Hilliard Extreme clutch

[jspbtown]

Bought a Hilliard Extreme centrifugal clutch for my Sundowner project and it seems like it was soaked in oil before shipping. It just will not engage. So I have cleaned it thoroughly with brake cleaner and oiled it per the Hilliard instructions. Haven't tested it yet.

Question is two fold.....Am I correct to assume that a "fair amount" of oil would cause serious slippage? And two.....anything else I should do before I try it again? Scuff the drum? The engagement shoes?

 

[Tom S.]

Have you contacted the seller?

 

[creia]

Have you contacted the seller?

That is the first thing I thought of^^^^^^^
Michael

 

[jspbtown]

I have not. I guess I wanted to have some knowledge before I did.

Worked on it today. It just won't grab.

 

[creia]

I have not. I guess I wanted to have some knowledge before I did.

Worked on it today. It just won't grab.

Something is not right with that clutch. You should not have to do anything to it. Was it represented as NEW? If so, call that seller and get a replacement or (better yet) a refund.
Michael

 

[jspbtown]

It was represented as new.

 

[pomfish]

Hilliard,
Some swear by them, others swear at them.
I am of the latter.

Only owned one and guess what?
Smoked like a nervous perp and wouldn't lock up for sheet. Returned it.
Not saying they don not make some better clutches as you spend more money but the base line stuff sucks.

Comet or even most of the clones off epay lock up easy and if used correctly on a minibike with proper gearing work good.
JHMO,
YMMV

 

[jspbtown]

I am wondering if the engagement speed might be an issue. I need to check the spring color but I believe it might be 2300. Wondering if some springs with a lower engagement speed might help?

 

[SAS289]

I am wondering if the engagement speed might be an issue. I need to check the spring color but I believe it might be 2300. Wondering if some springs with a lower engagement speed might help?

That will not help at all. If it will not engage at 2300 it's not going to engage at 2100 or less. You should send it back and get a new clutch.

 

[jspbtown]

That will not help at all. If it will not engage at 2300 it's not going to engage at 2100 or less. You should send it back and get a new clutch.

Interesting. Appreciate the advice.

So I checked the spring color on the clutch. They are the black springs which are designed to engage at 3000 rpm....the very highest Hilliard offers. In reviewing clutches it seems like most engage in the 2000-2300 RPM range. I wonder if the yellow or silver (2000 & 2300 rpm) would be a better choice?

 

[desert rat]

My wife has one on her 6 HP. As I remember it came in oiled up pretty good. I believe we cleaned it with carb cleaner before we installed it and ran the sh%t out of it. The springs are C-clip type and are black standard I think. I do not think they have other springs. I would say, see if you can return it as not for your application and get one that is tune-able

 

[jspbtown]

It is tune-able with replacement springs. See here:
https://www.hilliardextremeduty.com/extremeduty/

I think the black springs are wrong for my applications. In looking them up at OldMiniBikes and other sites they are listed as engaging at 2300.

 

[1stlegendtx]

I use two black and two yellow in the L206 Kart class and it engages at about 2300.

 

[jspbtown]

Spoke with a rep at Hilliard. The black springs are way too high of an engagement speed. They suggested the white springs.

 

[desert rat]

I did not know that they were tune able. I guess I just got lucky when I built hers

 

[jspbtown]

Got a new Hilliard clutch with the white springs. Still no engagement. Total frustration at this point.

 

[creia]

Curious why you bought a Hilliard clutch- what engine is it going on? As I stated earlier get a refund on that clutch, install a Max Torque clutch and RIDE.
Michael

 

[jspbtown]

I bought the Hilliard because most of the people who have been buying my bikes are adults and I wanted something heavy duty. I had one before and had zero problems with it but that was on a Predator motor. This motor is a HS50 Tecumseh. I will look at the Max Torque

 

[creia]

I bought the Hilliard because most of the people who have been buying my bikes are adults and I wanted something heavy duty. I had one before and had zero problems with it but that was on a Predator motor. This motor is a HS50 Tecumseh. I will look at the Max Torque

The Max Torque clutch will be fine on that engine, and they are a great value. I have been running only Max Torque on all my bikes for 20 years with ZERO problems. Some of these bikes had 8 HP engines on them. Stop screwing around with that Hilliard and get a refund on it.
Michael

 

[jeep2003]

I think you have an engine problem. Not making enough power to put any power into it. I had that problem once. It ran and revd fine just no juice. Turned out to be worn seats the valve adjustment was so bad it had no compression because the valves were never closing fully.