1998 48V DS will not go forward...

saleenmav

1998 48V DS with lever F/R, stock other than lift. I picked it up from someone as a non-running cart. He took it on trade and didn't know anything about it other than it didn't move. Batteries are good (pack is at about 50.17V after sitting for a few weeks). There was no solenoid hooked up but I did find a 36V solenoid sitting in the dash.

I put a new 48V solenoid in with diode and resistor. Cart did nothing, solenoid did not engage. Read up on here about bypassing the OBC. Did that and the solenoid engages in F and R. However, the cart only goes in reverse. Seems to be full power. Switch to F and the solenoid engages but the cart just tries to creep backward. If the switch is left in the F position the blue feed wire on the front side of the switch that connects to the controller gets pretty warm. Both the blue and white wire on the front side of the switch read voltage whether in forward or reverse. I am a cart noob, but I was pretty sure one side should be resting at ground when not in gear. It almost seems like I have voltage backfeeding somewhere. My guess is the controller or motor because it doesn't appear that the F/R switch can backfeed, although I haven't taken it apart yet. I did unhook the first microswitch with the green, white and black and connected the cart side white and green and the cart had a lot more torque in reverse but did the same thing in forward, trying to creep backward.

Anyone have any ideas??? Thanks in advance.

***Just went out and took apart the F/R lever and cleaned it. Didn't look very bad. Didn't make a difference. I also checked the voltage at the poles on the motor. In F there is about 49.6V on all poles but S1 and in R there is the same voltage across all poles but A1. Bad motor? And if so, can I hook up a late 80's 36V DS motor that I have on a parts cart?

BGW

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optikid

I don't know what the problem is but you should use the 36 v motor anyway you will get a speed.and torque increase

Speedchaser

My fr switch on my 2000 was a piece of ****. That is what I am thinking so far on your situation.

saleenmav

Can I just hook the 36V motor up without having to do anything else? Assuming it bolts up. Worst case scenario I can swap the rear axle as well.

Also, I understand the concept of more power because of the additional batteries (I run my daughter's 12V power wheels at 18V), but doing the math it doesn't seem like it would be a net gain. My 48V motor is rated at 3.1HP and the 36V motor is only rated at something like 2HP. If I add the add'l 33% power to the 36V I am only at about 2.66HP vs the stock 48V 3.1HP. Am I missing something? Of course, if my 48V motor is bad I will throw the 36V motor in regardless to save from having to buy another motor. Thanks again!

saleenmav

How can I test to see if it is bad? It appears that everything is making good contact because I get good voltage readings off in all positions.

Speedchaser

What are you wanting to test? If you think its your motor you could switch wires at the motor so it goes forward when in reverse, that would rule out the motor.

saleenmav

Was first referring to the fr switch you mentioned, but I would rather test the motor. What wires would I need to switch? A1 and S1?

saleenmav

Swapped the wires on the motor and the cart still did not go forward. Pulled the 36V motor off of my parts cart and bolted it up. Works well. Apparently my 48V motor is bad. When taking it off I noticed that the connector for the orange wire was loose coming out of the motor. Gonna try and take it apart and see if something has come loose on the inside. Gonna run the 36V motor until it won't go anymore. Thanks for the advice optikid!