Carter gtr 250 starting issues

[Dallastx]

Hello everyone, I hope someone out there can help me out on an issue I'm having with this buggy. i may just need to stop working on these carters. But I love the way they look and the ground clearance on these. Anyway, I have a carter 250 that I bought with everything intact and original. This was exciting because I bout one of these last year with an aftermarket carb and have still not been able to get it running. That's another story. This buggy however was up and running as soon as I put it back together after cleaning the carb. It took a couple of tries and some carb cleaner spray but then it started. It idles great and I let it run until fan kicked in and off. Everything was great. I turned it off and on a couple more times. I noticed that sometimes it would sound and feel like the engine would lock up. Like the starter stopped turning and would lock in place. I could keep hitting the key and hen the buggy would start up. I drive it around and it drove great. But he knocking/locking up bothered me. So a couple of days late I tried to take it out again and it would start but sometimes make that ugly sound. Then all of a sudden nothing. No starting at all. I thought I had fried the starter so I went to take it off and noticed it had got caught in place. So I bolted not back down and tried again and it started but made that noise again the first time. I turnedto Did and tried again and after a couple of tries it locked up again. Took off started and looked inside and the gear that it engages was missing teeth. I freaked out. Took side cover off and replaced gear with one from buggy purchased last year. The starter didn't turn smooth so I blamed it on that and used one from old buggy. Put it all back together and its still doing it. But only when I hook up the spark plug wire. Without it I can crank it all day long with no knock or locking of starter. Please help me. Thanks

[Dallastx]

I'm sorry for not spell checking the previous post. I'm hoping someone knows what would cause the engine to lock up when trying to start it. I forgot to mention that I also thought the fuel might be the issue. I didn't know how old it was so I drained the tank. But what gets me is the fact that it did start and I drove it around and it drove great. Great acceleration and everything. But when I try to start it if it doesn't start right away it locks up. That's the best explanation I can give. I also tried the aftermarket carb that was on the buggy I bought last year and it started with that one as well. Same issue though. So that rules out the carb issue I was having with the other buggy. I would just like to get this one going good. But I don't have any more of those gears so I don't want to keep trying to start it and break the teeth on this one. Thanks

[SYCARMS]

Sounds like you have a bad starter clutch.

[Dallastx]

I thought that might be it but when I looked up bad starter clutch symptoms or how to check it, I understood that the gear is supposed to spin freely one direction but engage the opposite way. With cvt cover off I can put my finger on the gear that broke with starter out and turn the variator and the gear won't move. But if I turn the gear the opposite way it turns the engine. Maybe I misunderstood the way it works. I also read that another symptom would be the engine would not turn over. Just the starter cranking. I may be wrong though. Is there any other way to check the starter gear. Or do I have to open the side case and remove internals. Thank you for your reply.

[SYCARMS]

The clutch is a 1 way sprag bearing. If out completely the starter will spin but not the engine, but when going bad it will lock up in normal rotation. It will only do this under a load. The sprag keeps the engine from kicking back in opposite direction kinda like an old Harley with a kick start. You will have to pull the side cover to inspect it.

[Dallastx]

Ok thanks for explaining that. I will pull the cover and see what I find. Will it be noticeable or do I just replace it and see. Thanks.

[SYCARMS]

Look for any missing or out of place rollers or broken sprag spring. Also they are held together with socket head screws. Make sure they are not coming loose or broken.

[Dallastx]

Will do. Thank you sir.

[Dallastx]

If not to much trouble, would you happen to know the correct size flywheel puller for this buggy. I have the onine manual and it has the part number but nothing comes up when I use it to search online to purchase it. And the manual does not specify the exact metric size. Looking online these pullers range from mid 20s to high 30s mm sizes. It looks like I could maybe try to take off the Allen head bolts that seem to hold the gear behind the flywheel one at a time so it stays lined up and possibly use a steering wheel type puller replacing the Allen head bolts with longer bolts but not sure. I just don't want to mess the flywheel up. Thanks.

[Dallastx]

Update on this just in case someone ever comes across the same issue. I was not able to find out the correct size flywheel puller for this engine. Before trying to pull the flywheel with a harmonic balancer/steering wheel puller I searched and searched online until I came across a single post describing exactly what was happening to my buggy. When trying to start a loud clank/engine locking up. But every now and again it would start and once started ran great. The post I came across realized the CDi was not original and once he swapped it out for an original it fired up perfectly. Well as previously stated I had a non running project I bought last year that I kind of gave up on. So I checked the CDi from this buggy and sure enough they were different. This one was smaller in size and looked brand new. I'm assuming previous owner replaced it with a generic kind that obviously will not work on this sym engine. I swapped in the Cdi from project buggy and it fired right up no noises and idled great. Tried it over and over for about an hour every 5 min and it fired up every time. Took it for a spin and buggy runs great. Apparently cn and cf style 250 cdi are easier to locate and use. Whereas the carter 250 needs a specific kind not interchangeable with other 250cc cdi. I hope this may help someone out in the future. I'm just glad I didn't start tearing this thing apart. Now I need a carter 250cc cdi for my original buggy. If someone out there has one they'd like to sell I would greatly appreciate it. Thanks.

[SYCARMS]

Glad you found the problem. The CN/CF engines use a lot of initial timing whereas the sym uses little initial timing.

[BEEFKING69]

Originally Posted by Dallastx

Update on this just in case someone ever comes across the same issue. I was not able to find out the correct size flywheel puller for this engine. Before trying to pull the flywheel with a harmonic balancer/steering wheel puller I searched and searched online until I came across a single post describing exactly what was happening to my buggy. When trying to start a loud clank/engine locking up. But every now and again it would start and once started ran great. The post I came across realized the CDi was not original and once he swapped it out for an original it fired up perfectly. Well as previously stated I had a non running project I bought last year that I kind of gave up on. So I checked the CDi from this buggy and sure enough they were different. This one was smaller in size and looked brand new. I'm assuming previous owner replaced it with a generic kind that obviously will not work on this sym engine. I swapped in the Cdi from project buggy and it fired right up no noises and idled great. Tried it over and over for about an hour every 5 min and it fired up every time. Took it for a spin and buggy runs great. Apparently cn and cf style 250 cdi are easier to locate and use. Whereas the carter 250 needs a specific kind not interchangeable with other 250cc cdi. I hope this may help someone out in the future. I'm just glad I didn't start tearing this thing apart. Now I need a carter 250cc cdi for my original buggy. If someone out there has one they'd like to sell I would greatly appreciate it. Thanks.

That was my post i believe cause i had the same issue and search carter 250 on ebay and they have the cdis for 38 bucks free shipping. Ive ordered a couple and so far have had no issues. I replied to your post on the other forum but im replying here as this forum has automatic email notifications when a thread has a reply and the other one dont unless you check a box.