88 EZGO gas Starting/Charging system

mbinko

Just picked this cart up and am having trouble with either battery or charging.

I put a charger on the battery and charged it up. Voltage is 12.6 or so. It starts in both directions. Runs fine except it does not run at slow speeds. Almost seems like the engine dies out at low rpm.

I have read lots of posts on here and it seems this thing is a very simple system. I could not find anything specific to my problem.

My question would be if it starts in both directions would that indicate the the starter/generator is fine and that the voltage regulator might not be good? Or maybe battery is weak.

Any help would be appreaciated.

Thanks
Mike

BGW

__________________
This advertising will not be shown in this way to registered members.
Register your free account today and become a member on Buggies Gone Wild Golf Cart Forum

Dave Box

Mike,
I don't understand your question, are you asking if your cart is charging? Are you aware that these carts don't idle, as soon as you remove your foot from the accelerator they will stall, that is what they are designed to do. If I have missed the point please let me know.
Dave

mbinko

I do understand the concept. I know they shutdown and do not idle. I suppose I just need to put a meter on the battery and see if it is charging when I am running or not. I was just trying to figure out if I may need to do anything to the starter/gen. I would assume if it starts in both directions w/o issues that the starter/gen is fine. So the battery might be weak or the voltage reg might be bad. I will be looking at this over the weekend.

It does seem that it jerks to a start. There is no slow speed. Seems only on and off if you follow what I am saying. I think I might need to jack up the rear and run this and watch what it is doing. I think after reading some of the threads on here that the belt might be to large. PO said it was replaced along with lots of other things. Good thing is it seems to run strong and has no problems pulling big hill.

So I will report back after this weekend from my testing.

Thanks,
Mike

Dave Box

Mike,
If you have any doubts regarding the charging then here is a short test procedure for you.

Fully Charge your battery and note the battery voltage

1) Check for loose, broken wiring.
2) Raise rear of cart and attach a volt meter between the regulator's red and black wires.
3) Start engine and run at mid speed, making note of the meter reading.
4) Reading should be between 14 to 16 volts.
5) If reading is above specs, check for a grounded green wire from the starter/gen.
6) If no rise in voltage, disconnect green wire from starter/generator ** and temporarily ground to frame.
7) If voltage rises within specs, replace voltage regulator.
If the voltage does not rise then the generator is defective and the first step would be to check the brushes.

** It is important to place a thin wrench under the wire to prevent the stud turning and ripping the wire off the stud inside the generator


Also a longer (or stretched) belt will cause a snatch of take off. Whilst the cart rear is off the ground this will be a good time to check the operation of the clutches. It is possible that the drive clutch spring is weak or broken which will cause it to close to quickly. Of course it is also possible that there are other issues but usually a visual inspection will point you in the right direction.

Dave

mbinko

Thanks for the troubleshooting tips. That is exactly what I needed. I will test this weekend and report back.

mbinko

Well I checked the voltage engine running and it dropped from 12.5 down to 11.9. Then I performed step 6 from above and fried a wire from the green terminal of the voltage regulator.

The way I read it was to disconnect the green wire from the starter/gen and take that wire directly to ground. When I did this and tried to start it it fried the wire completely.

I then tested the by taking the green wire that is connected to the starter/gen and connecting to ground and I was able to get the voltage to climb above 14 volts while running.

So I assume the V/R is bad and am going to order a new one. It there any benefit to changing the brushes at this time? It is slow to turn over at times.

Thanks,

Michael

Thunder9000

if your battery is 12.5 volts after charge then it prolly has a bad cell a fully charged battery in good condition will be 14-16 volts.

Dmontgomery

Any updates? My cart seems to be doing the same!

Live4WVU

The voltage of a fully charged 12v battery is 12.6v. 6 cells at 2.1v per cell = 12.6v.