1990 ezgo weak going up hills...what can I do?

junebuggy

I just bought a 1990 ez-go electric and while taking it on a morning drive this morning, I noticed it slows down considerably going up hills. The batteries were replaced about 2 years ago the previous owner said. Is there anything I can do that will allow it to tackle the hills better? I'm afraid after I put the lift kit and larger tires on, it won't even make it up the hills.

BGW

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kernal

Slowing down on hills is the nature of the beast, however as you search this forum you will see several ways to improve the carts' performance. First though, make sure the cart is running at its best. When this cart was new it should run about 12-14 mph on level pavement. If yours won't do that then we have to hunt down that problem first. Check tires are properly inflated and brakes are not dragging. Fully charge batteries and test them. If batteries are not 100% any upgrades to motors etc. are a waste of time and money. Most problems with electric carts can be traced to one or more bad batteries and/or corroded wires and connections. Your cart is 20 years old so be realistic. Lots of people, like me, enjoy these older carts and they can run with the best if you're willing to spend the money.

junebuggy

The batteries are good and they were fully charged. It's a good cart. It will still run 14 or 15 mph on level pavement. I'm willing to spend the money to make it run with the newer carts. I just ordered my lift kit and tires today and I'm gonna be focused on increasing power next. What do you recommend?

kernal

My recommendation is to start a new thread to get the entire forum involved. For some reason this thread didn't get much attention. I can speak from my experience owning a '91 marathon but I am not an expert so I am uncomfortable advising you much further. Describe your cart and what you want it to do in the end. People will want to know if the cart has resistors or is it solid state. Are you building hunting buggy or a pavement cruiser or something in between. The more specific you can be the better the responses will be and the faster they will come. Also, I know it can be time consuming but there is a lot of good info about this already on this forum. Suggest using "marathon" as one of your search key words if you haven't already.

scottyb

I think 90 was the change year so first thing we need to know is if the cart is resistor coil or solid state speed control.

We can advise from there.

junebuggy

How do I find out if it is a resistor coil or solid state speed control? Do I need to check the serial # or vin # on an online database or physically check the cart somewhere?

kernal

Look in the battery compartment. If there is a black box, probably mounted vertically between the batteries, that would be the speed control (solid state). Might have a cover on it. If between the batteries there is something resembling a vented cover with 4 big wires coming off the top of it then resistor cart. Sorry don't have a picture.