refurbish motor & batteries

[Jomama78]

Hello everyone… Newbie here. I just purchased an older EzGo cart and have some questions as I have never owned any type of golf cart before. The cart had not been used for the last 2-3 years, maybe longer… it just sat in a storage shed without the charger connected.

When we got the cart the battery cables were so corroded that they were broke loose from the batteries. I wire brushed the terminals and replaced the cables with new ones from the auto store. I was refilling the batteries with distilled water before our 1st charge and one had a crack in the side... the others did not require much topping off. I removed this battery and bypassed it… so I only have 5 batteries in the cart now. Is running off 5 batteries bad? Pricing batteries (E-3600 battery) came to about $88.95 each… is this average price?

The shop told me that they need my old battery or I would be charged an additional $10. This got me thinking about why they would want my old battery… so I searched for reconditioning batteries on the web and came across several interesting articles. I also came across this site. I have read numerous threads on here and also about the distilled water and Epsom Salt battery refill method. I realize that once the plates are gone, well they are gone… junk. My batteries have a 2003 sticker on the side… is it worth trying the Epsom Salt and water or should I just get new batteries? $600 is a lot for batteries so I would like to keep it as cheap as possible.

The cart runs on the 5 batteries… after the 1st charge only about 30 minutes and the 2nd charge about 1 hour… it is on the 3rd charge now. If I were to only buy 1 battery, would this hurt the new one having 5 old batteries hooked to it? I don’t want to strain it and cut it’s life in half or even more.

I don’t have any fancy tools or even a volt meter… I am planning on getting one tonight to ensure the remaining 5 are holding a charge. If they are holding a charge, should I leave them alone or try to recondition them (they are 2003 batteries)? I may get a hydrometer tonight also, I recall seeing one at Wal-Mart for around $1.00.

I have the charger that came with the cart… it appears to be from the late 70’s, but is it better to chain 2 batteries together and use a regular 12 volt car charger on them to evaluate their condition (ie. volt meter, hydrometer, etc.)?

What should I go to the electric motor (if anything)? Any type of maintenance, reconditioning/refurbish, etc?

Thanks in advance.

Sorry for posting this twice... I put it in the wrong thread the 1st time... Newbie mistake.

[roady89]

If it were me....I would buy a used battery for the 6th one and run it and see how the batts act. Don't mix old with new. They might come to life after you use them a bit. The core charge isn't so they can rebuild them , its for the lead inside them. They melt it down to make new batteries.

The epsom salt thing.....no one here will tell you TO DO IT...if they do, they shouldn't. Only YOU can make that decision wether to do it or not. Some have better luck than others. Its NOT a fix all for batteries, its temp solution at best.