Please help newbie bring '95 Club Car back to life...

Big Bruce

I scored a '95 Club Car electric recently for next to nothing, and hope to get it running to facilitate chores around our farm. Right now, the machine moves, but barely, in both forward and reverse. The reverse alarm is fully audible.

On flat ground, the cart moves slowly when the accelerator is pressed lightly. When accelerator is pressed more heavily, or when cart heads even slightly uphill, the cart begins to shudder and slow to a halt. If accelerator is fully depressed, shuddering stops and a motor whirring sound is heard. If I then back off the accelerator, it begins to creep forward again, unless I'm trying to move uphill, in which case the "shudders; come on immediately.

There are six 6-volt batteries in series, Costco brand, "group size CCA. 2-GCS". These batteries are from 2006, and so are 9 years old. The cart has apparently sat for quite a long unused. The cables all look reasonably good. I have plugged in the Power Drive charger and it shows as charging at 24 amps, but never going lower or shutting off. My gut feeling is that new batteries may do the trick, but I'd hate to invest all that money only to find that there is another serious problem, or that the batteries are not the problem at all.

What is the cheapest and easiest way to test these batteries to see if they are servicable or recoverable? If they test as not providing proper power, do you think replacements are likely going to solve the problem, or should I have concern about that "whirring sound"?

Is it possible to replace these 6v batteries with 8v batteries for more power, or is the electric motor designed to work only when powered by a total of 36 volts?

Any help you may be able to provide would be greatly appreciated.

BGW

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jakesnake27

to BGW

First off, we need to determine if you have a 36v or 48v cart. Check the tag on the motor under the cart. It will say the voltage. It sounds like you may have 6v batteries in a 48v cart. Since the batteries are 9 years old and have sat for an extended period of time, they will more than likely need to be replaced.

TahoeDawgZ71

Are you sure they're 6 volt batteries and not 8 volt batteries? Your indication that you're using a PowerDrive charger would point towards the cart being a 48 volt cart. 48 Volt carts use six 8Volt batteries.

scottyb

Welcome to BGW
9 yr old batteries need replacing no matter what. Average useful life is 5 years. The shuddering is typical of batteries that can not deliver the amperage needed to run.
Please let us know if the cart has a 2 blade charge plug or a 3 pin plug. This will tell us if the cart is 36v resistor coil or 48v solid state.
I'm assuming you have the ID #. Can you post it here too?

Volt_Ampere

First you need new batteries! Figure out what batteries are correct for your cart. If it's a 36V system, you want 6 X 6V batteries. If it's 48V, you want 6 X 8V batteries. If your cart is a 36V cart, you will have to upgrade the controller and charger to go to 48V. If it's a resistor cart, I would convert it to a controller and upgrade to 48V.

crash test dummy

CCFanatic

The 2-GCS markings on the Costco batts indicates they are 6 volts. More then likely wrong batteries installed, but nonetheless, something doesn't seem to be adding up here

I've experienced the same issue firsthand, the cart needs new batteries. We need to determine the voltage system in this cart. Some pictures would help

Big Bruce

Thank you all for your suggestions. I will certainly go the the cart, which is still at the house of the person I acquired it from, and check the tag on the motor.
If it helps, the Power Drive charger has three prongs, and the serial # is A9530-447756.

Big Bruce

If it turns out this is a 36v cart, what is the advantage of converting to 48V? More power? More speed? When you write "upgrade the controller and charger", I suppose that means purchasing a new charger, but how does one upgrade a controller. I'm so clueless I do not even know what the controller is, or where it is located.

Thanks for your patience.

crash test dummy

3 prong is 48v, no need to do charger just buy six 8v batteries
you can upgrade controller and/or motor