Blaze Clutch Not Immediately Going

J

jdog17

Member
When I was racing this weekend I had an issue with my Hillard Blaze that I don't normally have.

When the green flag waved I'd accelerate fully on the pedal but the kart would slowly accelerate allowing the leaders to pull away but about 25 feet later something would click and then it would fully go like it should.

Happened every restart during the race... any advice?
 
Avoid running the engine at low rpms other than idle, It creates heat in the clutch pre engagement. Caution laps are clutch killers, coast or engage as needed.
 
It's either slipping too much from glaze or something or it's locking up too soon from your springs losing strength or something. Does it rev out or bog down when you try to go?
 
Does it spin free on the stand? If things aren't spaced just right, it can lock up the drum. If everything looks good when you take it apart just try new springs. They lose tension if they get too hot.
 
I could be wrong, but I'm not sure if the Blaze shoes are for adults, or you have to run more weights to get then to engage correctly. Flame shoes is what I used. Only difference in the Blaze and the Flame is the shoes.
 
Had the same problem this weekend. Exactly as jdog17 described. I run the Hillard Flame. When I took the clutch apart Sunday to clean the shoes looked glazed more than normal. If everything is right should the shoes glaze at all. The drum looks good a d the springs feel ok.
Thinking about trying a different brand clutch. We have to run a drum clutch.
 
Just read what sundog said. I don't really know if mine was bogging down or reving up then catching. The more I think about it it could have been bogging down some. I have been running the shoes in the leading position with white springs and no weights. I am switching to shoes to the trailing position. They say it is more of a positive lockup. Also I think I am going to try two black and two white springs and up the engagement a little. Videos on you tube show max torque to be around 3600.
It seems strange to ean the drum and shoes with wd 40. Says something to do with what they are made out of. They say if you clean the drum and shoes with brake cleaner, carb cleaner it could make the clutch grip to much. I don't think there anything wrong with the clutch. Probably the way I am running it.
 
If you're going with Trailing, and upping the springs, you'll need to add I think the heavy weight to the back hole to get it to lock in correctly. It will lock in smoother, the side effect is it will slip a little more before total lock up. That's why it's smoother. You can check the Hillard PDF's, it explains it all.

Also, glazing means it got hot, more slippage will glaze the shoes more. So, you need to make sure it's adjusted correctly to get the engagement correct or any clutch will glaze. If you follow the Hillard maintenance routine, it's spot on. They've been doing this for a very long time. It's exactly how I maintained both of mine and once they were tuned correctly there was never an issue.
 
Sorry I have been running it trailing. I am going to go to leading. I tried it leading once and I got a lot of chatter or I called it chain jerk so I went back to trailing. Maybe that is why it hasn't felt like it hasn't engaged. because i have ran the shoes trailing. I am going to go with leading shoes and with the black and yellow springs. I believe that will up the engagement a little. I will try it and if it doesn't seem good I will leave it leading shoes and all white springs and no weights. Thanks for the help.
 
bullerman said:
Sorry I have been running it trailing. I am going to go to leading. I tried it leading once and I got a lot of chatter or I called it chain jerk so I went back to trailing. Maybe that is why it hasn't felt like it hasn't engaged. because i have ran the shoes trailing. I am going to go with leading shoes and with the black and yellow springs. I believe that will up the engagement a little. I will try it and if it doesn't seem good I will leave it leading shoes and all white springs and no weights. Thanks for the help.
Click to expand...
Put the shoes in the leading position and leave them there. With your Flame clutch, black and white springs alternating should be around 3400 rpm engagement. Don't go by the Hilliard chart online as it shows the "chatter engagement" or where the shoes just start to touch the drum. Actual lock-up is generally around 500 rpm higher than that (depending on springs and weights used.) If you need to bring the engagement rpm down lower than 3400 rpm (black & white springs) then add 1 brass weight to each shoe in the trailing most hole. That should help with the chatter or jerking that you are feeling as well.
We work with these clutches on almost a daily basis as they are VERY popular with the LO206 engines, so we've tried most every combination out there to come up with what we think works best.


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Brian Carlson
Carlson Racing Engines
Vector Cutz
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Another question. I run the Bully conversion on my flame. With the drum that comes with the clutch drum they say clean it and the shoes with wd40. Should I do the same thing with the Bully conversion drum. Is it made out of the same material?
 
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