Club Car EFI rear end gear oil!!! I used 30wt yikes!!

boosted230

Hey guys.. so I must admit that when I put high speed gears in my club car,I put in the wrong oil. ����. So, I assumed that the cart would use 80-90wt for the rear end. However, I decided to look it up anyways.. in my search for the rear end oil type I came across the electric carts (did not know that at the time) which called for 30wt. I thought it was a little weird but I had some 30wt on the shelf so I foolishly went with it. Fast forward about 100 hours and a good bit of miles later.
... I started to hear a slight metal on metal “rattle” sort of sound only under partial throttle and light loads.. I could not track it down so I decided it could be internal to the rear end. It sounded like it was in sync with the driven clutch rpm wise. ..
.. so now onto today. I drained the oil which looked like it had a good bit of glitter in it and filled it with the proper 80-90wt. The noise was reduced about 80% to near stock level and not something I would really notice.

. Finally on to my question: seeing as it is most likely a bearing that was making the noise, is it going to fail further or is having the correct oil stopped the damage???

I know when it comes to automotive type tapered rear end bearings for trucks, if it starts to roar there is no saving it.. but these rear ends have ball bearings so I’m a little unsure..

BGW

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Fairtax4me

How much glitter? Some glitter in the oil is normal from break in of the gear set. It's always best to change the oil after about the first 50 hours of operation to remove break in material.
Have you changed the oil at all since you installed the gears, or is this the first time?

Rattle noise is usually gear lash and is typical if using an oil that's too thin, especially if it gets too hot. But that also means the oil may be too thin to pick up and sling out to the bearings properly.
Bearings usually roar or groan, or produce a low pitch noise that raises with increased rotational speed or if under certain loads.

The older transaxle units do have issues with the bearings on the input shaft getting starved for oil. They changed the bearing type to a sealed bearing that holds oil better so that starvation is less likely. Using the wrong oil on those could certainly cause an issue.

Buy a quart of Lucas Engine Oil Stabilizer. Put about 1/2 quart of that in the rear axle with the rest regular 80w-90 gear oil. That should help with any noise and it will help retain the oil on the bearings.

boosted230

It would be what I would classify as “a lot” of glitter.. that’s what I was worried about. And yes. This is the first oil change since the gear swap. I’ve done several gear swaps before but never on this new rear end type..hince why I doubted myself on the oil type.. because I realize now that the oil was too thin to be taken up to the higher bearings.. not sure why the electric carts call for 30wt.. maybe lower internal rotational speed. Anyways, I’ll definitely try what you mentioned.. also planning to put a full synthetic oil in there..

Also, do you think there is a chance that the bearing will come apart? It was barely noticeable to anyone riding before and only if I pointed it out.. but with the right gear oil i can still just barely hear it, so it makes me think that I may have bought myself some time before I have to tear into it again. Just a little worried about it coming apart and taking the gear case with it..

boosted230

Just an update..I spit the cases again and found pretty much no damage.. just a little wear on the teeth face.. all the bearings looked great.. so some 80w-90 went in and all is good..

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Fairtax4me

Bearings are tricky to check. They can appear fine when spun by hand but still make noise when under load. But like I said before, if it was a "rattle" type noise that's usually gear lash, and is typical if using a thin oil. Most gear sets are not affected by oil weight until the oil gets to an operating temp where it's too thin to keep metal contact from happening. The heavier oil can operate at a higher temperature before metal to metal contact between the gear faces becomes an issue. If any bearing in there were to fail, it would most likely be the ones on the input shaft since they are the highest in the case. They are also the easiest to check because if they start to fail you can feel them by spinning the input shaft by hand.


More than likely you're just hearing noise from the gear teeth meshing, which is nothing to worry about. Change the oil again in a few weeks and look for any more signs of glitter. Then just enjoy the ride until you notice a change in the noise, specifically if it gets louder. Normal gear oil changes are once every 200 hours or something on these. Change it again in a year maybe?

Electric cart transaxles are about half the size. The bearings are all closer together so it takes less effort to fling oil up to the bearings in the top of the case.

They also produce far less power, and less heat. Typical electric motors run below 150 degrees pretty much all the time. And very little heat from the motor makes it into the axle. A gas engine running at operating temp is usually in the 190 degree range. Plus you have a hot muffler, and friction from the belt moving on the clutches. So you have basically a 200 degree oven blowing hot air on the axle. That's going to make it heat up quite a bit.

Thicker oil takes more power to turn gears in, especially in cold climates. Think about sticking a spoon in honey, or molasses.
A 14hp gas engine won't have as much trouble with that as a 4hp electric motor will.