Tips for Endurance Racing

Pre-race maintenance is the key to successful, enjoyable endurance racing

Engine ( Rotax )

  • Make sure your engine is clean….I normally use ½-1 can of carb cleaner on the outside if the engine. Make sure you wipe the chassis down after spraying carb or even brake cleaner as this can often discolour your chassis.
  • Power valve, remove and clean after every race. Make sure when cleaning the blade you don’t use anything too hard as the blade is made of quite sold metal, Wire brush and carb cleaner is ideal. If you do strip down the power valve, make sure when you screw the blade shaft into the black plastic top (exhaust valve piston) that you use a very…very small amount of thread lock. Ideal length of the power valve is between 74.5-75.0mm.
  • Exhaust Baffle tube and matting should be changed every 5-10 hours use. Also make sure that the exhaust fits snug on the exhaust ball-manifold. If you have a tell tale sign of black oily liquid under the exhaust socket, you’ve not got a good seal and this can affect how the power valve will work. Use a good quality exhaust sealant.
  • Starter motor must be removed after every race, clean and grease starter bendix. There are common issues if your engine will not turn over. They are normally linked to the starter motor brushes either being worn or a broken wire inside the starter motor. You can normally identify if it’s a broken wire by wiggling the main starter lead going in to the starter body. If you try and turn the engine over while you wiggle the lead….and it turns over, it’s a broken wire.
  • Remove the side gear casing (after every race) and inspect gears (Plastic old style clutch or metal gears for new style clutch) Replace any gears if they look damaged or worn in anyway. Re-fit with new gasket and re-fill with approx 30-50ml of oil via the black vent cap until the oil starts to come out of the oil filler level bolt (normally found on 2006 onwards engines) Any good quality engine oil will do the job.
  • The CARB FILTER should be cleaned out after each race. Using a 12mm Spanner, remove the bolt just below the fuel inlet pipe and the small filter should be attached to the end of the bolt. If not, try and remove, but being very careful you don’t damage the filter. Before every race it would be ideal if you removed the carb and stripped it down blowing out with carb cleaner and compressed air.
  • Fuel Pump repair / maintenance kit should be used every 20-30 hours of use.
  • Use a New SPARK PLUG every 10-20 hours of use.
  • CLUTCH should be inspected after every race. Grease the bearing with high melting pointing grease. Clean out clutch drum and make sure you don’t have any grease/oil on the clutch shoes or new type clutch block.
  • Front & Rear sprockets should be changed every race, but can last 2 races if the alignmentis correct. A laser chain wheel aligner will make chain alignment easier & more accurate.
  • You must use a good quality ‘O’ ring chain.
  • Try and bring 2 batteries with you…..use the best battery for the race and your spare for practice and qualification.
  • Fuel pipe should be renewed when it starts to gets discoloured and brittle. Ideally you should change the fuel pipe in your fuel tank too, as this often becomes hard and shrinks in the tank.
  • If you’ve been using your engine in the wet. Make sure at the end of the race you must: Remove the air box and start your engine. Run for approx 3-5 minutes while you spray WD40 straight into the engine while you keep it running. It is very important this is done!! If you don’t you’ve got a very good chance of the engine seizing up the next time you use it.
  • Click/Copy & paste on this link to give you some extra in-depth info

Chassis Etc

  • Keep your chassis clean, as this makes identifying possible problems much easier.
  • Additional seat stays will help you avoid broken / cracked chassis seat stays.
  • Spanner check must be done before every race…..If you have 5 minutes spare! Grab a spanner…..you’ll be surprised what you might miss.Also whilst kart is on its stand, look underneath to check for hanging wires, cracks etc.
  • The axle and bearingsshould be changed every 3-4 races or 20 hours of use.
  • Brakes Always check that the brake calliper is “square” with the brake disc & the gap between disc and pads is even on both sides. If you have uneven brake wear check the gap. Change the brake fluid every 2 to 4 races. Make sure you use correct brake fluid for your brake system.
  • Use new stub axle bearings & bolts every 4 races or 20-25 hours use.
  • ALL Lead weight must be safely secured to your chassis. Either invest in a lead post or secure to your seat or floor pan using a 2 bolt configuration. If you decide to secure lead using a seat insert please make sure the lead is in thin strips and taped to the seat! You cannot ‘’just tape lead to the kart’’ This is far too dangerous & is not allowed.
  • Steering column bearing should be changed every 4 races or 20-25 hours of use.
  • Side pod bolts to be changed over 2 races or 10-15 hours.
  • Most important when you change or strip items down! INVEST IN A BOTTLE OF THREAD LOCK!!!! Nylock nuts “DO NOT” last forever!!

I’m sure we’ve missed out lots that teams already do before each race…..

so please feel free to email your tips to us at:

And we will add to the list.