2001 PDS goes backwards in F or R

[Knothead]

Got a deal on a 2001 PDS today, to fix up for my daughter (who lives right up the road from me) to run around the 'hood on. I knew it had a problem when I bought it, but didn't know what because batteries were dead....couldn't test it. Put a set of batteries on it & the Reverse buzzer sounded when I flipped the switch to Reverse. Pressed the pedal, & it came to life....I proceeded to back it down the driveway (I'm a happy camper at this point.....it works!). Flipped the F/R switch to Forward, mashed the pedal.....and almost ran into my truck! It runs backwards in both F & R (lost the smile on my face!). My own buggy is a DCS, & I've gotten fairly proficient at keeping it running, due totally to advice I've gotten on here. I have never worked on a PDS cart, so need help trouble-shooting this problem, PLEASE!!

buzzed did not sound in forward ?

check wiring

[Knothead]

Thanks Crash! No, buzzer doesn't sound in F, but cart runs backwards. I also noticed that the resistor on solenoid is very hot, with key-switch off & F/R in reverse. The cart has been sitting with charger plugged up for an hour since I took the short trip down the driveway & back. The resistor shouldn't be hot while sitting & turned off, should it?! I unhooked the positive wire from battery pack & am letting it charge now. I'll study the wiring diagram to see if I see anything wrong while waiting on more responses....

also see if f/r switch is working correctly

resistor just supply power to controller... pre charge i think its called

[Knothead]

Originally Posted by crash test dummy

also see if f/r switch is working correctly

resistor just supply power to controller... pre charge i think its called

I'm thinking if f/r switch was telling it to go in reverse, then buzzer would sound....am I correct?

I know the resistor helps keep power spikes from occurring (or something like that), but it shouldn't be hot as Hades while cart is just sitting completely turned off, should it? It cooled down as soon as I disconnected the + wire from the pack. My DCS cart's resistor doesn't stay hot while sitting & turned off....

All of the wiring appears to be correct (& doesn't look like anything has been disconnected/replaced.....all the nuts on controller & solenoid have a very slight oxidized look, with no apparent wrench marks on them). I'm figuring it's got a bad controller, but will wait for more advice....

One thing I didn't try before disconnecting the + wire, was to see if key-switch was actually working. I didn't press the pedal with it turned off & "in gear" to see if it would go. I do know that the reverse buzzer sounds with key turned off & f/r in R.....

[WGCS]

Sounds like a bad controller. I've seen this a couple times (running reverse in forward) and the controller was bad every time.

[Mrh20]

I agree with the controller, I have also seen PDS carts only work in reverse with a burnt controller. The last one I had in , you could see a burnt mark on the case of the controller. It was from towing a fertilizer trailer through the yard on a stock PDS cart with 23" tires.

[JohnnieB]

You will have current flow through the pre-charge resistor as long as the main B- cable is attached to the controller and main B+ cables is attached to the controller via the solenoid, but the resistor shouldn't be getting very hot.

If it is, the controller has less resistance than it should have or the resistor is the wrong value. For a 36V pack, the resistor should be about 250Ω. I don't know what the nominal resistance between B+ and B- should be, but the typical voltage drop across the resistor is something like 3V to 5V, so the current flow should be in the 12 to 20 milliamp range.

Disconnect one end to the resistor and connect an ammeter in series to measure the current flow. If it is >30ma or so, the controller is sick.

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For Reverse, pack voltage is applied to J1 Pin-2 and for Forward it is applied to J1 Pin-3, but that is probably good since the beeper comes on when the F/R is in R and not when F/R is in F.

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Sound like the controller went belly up.

Replace it with a DCX controller and the cart will do about 24MPH on stock height tires with a 36V battery pack.

In the interim, you can swap the F1 and F2 wires at the controller and the cart will go forward only rather than reverse only.

[Knothead]

Thanks Johnny....I had already thought about switching the F1 & F2 and letting her use it, but don't like the fact that the resistor is getting smoking hot. Guess I'll be giving ScottyB a call.....

I'm assuming you meant a DCX 400 in order to get 24 mph out of it?

[scottyb]

The DCX controls do not monitor motor rpm. The stock control uses this feature to limit motor rpm and top speed. The result is a free wheeling 24 mph PDS and 20 mph DCS cart with a 30-35% increase in torque (power)
Note these controls have a 1/2 speed reverse option which can be activated for safety or it can be connected with a switch as a kiddie mode to work in F&R

Click on the links below,
go to controller upgrades,
select pkg #808 PDS,
or pkg #505 DCS