97 Club Car DS Intermittent start - 48 Volt

[TigerGolfcart]

I have a 97 Club Car DS that I just picked up. It runs sometimes when you hit the gas and sometimes it doesn’t. I have looked at the wiring diagrams and diagnostics that I could find online, but still doesn’t work. Here is what I have done and some of the areas I couldn’t find enough info on to really test.

The Key switch is brand new and I get voltage and it seems fine. I tested the Multi step pototentometer and it does show continuity and goes from 5k to 0. Wiper style. The connection to it is a 3 wire harness(round), which I can’t find much on, I can find a 6 wire harness(rectangular), but not a 3 wire one, so this has me confused on any other tests that I can run. I just replaced the F-N-R switch, so that seems good as well and as I installed it, and ran the motor, everything started fine, but seems to have the intermittent problem again.

Next the solenoid, I couldn’t find a lot of info on my setup, but I did run a few tests and continuity seemed fine. The problem is that my solenoid doesn’t have the diodes connected to them. It does click when I turn the Key on.

For the controller, I was able to run a few continuity tests with the F-n-R switch and the motor and they seem fine. Now that the battery is hooked back up, I maybe able to do some voltage test, I just need to find them and figure out what they should be.

Another symptom is that the reverse buzzer takes a while to turn on, meaning, it sounds like it clicks faintly for a bit then finally turns to a regular loud buzz.. Does anyone have any a set of diagnostics I can run using the multimeter that would help me out, or if you know what I should look into?

[TigerGolfcart]

Let me add one more symptom.. I just tested the voltage on the solenoid small posts.
I connected the volt meter to the small posts and turned the key on, and it registered 49.9 volts, without pressing the gas pedal down. I pressed the gas pedal and no changes. The solenoid did click when I turned the key on, but did not click when I pressed the gas pedal. Does this mean the solenoid is bad, or something else is going on?

[TigerGolfcart]

So, I have been checking the multistep potentiometer, and here are the tests I have run.
I have check the leads to the controller, 2 and 3, and set the ohms resistance. This test resulted in random reading when the pedal is pressed all the way down. It did not register any reading until the pedal was down and wasn’t even in range.. it just kept jumping around, and did not step up like I would expect.

So I found another post and found the harness yellow wire and put my red probe on it and the NEG to the NED battery pack. Key on, in FWD, I got 0 volts.

I think this is my problem... maybe.. so now I am considering this AM293201 - DS Pre-MCOR to MCOR4 Conversion Kit. From revolution golf carts..

Any suggestions? Thanks!!

[TigerGolfcart]

Ok.. I retested the Mutli Step Potentiometer.. and it seems to be working fine. I was able to take the leads from the controller and get 5500 ohms with the pedal all the way down. I also took the MSP apart and checked the Miro swtich, and it’s fine as well. I did that first, but then went back and retested the leads to the controller. I am going to re-test my solenoid and controller again and see if I can figure this thing out. Any suggestions or pointing me to other posts is welcome!

[TigerGolfcart]

Quick Update on this. I was able to measure the input voltage on the Controller at 50.8 volts, which is good. The bad news is that the voltage output of the Controller is at 22.4 volts with the key on and the gas pedal down. It won’t increase at all, so that that seems to be bad. Given the input at 50.8 volts and the output at 22.4 and the MSP in working condition, I can only assume I need a new controller. Any suggestions on what controller to buy for this cart? I see Alltrax and Navitas out there as aftermarket upgrades. I don’t want to upgrade the motor right now, and longer term, I want to drop in a lithium battery pack instead of the lead acid Trojans. I am also interested in more torque to climb hills and rougher terrain than speed. I read a post that suggested Alltrax and 10 reasons why so that was a good read. I was wondering if there was something for the Navitas as well. I was hoping to find some instructions on how to make the swap, because I assume I will need to re-wire some items here and there and just want to be prepared. BTW, this is a series cart if that helps.

[Bama Brad]

Sorry no one has replied to your thread...my assumption is that you have checked ALL battery, controller, solenoid connections with a wrench to make absoutely certain that all are clean/good and tight. Mine was doing same thing and I almost spent a lot of money on all the things we are afraid have burnt out, only to double check connection to find one of my controller connection wasn't 100% tight. Cause intermentent no go's.....

[TigerGolfcart]

Originally Posted by Bama Brad

Sorry no one has replied to your thread...my assumption is that you have checked ALL battery, controller, solenoid connections with a wrench to make absoutely certain that all are clean/good and tight. Mine was doing same thing and I almost spent a lot of money on all the things we are afraid have burnt out, only to double check connection to find one of my controller connection wasn't 100% tight. Cause intermentent no go's.....

Thanks for responding. Yes, I have done all of those checks. I have the body off of the cart and have inspected everything. The pack voltage is around 50V, all cables are tight. I was worried about a broken wire somewhere, but so far I haven’t found one.. since the controller voltage input is good and the output seems low and the MSP seems good, I figured it’s internal to the controller. I’ll double check the connections just to make sure. Thanks!