Headlights not working 2002 DS

[williep]

I have a club car 2002 DS. I put new batteries in yesterday and noticed that my turn signals weren't working. So while troubleshooting them i must have shorted the power, because smoke came from somewhere that I can't find but now the headlights don't work. I was worried that I blew the controller or something big, but the batteries are ok and the cart runs ok.
What I need is a schematic of the headlight system, I need to find what smoked. Also I measure 36v from the battery ground to the chassis. Is this normal or is that part of the problem? Thanks Bill from The Villages FL.

[Fairtax4me]

Definitely a problem to have voltage on the frame on an electric cart.
Disconnect the battery pack negative and positive and start looking at cables and any wires that are run next to the frame or touching any other metal part of the cart.

Also check the cables on the motor and solenoid for any places that are rubbed through.

I don't have a diagram of the lighting wiring for that cart, but usually it's a separate harness that's been added on, and should be easy to visually follow.

Something you need to check for is where the power for the light wiring attaches to the battery pack. I'm assuming since something in the cart fried, that there is no fuse on the power wire that supplies the lights. This is a good reason why there should ALWAYS be a fuse on any power supply wiring coming from the batteries.

Another thing to check is where are the lights connected to negative? There can not be any electrical wiring grounded to the frame on an electric cart.