36v club car keeps losing power after 5 minutes

[MikeJ116]

First I just want to say thank you to everyone that posts and comments here. I’ve learned a great deal from these forums already just by reading.
Now my problem I just can’t figure out. My 36v club car seems to always lose power after just 5 minutes or so of driving. It runs great at first, then gradually loses power to where it won’t go anywhere in forward. However, if I then put it in reverse it’s like I have a full charge. After I drive it to that point of losing power I check the battery pack and the full pack reads 37.78. I’ve changed all the wires and connections along with all the battery cables and get the same thing. All 5 solenoids were new a year ago. I don’t know if the coils are getting bad or if you can test them? Or if the motor might be going? Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated as we use this cart for the winter months and I’m running out of time.😒 thank you

[sthreatt]

It puzzles me that it will still run in reverse. I would be suspect of the forward/reverse switch. All you are doing is reversing polarity, and obviously still have sufficient voltage. In theory, a DC motor that will run forward will run backward, or vice versa. Sounds like a F/R switch issue.

[MikeJ116]

Thanks for your reply. In your opinion should I go ahead and replace the whole switch or just try the micro switch on top of the forward/reverse switch first?

[sthreatt]

I don't believe it's a microswitch issue.

[kgsc]

Try swapping S1 and S2 on the motor and see if you put it in reverse it will go forward and continue to run.

[meimk]

A 36-volt resistor cart originally had an extra + wire in the middle of the pack that goes to the forward reverse switch. Feeds lower voltage to reverse with - to make the cart more controlable when backing up. Check batteries individually. You may find a problem with the last couple batteries on the + end. Either the batteries themselves or wiring / corrosion issues. Does the cart have lights? Could they be hooked up to just the last 2 batteries on the + end of the pack?

[meimk]

Years ago I bought a 36 volt Club Car with a very similar situation. Previous owner had gotten things confused and the red + lead from the charger socket was connected to the middle of the pack with that reverse wire. So only 4 of the 6 batteries would charge. The only reason even they would charge was because the charger was an old manual timer type. Fortunately they didn't try to run & charge it much that way or they would have ruined the batteries that DID charge.

[MikeJ116]

The batteries are new and fully charged, I just bought and installed all new 4guage battery cables and replaced the wires from the foot pedal to the resistors. There are no accessories hooked up to it. The only wire on the + on the last battery is the wire going from the - on the prior battery to the + on last battery. It’s just frustrating me. Lol

[MikeJ116]

Would there be any place that could possibly get too hot causing it to slow down and then stop? Just wondering because once it stops moving, and I wait about 10 minutes, I can turn it back on and it moves like it did at first for about 5 minutes or so then does the same thing. Almost like something gets too hot and expands and then retracts when it cools down. I’m just throwing my thoughts out there.

[sthreatt]

Originally Posted by MikeJ116

Would there be any place that could possibly get too hot causing it to slow down and then stop? Just wondering because once it stops moving, and I wait about 10 minutes, I can turn it back on and it moves like it did at first for about 5 minutes or so then does the same thing. Almost like something gets too hot and expands and then retracts when it cools down. I’m just throwing my thoughts out there.

It's possible that a solenoid can heat up and drop out, and work again after cooling down. But that wouldn't match the original issue of running in forward but not reverse. If that happens it won't run at all til the solenoid cools and goes back to working. As far as the two connections at the bottom of the FR switch allowing for low speed reverse, I have in the past omitted the reverse cable completely and replaced it with a copper bar across the two connections so that it would run the same speed either direction. Maybe not a good idea, but it gave me reverse without the additional cable.