Club Car went in lake

Lake Rider

Yes its true our Club car went in the lake. Son was removing our jetski with a trailer attached to our cart and the brake let loose letting it roll back into the lake. It submerged the cart up to the cupholders and was in the water for approx 30 min before it could be pulled out. It appeared that the controller was stuck in a air pocket when in the water as it was bone dry when we pulled the cart out as it was my first worry....

Cart ran fine after removal and was able to drive back up to the house. We disconnected the batteries and jacked it up so water would drain as well as had fans running on it all night.

Cart ran the next day but after sitting till today a few days later when we could actually get down to working on it the cart wont move. It will roll slowly forward and backwards under its own power but at a snails pace. We do notice some intermittent sparking on the batteries once in awhile when pushing the pedal. The batteries are all tight with the connections so this isnt the cause of the sparks

Cart has had a new OBC put in 2 yrs ago as well as other cables replaced and etc. I do have a little knowledge of the carts but not enough to know what to look for and what to check as to why its not working now after being in water. The batteries are still sealed with a full charge and its charges with no issues.

Anyone help me in what should be checked and what we need to check on it for water submersion clean up or repair?

The cart is a 1995 48v non regen model

BGW

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rdaystrom

Remove the cables and clean them all with a wire brush to shiny metal. Remove the motor and check it for water. Clean and dry as needed. Drain the oil in the rear end and replace. Check any other electrical devices for water like relays etc. Let it sit in the hot sun to dry anything you missed. Good luck. That great Club Car parking brake design. ....That should never happen. Your parking brake may need to be replaced.

tonyton

Sorry about your misfortune....good luck with the water.
Battery cables soaked for 30 minutes?? HMMM. May want to replace those cables, and all the above.

Lake Rider

Thanks for the replies and help. I have it loaded on a trailer and will take it home to our other house this eve. Luckily the trailer had a winch on it.
I will check all of the above and clean all the contacts, batteries and etc and see if that helps also. I also figured the fluid in axle would need to come out.
This is actually used as a cart to haul stuff from the woods and jet ski to and from the water just a few times a year on our property. I`m hoping for the best and a good take down and cleaning will take care of it.
Its a little tougher to roll by itself now so I`m wondering if the motor is binding up or the rear axle is from the water immersion...........
If the motor did get toasted would it be worth it to upgrade the motor up one level since its used in teh woods and towing weight? I guess we will see in the next few days how bad it is

The brake had popped off one or two times in the past but not under this situation. I checked it and it didnt seem worn and clicked in the notch ok but maybe its worn enough to cause this. I`m guessing all the weight of the jetski and trailer didnt help much either.

scottyb

what year is the cart?

Lake Rider

Its an 95 model

A9527-442901

Lake Rider

Well I have found the following:

Rear axle had hardly any water in it at all so its been drained and refilled

Motor is in bad shape and not just from the water. One of the bushings for the brushes had broken off awhile ago and it tore the armature/winding where the brushes rub really bad. Its bad enough rebuilding it would be no good as it would tear up new brushes. The inside was also very dirty and rusty. I knew it was going to be bad when I could turn the housing around before the motor was off and hear things rattling around in there. I do not believe the lake had anything to do with this but may explain the slow decline in performance over the last year.

SO...........

I need a new motor that will give us a little more performance or torque since we pull a small jetski up the bath as well as have a small dump body on the back. I prefer not to upgrade the controller also if possible so the new motor would need to work with stock controller.

I also will be ordering new cable sto replace the ones on there now.

scottyb

You might want to atleast consider upgrading the stock controller....

Lake Rider

I started thinking about that after I posted the reply above but just didn't want to have to start replacing everything else with this lake dive. It wasn't exactly a planned upgrade at the moment

Any good choices for a controller and motor that will just give a little more torque? Speed really isnt an issue as its used around a yard and down a path to the lake. Its also used to haul some yard items around but thats about it. Retaining at least stock speed is a plus