Several Issues with new purchase

Skmaynard1

Hey guys,

So I just purchased a used cart and have a few small (I hope) issues with it. The golf cart is a 2009 Yamaha Drive 48V. It has a 6" MadJax Lift kit, the big turf tires you can see in the pic, and the Genesis 250 Rear Seat. To my knowledge those are all of the modifications/additions. I forgot to get a pic of the batteries for brand, but it has (4) 12V batteries with a manufacture date of 7/16. They guy said they were two years old, so I'm guessing they were installed around that same time.

First Issue:
When I got the cart the batteries were very slightly low on water. The cells were not visible, but the water was lower than I would prefer. I filled the water and charged the cart overnight for several days using it a little each day.

I tested the batteries after full charge and they read about 12.6 I think. After driving it around for an hour or so, they still read above 12. I don't remember exactly as I wasn't having issues then so I didn't pay close enough attention.

One night I went to drive it after dark and noticed the headlights were crazy dim. I tested the batteries and they were all in the low 12 range, so I just put it on charge. This cycle happened a few times with no bad readings, until yesterday. Yesterday after driving for a while, one of the for batteries only had 8.4 volts, while the others were all above 12. Additionally, I noticed this is the battery that the lights are hooked up to.

So my questions are:
1) can the lights being wired wrong somehow hurt the battery?
2) at 2 years old, should I replace one single battery?
3) Should I try the baking soda/salt method to bring that battery back before I replace it?

Second Issue:
Second issue is a sound that I am having on deceleration. Before anyone yells at me for not searching, I have tried searching ALOT. I have found a few videos of the sounds that a bad input shaft bearing or cap can make, and they don't sound like my issue. When I am accelerating I don't hear any unusual noises, but as soon as I let off the accelerator I hear a clunking type noise. The noise happens on deceleration regardless if I am on the brake pedal or not. I first thought it could be the mounting hardware for the back seat unit, as it has some sort of pull out pin folding set up. However I have tightened and secured all of the seat hardware and ruled that one out. I have quickly gone under the cart and I can not find anything that looks or feels loose. I will try to upload a video of the noise if possible. I was an automotive mechanic, so I am capable of taking this thing apart and looking inside, but I don't have much available time to randomly look at it without a clear objective. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Third Issue:

Holly Bouncy Tires Batman!! This thing is bouncy! I know that I have large tires on small wheels, but it seems really excessive. As you can see in the video of the sound, the water in the bottle goes crazy. This happens almost no matter what type road I am on, but does get worse at higher speeds as expected. Could you guys please provide me with some ideas to try to minimize the bouncyness? I plan to remove wheels and install them more carefully to make sure they are centered and not flexed. I already keep them properly aired. What else can I do aside from purchase different wheels? A few questions:
1) Would new wheels/tires help the issue (lower profile)
2) Could a bad battery issue cause this type of feel?
3) Could whatever is making the noise (axel/input shaft/suspension) cause this out of balance feel?

VIDEO
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1Ro...czqs3TO9YoXgQV

PICTURE
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1d9...LSzvOCmSdkTJRr

BGW

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Mooncarter

First issue: 1)While not "wrong" you need a 48-12 volt reducer. The guy before you probably used the lights a lot and that battery is on the way out.

2) Yes but most will probably suggest a good used battery similar to the good three.

3) Forget about this.

I will leave issues 2 and 3 to the Yamaha people.

Tha_B_Man

Issue 3 - I think that is the nature of 6in lifts and big tires. I have a 6in spindle lift with 23 in tires, very bumpy ride. But I wouldn’t say it’s out of the ordinary, just the way it is. If you don’t dig bouncy, then removing the lift and going with tires closer to stock would be your best bet.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

CP241

Check your air pressure in the tires and lower it until you find your happy spot. The higher the pressure the bouncier it is going to be. Lower pressure is fine as long as the tire isnt "sagging". Somewhere in the range of ~10psi is probably plenty for most carts.

Cartmaster

You may find going down lower in pressure as suggested by CP241 the answer to your third issue. take a look at the side of the tyre and it just may give you a minimum recommended pressure. Some of these off road tyres are safe to run at pressures as low as 5 - 6 psi. You do risk popping a tyre off the rim if doing hard high speed turns though, but will be fine with normal driving.

The answer to your noise is to fit a radio and turn the volume up LOL. Sorry, cant really help you with this one, but are you sure it is not the tyres being too hard causing the noise? worth checking though, i have seen some strange things in my time.

And as already said, it is probaly the lights etc being connected to a single battery that has caused the battery to fail and should ideally have been done with a voltage reducer across the whole pack. I also second the statement that a good used battery with similar voltage readings would be better than a new one. I wont get technical, but a new battery will very quickly be pulled down by the rest of the pack and may cause overcharge damage to the others.

cgtech

Noise-
White-tag axle? You said you "read up" on it. Since this sounds like a golf course lease rebuild cart (which likely never got it's "4 year service", the axle oil should be done every 2 years in my opinion on Team axles), you have some service work to do. An axle oil change is due, but maybe not going to help at this point. If doing a axle oil change, be sure you use oil ready for limited-slip axles. (Friction modified gear oils, or regular oils with at least 2 ounces of "friction modifier" added to it).

Low volts on one battery-
One battery with way low volts, that's what happens when one battery out of 4 has to run your 12v accessories, and all 4 are charged in a string. That battery will always be abused until you get a DC converter to power all your 12v stuff evenly from the whole 48v pack, not just drawing from one single battery. Unfortunately, the damage is likely already done, that battery is already damaged from the abuse of being the "odd man out", lower than the rest every time. This does permanent damage to that one battery. The charger charges them all without knowing one battery was lower because of powering lights & stuff. This is why a DC converter is a worthwhile investment.

Only put baking soda and salt in your batteries if you want to be sure they DIE soon. If any of those BS ideas actually worked, all the long-term users on this site would be crowing about how it saved them so much... Just try to find a good long-term success story, there are none. Please read up on proper care of your batteries they are about the most expensive part, and the one you part you will undoubtedly one day have to replace. Charge them after every use. Add distilled water only after a charge (unless the plates inside are already exposed), only add water to about 1/4 inch above the plates, NOT TO THE TOP OF THE BATTERY, or big acid mess will happen. The batteries already have all the acid they need, no need to find more "acid" for them. If any magic tricks existed, I would already know, I would share. Good battery knowledge and good battery care is the only "trick" that actually works for long battery life.

I'm not a joker, jerking you around, im certified by Yamaha, and just telling you what you need to know.

Mooncarter

cgtech

Also, don't be fooled into "well, I can just go get some Marine deep cycle trolling motor batteries". Those Group 29 & 31 batteries won't work good for long. I see that last about 18 months in use. Mis-matched batteries (due to their current capacity difference, with one weakling) is the problem you are fighting now.

Skmaynard1

Thank you everyone for the replies. It sounds like I need to do the following things first:

A) Try lowering the air in my tires
B) Buy a 48V - 12V converter and install it
C) Try to find a used battery similar in condition to my good ones
D) Check my axle sticker color, and change the gear oil

This brings me to a few follow up questions:

1) Someone mentioned the used battery Voltage Readings and the current capacity. How do I verify any Voltage Readings on used ones, as they will be out of a cart and at who knows what charge level? Also, what rating do I go by in trying to match the battery? These batteries don't have CCA like automotive batteries do they?

2)If I have a white label axel, what can be done? Is this just to know that it will eventually fail, but there is nothing I can really do about it?

3) The trans-axle oil change, is this a simple drain and fill like an automotive differential? Are there any oil weight specs I need to stick to? I live in Florida, so I don't have to worry about cold weather, only hot.

4) If I am going to have to remove the motor to look into the clunking sound issue (possible input shaft?) will this process need the axle oil drained as well? or is the axle oil self contained? I don't want to change the oil just to have to drain it all back out for additional maintenance.

5) Where is a good place to find a repair manual or diagrams for these things?

Again, thanks in advance for all the help

cgtech

If you have T-1275 model batteries, match that model. And there is usually a date code stamped into one terminal (example: B5 would equal February, 2015), try to match date codes. The voltage with no load applied only represents current charge level, and is not a great indicator of health, unless it's lower than 12.0v, automatically skip any lower than that. Axle has a drain plug, and a fill plug, oil will not drain out when motor is removed. Input shaft cannot be totally removed without significant axle disassembly.