97 DS 36V - Slow in Fwd, No Movement in Reverse

harveyiv

1997 DS 36v cart.
Kids were riding it and said it died.

With a full charge, it will barely move forward and will not move in reverse.
Solenoid is clicking.
Batteries are 1/5 years old.
Water in batteries is still above the plates.
I have checked voltage on each battery under load and they all stay above 6.1v.
I've checked the coils and none are broken.
Wiring connections to the motor are good.
Inspected all throughout the cart (including underneath) to see if there was any type of damage....none found.
No wiring has changed since this event occurred.

Can I get some advice on next steps to troubleshoot. I'm a EE by trade so no issues diving in with a DVM.

Also, I read posts about 97's having different combinations off of the solenoid:
1 - diode only
2 - diode / resistor
3 - Nothing
How can you tell which one is correct for the model you have?

Thanks,
Rob Harvey
Wake Forest, NC

BGW

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93yellowclubcar

This is a resistor coil controlled cart, so no diode or resistor at all on the solenoid. Those are on the solenoids of controller carts. Have you checked to verify that the V-glide wiper is traveling all the way to the top contact? (V-glide is the pie slice shaped box between the batteries on the drivers side frame rail)

harveyiv

Good call! Wiper has heat damage. Kids must have kept their foot on the throttle even when they were stopped. Luckily I have a spare wiper. Gong to put it on now. Will post back if that was indeed the problem.

93yellowclubcar

Keep us posted - it doesnt take much to melt down the V-glide on a resistor cart - LOTS of amperage passing through especially when under load (like moving really slowly or having the pedal down but not moving in a stall situation). This, as you well know, causes heat - enough to seriously damage the poor little pie wedge.

harveyiv

Yep. That did the trick. Thanks for the guidance! Unfortunately, after closer inspection, I found that the top most contact (full throttle) has been hot and has melted the plastic enough to sink the contact about a 1/10 of an inch into the plastic. So, full throttle is no good. Looks like I'll be buying a new v-glide unit.

2 follow up questions:

1 - I have the wiring diagram for my cart (97 DS 36V). Does anyone have information on the correct wire gauge size for each wire? I'm not too concerned about the battery cables as I have replaced and over sized those cables. I'm more concerned about the cables going to the charger port, F/R switch, and solenoid.

2 - Any advice on purchasing the V-glide unit? Are there quality differences between different sources? I'd be willing to pay more for a unit that could withstand higher temperature (driven by higher current). Thoughts?

BTW...I have two of these 97 DS 36V carts. With teenagers that love to use them, I'm trying to make them as robust as possible!

Rob Harvey
Wake Forest, NC

93yellowclubcar

Not sure about the correct wire sizes, the large cables are all supposed to be 4 ga. stock, I believe. As for V-glides, I'm not sure who has any better quality stuff, its really all about the same. I like golfcartking.com for parts like that.

On the topic of making them last - avoiding long runs at part throttle and NEVER going up ANY incline at less than full throttle can prolong the life of a V-glide.