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Electric EZGO Electric EZ GO Marathon, Medalist, TXT and RXV.



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Old 08-12-2020, 08:48 AM   #1
thekidd76
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Default 1988 Marathon Issues

I have a 1988 Marathon that worked great for about a year. Then it slowly started to have issues. I have a gravel drive that has about a 30% grade up towards the road and the cart with the throttle to the floor now drops to about 4-5 mph while climbing that "hill". On the flat asphalt drive it only goes about 13. Since it seemed to be a slow regression I thought the batteries might be the culprit. They were 6 years old so I replaced them, and the battery cables while I was at it. No change. I took it to a local Cart shop and after a few days they told me I needed a new motor. I have since replaced the motor, and it still acts exactly the same.

Someone mentioned Inductive Throttle Sensor, but I didn't think the 88's had an ITS? Thoughts? Ideas? What else am I missing?
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Old 08-12-2020, 10:34 AM   #2
thekidd76
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Default Re: 1988 Marathon Issues

Just to add more info here. I tested each battery, all running 6.6-6.8. Under load the entire bank is at 38+.

What else should I be looking for here? Batteries are good, now motor, what else could cause what i'm seeing? Would anything in the gearbox cause this issue? I'll clean up all the connections out of the batts and at the switches and everything to make sure also, but looking for some expertise in the meantime.
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Old 08-13-2020, 01:21 PM   #3
thekidd76
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Default Re: 1988 Marathon Issues

Test the controller today and it seems fine, so i'm stumped.
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Old 08-13-2020, 01:34 PM   #4
camaroluvz28
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Default Re: 1988 Marathon Issues

88 won't have an ITS..it should have a potentiometer I believe...is there a small silver box with a lever attached that moves when you press pedal down between your battery pack? If so you would remove the number 2 and 3 wires from your controller and hook them(wires) to an ohm meter...should start close to 0 and slowly climb to around 5 to 5.5 ohms...anything over 6 is unacceptable and would cause issues but sounds like you would have the opposite and wouldn't go far enough possibly....I'll be honest though these Marathons are famous for struggling to get up hills or trailers when the controller gets weak and thats most likely your issue...but we can start with potentiometer test for now
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Old 08-13-2020, 02:02 PM   #5
thekidd76
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Default Re: 1988 Marathon Issues

Thanks. Didn't test that, but did test the solenoid and controller and both seemed to test out fine based on the criteria I was looking at from what I found online. Controller climbed from 0 up to just over 37 as the accelerator was pressed. I'll run your test next.
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Old 08-13-2020, 08:30 PM   #6
thekidd76
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Default Re: 1988 Marathon Issues

Quote:
Originally Posted by camaroluvz28 View Post
88 won't have an ITS..it should have a potentiometer I believe...is there a small silver box with a lever attached that moves when you press pedal down between your battery pack? If so you would remove the number 2 and 3 wires from your controller and hook them(wires) to an ohm meter...should start close to 0 and slowly climb to around 5 to 5.5 ohms...anything over 6 is unacceptable and would cause issues but sounds like you would have the opposite and wouldn't go far enough possibly....I'll be honest though these Marathons are famous for struggling to get up hills or trailers when the controller gets weak and thats most likely your issue...but we can start with potentiometer test for now
It went from 0 to 5.92 when fully depressed.
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Old 08-13-2020, 08:56 PM   #7
Mooncarter
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Default Re: 1988 Marathon Issues

Quote:
Originally Posted by thekidd76 View Post
It went from 0 to 5.92 when fully depressed.
JohnnieB would be the one to answer this, but i think unless it kicks out that is still OK.
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Old 08-14-2020, 02:23 AM   #8
camaroluvz28
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Default Re: 1988 Marathon Issues

Agreed...I think it should top out around 5.5 but if it isn’t cutting out I think that sounds acceptable. With that being said IMO, If your batteries are all good and connections are tight, that points me to a weak controller, but perhaps others will have another suggestion for you to try first...
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Old 08-14-2020, 12:29 PM   #9
JohnnieB
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Default Re: 1988 Marathon Issues

Since the throttle input to the controller is for 0Ω to 5.92kΩ (5,920Ω) the controller is most likely wide open when going up the hill, so the problem is either the amps from the battery pack are not getting to the motor, or the battery pack is not capable of supplying them.

Since you have new batteries, they should be capable of supplying the needed amps, but not necessarily since new batteries only have about 75% of their rated capacity until they are broken in.

You also mention new battery cables. Does that mean you only replaced the 5 cables that connect to the batteries together, or does it include the 2 connecting the battery pack to the solenoid and controller, or does it mean you replaced a 13 (or 14 if you have a 4 terminal controller) high current cables?

Troubleshooting:
Measure the battery pack voltage between the battery pack's main negative and main positive terminals while cart is at rest and again while climbing the hill. What are those two readings?

Measure the voltage between the controller's M- and B+ terminals on same hill.

The battery pack voltage and controller's output voltage ought to be the same when climbing the hill with pedal on floor.

If not, there are bad cables, connections or contacts (Solenoid or F/R)
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Old 08-14-2020, 01:04 PM   #10
thekidd76
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Default Re: 1988 Marathon Issues

Just over 38.2 from the bank at rest

36.5 going up hill from the bank
33.2 going up hill from the controller.

And the cables changed here just the ones connecting the batteries. Not from bank to controller or any other electronics.
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