Low Battery light let me down!

[Dingleberry]

I did a search for this but didn't find an answer.

This weekend I was cruising around getting firewood and noticed that my '05 Precedent (12v bats) was a little slower going up the hills. On my last trip it just plum tuckered out and couldn't make it up the hill at all. I had to get a tow from the gas-guzzler.

Problem is, my yellow low-battery light did not ever come on. It has worked in the past because once last summer I ran low and it came on. But this time - nothing, even though I was almost completely out of juice.

Do these things have fuses or something? How would I test it? The only thing I have done since it last worked was install a headlight kit, but I don't see the connection with that, do you? Any ideas why my low-battery light failed me?

Thanks everybody!

[gsf35099]

Hard to say why the light didn't work, but I have heard many complaints out here about those not working. Your best bet is to install a digital volt meter across the pack (ScottyB is a sponsor on the site and has some) so you know where your pack voltage is and that really helps. I have one installed on my 91' and another sitting on the workbench for the 02'. They are great and really help you to recognize what your cart does at different voltages. On my 91' it actually helped me identify that I had a bad battery under load while I was driving.

Also, is the headlight kit on a converter from the battery pack? If not, the lights will run the battery(s) its connected to lower than the rest and when you charge you can overcharge the other batteries shortening their life.

[Fishing Dude]

I have fixed many of these lights that burned off at one end. The light might be bad, I would put a meter in.

[Dingleberry]

Thanks folks. The headlight kit is the one that hooks to the pre-wired harness in the '05 Precendents (one battery). I guess I should have checked the warning lightbulb first, I just figured that they get so little use they should never burn out.

I would love to have a voltmeter, are there instructions on this site on how to hook it up maybe? Can it be wired into the existing harness without a lot of cutting and splicing?

Fishing, I'm not sure what you mean by 'burned off at one end', what was burned off? Where would the voltage sensor be that tells the light when to turn on? Is that in the OBC? Thanks.

[Stevec3201]

Originally Posted by Dingleberry

I did a search for this but didn't find an answer.

This weekend I was cruising around getting firewood and noticed that my '05 Precedent (12v bats) was a little slower going up the hills. On my last trip it just plum tuckered out and couldn't make it up the hill at all. I had to get a tow from the gas-guzzler.

Problem is, my yellow low-battery light did not ever come on. It has worked in the past because once last summer I ran low and it came on. But this time - nothing, even though I was almost completely out of juice.

Do these things have fuses or something? How would I test it? The only thing I have done since it last worked was install a headlight kit, but I don't see the connection with that, do you? Any ideas why my low-battery light failed me?

Thanks everybody!

Mine never worked either. So, despite all the warnings, I took it out, made the hole bigger and installed a digital meter. Now I know exactly what is going on without having to depend on that stupid idiot light.

[Dingleberry]

Originally Posted by Stevec3201

Mine never worked either. So, despite all the warnings, I took it out, made the hole bigger and installed a digital meter. Now I know exactly what is going on without having to depend on that stupid idiot light.

Steve, did you plug the meter wires right into the harness where the idiot light wires went or where?

[jakesnake27]

Originally Posted by Dingleberry

Steve, did you plug the meter wires right into the harness where the idiot light wires went or where?

The light is hooked to the OBC, so it will not read pack voltage.
You will just have to run your own leads from your battery pack.

[Stevec3201]

Originally Posted by Dingleberry

Steve, did you plug the meter wires right into the harness where the idiot light wires went or where?

No, you can't get 48 volts from the same wires as the idiot light. There are other factory wires in the dash that are not used, just get your meter out and comfirm 48 volts. BTW, I have other things going on in my cart, so I have my own harness from the dash to the battery box and have dedicated wires to the battery pack to read my voltage.

You can connect through the key switch so the meter is not on all the time, or use a toggle switch (like me) that turns the meter on/off.

[Fishing Dude]

The wires burn off the LED inside the holder. Think your ahead to just buy a new one

[Dingleberry]

Thanks guys, I think I'll put a meter in where the idiot light was. I'd like to run it off of the harness if I can find two leads that will give me a direct battery reading. I'll play around with my DMM. Thanks for your help everyone

Related thought, why does Club Car design the headlights to draw off of one battery if they know that it will f*** up the charging ratio?