Not sure what's going on

[TechSys]

I have a later '90ish Club Cart that has been giving problems since I got hired here. This cart has been given to me to drive so I can perform my job duties. Hopefully I can get the problem fixed.

It seem the cart has always been extremely slow at 5mph or less. We checked the batteries and found 2 were bad, so we changed them out. Cart worked o.k. for the first week, but was still slow. Now he batteries are not lasting a half a work day. It actually starts shuttering when giving it any type of pedal.

I'm not sure of the year. I do know it's a 36volt. I'm thinking speed sensor, but could probably be way off base.

What would be the very first things I need to check, and how do I check them?

Any kind of help would be appreciated and thank you in advance.

[andy4639]

If it's 36 volts check the voltage of the whole pack after charging it good and letting it sit for at least 6 hrs and post what they are.
36 volts on a 36 volt cart is dead batteries they should read around 39 volts after sitting the 6 hrs off the charger.
36 volt cart shuttering sounds like the batteries are going out on it.
If the 4 old batteries are over 2-3 years old I would suggest getting all new ones to match the 2 you already bought before they are riuned to by the old ones.

[dougmcp]

I agree, either the batteries are going or your cables are bad/corroded/loose.
Not sure whether your cart has a speed sensor.

Post up the mfg number and serial number located in the passenger glove box.

Take your voltmeter and get an individual reading of each battery when it starts to shudder, anything below 5.8v will be suspect.

[gaminde]

After you check the batteries Make sure your not wired for half speed

[TechSys]

How would I measure to see if it's wired for half speed?

Wish I would have checked the forum before going back to work today. Maybe I'll get a chance tomorrow to check the cart. I've actually got a day off, except for emergencies.

I'm suspecting the batteries are dead. We're talking about getting new ones.

Our office cart is starting to do the same thing. It's only got 3 or 4 batteries. They are huge. That'll be another topic for another day.

Will get the info as soon as I can.

[andy4639]

Look and see if there is a positive cable hooked to one of the center batteries. It hooked most of the time to the passenger side middle battery.

In this picture it would be the 3rd battery from top. Cable running to F/R switch. My cart doesn't have it so the picture is for referance only.

[TechSys]

O.k. Sorry I haven't been around. Been busy as hell.

The cart doesn't have that wire. I checked it this morning.

Now on to the topic for this morning. I was told at 7:30 my cart was dead. The person put it back on charge. I let it charge for 2 hours and had to take it out to do a work order (hard one. the easy ones I am walking to). The cart made it, barely, to the apartment which is 100ft away. It shook, stuttered, and shuddered all the way back to the shop after I got the work order completed. To get it to run somewhat smooth, I barely had to hit the pedal. If I pushed the pedal to far it would do all the shaking.

The cart is on charge again. All the batteries are full. It's reading 27volts instead of 36.

Also found out that I have a broken leaf spring. It just keeps getting better, don't it.

I am going to try finding a manual so I can troubleshoot everything. I am going to rip the cart completely down and see if I can rebuild it up, after cleaning everything. I don't know what to do other than that. The company is too stingy to buy new batteries. they need to do something cause I'm not going to walk over 300 apartments doing work orders every day.

[TechSys]

I agree, either the batteries are going or your cables are bad/corroded/loose.
Not sure whether your cart has a speed sensor.

Post up the mfg number and serial number located in the passenger glove box.

Take your voltmeter and get an individual reading of each battery when it starts to shudder, anything below 5.8v will be suspect.

I will post all that info later today when I get off work.

[gaminde]

measure each battery and then do it again with the charger on

you said the batteries are full NO there not

[andy4639]

All the batteries are full.

I assume you mean full of water.
They aren't fully charged by no means @27 volts.

Make sure the charger is hooked up to all 6 batteries also. Take a voltage reading from the cart plug in and see what it reads.
I have seen this before.

[TechSys]

O.k. found out more information today. It is a 1998 Club car.

The batteries were reading, 8.6, 8.6, 7.2, 6.2, 8.6, and 8.6. Starting from the driver side and working to the passenger side. The total bank didn't read 27volt, I put the meter on it wrong at that time. Total battery bank actually read at 47.8 volts. Still dead though.

I checked the wiring and all seems good. The switches for the forward, neutral, reverse, seem to be in good shape.

Besides the battery problem, I'm leaning towards a motor problem. Not sure if these motors can be cleaned or what. I know they're pretty darn expensive. I could not find a solenoid anywhere in the battery area or under the seat. It looks like there might be a little compartment right behind the battery bank that 1 wire goes into. The only way to get that area visible is to take the body off the cart.

Right now the batteries are full (water) and the cart is sitting on the charger. I did clean each and every terminal and connection I could while I had the seat off. I'll see how it acts in the morning I guess.

Also downloaded the wiring diagram and any other info I could for this cart. did that earlier today. Now I am working on printing it all out for tomorrow.

Battery bank - Kind of dark. Hopefully y'all can see the wiring.


F/R selector


Serial number - that looks liek it says A96, but it's really A98

[andy4639]

The batteries were reading, 8.6, 8.6, 7.2, 6.2, 8.6, and 8.6.

The 7.2 and 6.2 are more are less done I suspect. Those two batteries will cause the cart to act as it does. You will burn the other batteries up trying to get those two up to the same level.
Pressure wash the whole cart off.


The solenoid should be right behind the batteries on the passenger side.

[pistolpete]

i would pull the motor and break it down, take some emery cloth to the armature to clean it up. then take a pick or sumthin and run down the grooves to clean them out. no to hard tho.

[TechSys]

After breaking the cart down like I did yesterday, it seemed to be running better today. It had more speed, just not what it should be.
The cart also died around 11:45 today.

The office is "talking" about getting me batteries this week. I've heard this before though so I'm not holding my breath.

This weekend, depending on how work orders are, I am going to try breaking the cart completely down, cleaning every contact I can, and putting it back together. Yes, I might even try to pressure wash the whole cart. That, I'm sure, hasn't been done since 98.

I need to find a local place that sells leaf springs cheap. The passenger side is, in fact, broke right before the rear axle. I'm guessing that is probably from all the years of hitting these speeds bumps we have here.

[pistolpete]

try and see if the body may have damaged any posts of the motor? i've seen that happen before when springs break. also think of upgradeing to a 4 leaf system.

[andy4639]

Northern hydrolics, tractor supply may have them. Take the old one off and go see. They carry a lot of trailer stuff may can pick one up for cheap if it fits.

[grapeape62]

my 1996 was doing the same thing and it turned out to be the computer

[JyRO]

I wouldn't spend a dime on it outside replacing those 2 low batteries, and then the whole pack charged again. It's clearly evident you have 2 batteries that are a problem. And you will not know for certain if any other electrical device is a problem until you have the batteries straightened out.

Once they're all basically even, then you will have a clearer picture as to what else, if anything, is the problem. I'm not speaking about the leaf spring ... you already know it's broken, I'm referring to the electrical issues. 2 batteries shouldn't break the bank ... even for bean counters.

[TechSys]

lol JyRO. You, in a different situation, would be correct on breaking the bank part. This company won't even spend the $20 a month to keep the on call emergency cell phone active, so we have to use our personal cell phones.

They have told me, numerous times, they are going to replace the batteries. I'll believe it when I see it. Right now the cart is on a flat, thanks to a nail. The good thing is, I am able to drive our newest cart until mine is fixed. The newest cart is actually the office cart, but, it's nice. I love the speed of it.

Now back to mine. I'm going to try doing a complete rebuild of it, over a period of time. I'll start with the batteries, then move on to other things. I really want to put another motor in it, but that will probably be the last thing. I am going to get it working right, or just buy me another cart that I'll take with me when/if I leave this company.

[Johnny67]

Hi hope some one can help i got this golf cart from a friend A8212-31080 its 36 volts
when i plug in the charger it arks dont know whats wrong can yo uplease advise
thanks Johnny67

[gaminde]

where does it arc, in the charger, at the receptacle, or somewhere on the cart.

[Johnny67]

It arks at the receptical where you pug the charger in it wired
neg to pos but i get a reading through the frame it reads 36 volts

[TechSys]

Good news, sort of.

Well, company decided they'd wait, again, on getting batteries and leave springs. We just had an employee quit so I commandeered the cart he was using. It's an E-Z-Go 36volt. It has it's little problems such as battery bank holder is starting to rust out and one of the supports for the truck bed is broke, but it gets up and goes. I do have to do a brake job on it due to one of them (driver side) came loose and bounces around. No problem with that. I am going to have it mostly fixed by Monday. It'll also have new tires and rims since I found 6 brand new one in the shop the other day.

[TechSys]

Little bit of an update. It has been decided that all carts are going to get new batteries... today. We are supposed to have somebody out here, today, to replace every single one of them. That's 12 6volt batteries, 6 8volt batteries, and 4 12volt batteries.

It's a good day.