[tony zambos]

Hate to tell you this, but you may have burnt up the clutch and drum by driving the kart around the block.  First, that is a dangerous thing to do unless you have a large parking lot in the middle of nowhere.  Second, by driving it around the block, the clutch may not have been fully engaged, causing the heat and smoke.  Is there any chance the grease from the bearing got into the clutch?

On a stand, the wheels probably always turn, that’s normal.  Hold the brake pedle down and see if the engine stalls.  If it doesn’t stall, the clutch is not locked up.

[Sebastian Sarmiento]

Hey Tony!!

Thanks for coming to the rescue ..again. lol. I would like to think it could be grease from the bearing, but I don’t think after 10 sessions  (where it never smoked) the grease would get in the clutch. I went to pick up the kart from Cambrian Gokarts (the owner brought it back for me from Infineon because I had my DD2 with me and in my truck I can only fit one). on my way home I stopped by me plumbing supply house (there’s a 200 by 60 yards parking lot there) One of the guys asked if I could show him how it works, so I did, but I didn’t drive it hard at all, then I saw the smoke.

Thanks for your help!

[tony zambos]

Isn’t Infineon a road course? By chance, was the kart still geared for long track? The gearing might have prevented the clutch from locking up because there wasn’t enough speed.

[Walt Gifford]

If you had a tall gear and drove it easy the clutch was slipping allot. You cooked it. btw parking lot is recipe for flat tire.

Gif

[Matt Dixon]

Infineon, now Race Sonoma operates SimRaceway which is a world class kart track.

They will be hosting rds 5&6 of Challenge of the Americas this weekend

[Sebastian Sarmiento]

Well guys,

Tony and everybody else who said I cooked the clutch, are right. I guess I’m learning the hard way.

I’ve already ordered a new drum, clutch and bearing, no more parking lots/showing.

It sucks that this clutch/drum/bearing only had 1 hour on it.

I asked one of the mechs at my local shop, he said the drum has to be replaced as well to make sure it doesn’t ruin the new clutch. Make sense to you?. Sometimes when you are new to any stuff you are never too sure if it’s BS to sell you more or a true fact.

Thanks to all of you for your help!

[Walt Gifford]

The clutch chain and sprockets are something that has to be kept pretty fresh so buying small parts of the drive train is like buying one new tire at a time for your car, the others will wear it out faster. Get everything new and take care of it the best you can will save money in the long run. The clutch should only get burned once per track session coming off the grid so nail it and it will lock up quick then keep speed up above clutch stall while on the track.

Gif

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