than that. Check out Affordable Gokarts in their "How To" section to get some ideas on how to configure the throttle linkage with the governor removed.

The second suggestion is to get some heavier pucks. More puck weight will cause the clutch to engage at a lower rpm and, theoretically, engage the clutch fully instead of just partially.

As I've said before, Comet clutches are "infinitely tuneable", but it can also take an "infinity to tune them".

[FabricaTim]

Thank you darwinpayne2000. Ya I was just reading up on the proper alignments of the clutches and effects. I will check that out and C-to-C was perfect unless engine moved but doubt it. Is there a way to cross reference the belt number to the correct C-to-C in case they shipped the wrong belt. I got everything from Belt Palace online but bought the clutches first and belt later.

I was debating with myself on removing the governor but thought it would have enough power as is. I will definitely be removing that now and buying more pucks when I can afford it. As of right now I'm looking for a new job.

Thank you for your persuasion and input!

[darwinpayne2000]

I double-checked and the pink spring is the one recommended for 4-cycle industrial engines. The C-to-C distance on my setup is 10 1/4" with a belt that is 43 1/2 inches on the outer circumference. The clutch offset is 5/8 inch. I hope this information helps.