Yerf Dog 3206 Go Kart Fuel Tank Swap

Carter XTV Fuel Tank Upgrade

The stock Yerf Dog 3206 & 3209 go karts fuel tank design is not very good.  The fuel capacity is small, and because of the shape of the tank and filler tube, you can't even fully fill up the small tank without having it spill out the filler neck.  Because of this, I'd estimate that the stock tank could only hold around 0.75 gallons of fuel.  Not much - especially if you want to have longer run times.

And then there is the gas cap.  Because the tank filler spout is angled back and because of the gas cap vent design, gas tends to leak out the back when driving the go kart.  UPDATE:  Yerf Dog changed the fuel cap design and the leaking gas cap issue has been resolved. 

It didn't take long before I began researching other gas tank solutions.  I wanted to try to find something with more fuel capacity, no fuel spilling problems, and something reasonably priced.  I finally settled on the Carter XTV go kart fuel tank shown below.  This tank is used on the Carter XTV 1150 and 2150 go karts.  Carter states that this plastic tank has a 2 gallon capacity.  The fuel petcock has 3 positions:  OFF, RES, ON.  The RESERVE is a very nice feature in case you run out of fuel.  It works just like a motorcycle petcock.  If you run out of gas, all you need to do is move the valve to the RES position and you have some additional fuel to help get your go kart running again.  It's also nice to have a fuel shut off for when the go kart is not in use.  If the carb float inlet needle valve ever gets stuck, you won't flood your garage with raw fuel.

Carter sells the tank, fuel cap, and petcock separately.  Here is a listing of these items with part number & cost:

Fuel Tank - 3371151 - $26.00

Fuel Tank Cap - 3401001 - $8.65

Fuel Cutoff Valve - 3401002 - $14.95

The Carter XTV go karts fuel petcock has a 1/4" diameter fuel barb.  The Howhit engine carb has a 3/16" inlet fuel barb.  I used a nylon 1/4"-3/16" fitting from an auto parts store which was sold as a vacuum fitting.  It looked like it was nylon and so I thought that it should be fuel resistant.  To double check this, I filled a small glass jar with some gas and dropped one of the fittings in.  After a long time passed and the fitting was unchanged/undamaged, it was confirmed that it was gas resistant (and most likely nylon as I first thought).  IMPORTANT: Whatever 1/4"- 3/16" adapter you end up using, make sure it is fuel resistant or you could have a dangerous fire hazard if your fitting dissolves and you get 2 gallons of raw gasoline dumped on a hot engine!  The Carter go kart fuel petcock valve has an inlet screen on it to filter out the big stuff.  I also added a small inline fuel filter to catch smaller particles.  Be sure to use a filter designed for gravity fed fuel systems.  If you use a fuel filter intended for a pressurized fuel system with a pump, then you might restrict the fuel flow too much with a gravity feed system.  Most motorcycle shops have a variety of fuel filters that will work with gravity feed systems.   I also used some 1/4" and 3/16" urethane fuel line that I picked up at the local motorcycle shop.

I wasn't sure if the Carter XTV go kart tank straps would work on my 3206 go kart, so I ordered a couple of band clamps.  I ordered some high quality, 316 stainless steel, smooth band, worm drive hose clamps (6"-7.5" diameter range) from McMaster-Carr.  These high quality clamps cost me about $5 each, and the McMaster part number is:  45945K22 .  These clamps worked great.  I tightened up my clamps so they were nice and snug.  Whatever you do, just be sure to not tighten the band clamps too much or you could possibly damage the tank.  It would take a lot of force to do that, but someone who doesn't know their own strength - armed with a socket wrench - could possibly damage something.  Probably, it would be more likely that the band clamp would strip out before the tank was damaged.  Then again, it's best not to damage anything!

I also bought some 1" coolant hose from NAPA Auto Parts.  I cut off a couple pieces and slit the hose along it's length and slipped it over the 1" tubing on the go kart rack tubes where the tank would be clamped against.  I didn't want to just clamp the tank directly against the tubing (although people have done this), so this rubber tubing helps provide a little bit softer mounting surface which might offer a little bit of vibration dampening for the tank.  The hose also provides protection for the go kart ack tubing paint.  I figured that the rubber surface would also provide a better grip on the tank and hopefully make the mounting more secure.  This worked out well.  The tank is very secure set up this way. 

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