2000 EZGO Dies

[Tkakyle927]

I have a 2000 Ezgo that has quit on me twice in the past few days. Both after riding for a little bit. Solenoid clicks and it seems like it wants to go but it doesn't. Fully charged batteries. Here is what stumps me. If you plug it in to the charger and let the charger come on then unplug it, it goes again. Any help would be appreciated.

[Sir Nuke]

please give us a little more detail about your cart.
is it stock?
is it a series or sepex drive?

[Tkakyle927]

It is stock 36 volt. Not sure about the series or sepex drive. How would I find that out?

[rsw007]

http://www.buggiesgonewild.com/elect...en-system.html

[Tkakyle927]

It is a series.

Also, it happened once trying to come out of a ditch. The second time it happened after I had went for about a mile ride and then went inside. Went back out and it wouldn't go. Pushed it to the charger plugged it in, let,the charger come on, unplugged it and it worked fine. Rode it around for the rest of the afternoon with no problems.

[yurtle]

Try bypassing the reed switch. They mostly fail open, but I suppose they could exhibit the symptoms you describe.

[MuckSavage]

I'd agree in looking at the reed switch. When the cart fails, measure voltage on the small wire on the back of the charger receptacle. It should be the same as your pack voltage. (JohnnyB taught me that!)

[yurtle]

EDIT: Just reread the post and the solenoid clicks, meaning it's not the reed switch. Sorry. The rest still applies, and would be worth doing, if you have a reed switch.

If it's the reed switch, or even if it isn't, I'd bypass the thing anyway. I was dumb enough to replace my first one, and the second one later failed. I dissected mine. The reed switch is a small glass tube with one terminal that's attracted to a magnet. In the presence of the magnet that's located in the charger's plug, the switch opens, preventing you from driving away while plugged in. In my case, both failures occurred after unplugging the charger, so I wasn't stranded. The glass breaks, then the broken pieces can fall into the contacts, preventing them from opening. It's all contained in a small plastic housing that's potted, so the glass has nowhere to go but to bounce around until it prevents the contacts from opening, or what I suspect happened with yours, causes intermittent problems.

Carrying a DMM with you to test is one way. Another way could be to carry a small strong magnet attached to a stick and well insulated with electrical tape, and CAREFULLY insert into the charger port.

One problem with troubleshooting intermittent problems is that the mere act of stepping out of the cart, opening the seat, then closing it, can jostle loose connections.

For a "bypass" just make a small jumper wire with a spade terminal on one end and a ring terminal on the other. I cut the spade terminal off my reed switch and simply crimped a ring terminal on the end and reinstalled.

[JohnnieB]

If the solenoid clicks when the cart is misbehaving, the problem is in the high current circuit or in the throttle circuit.

There is an inline connector between the controller and the pedal box that gets corroded and can cause intermittent problems.
Unplug it, hit contacts with spray contact cleaner and plug back in while damp. Repeat a couple times and then try it.

[scottyb]

I think a key factor in the information we were given is that if the charger is connected and disconnected the cart runs again until the next time it quits and then the charger trick makes it go again...... What significance is this?

When the charger is plugged into a cart with a functioning reed switch the power is cut off to the 'activation system'. If this is turning the controller off and back on then he is re-booting the controller and it works again.

I have seen similar controller failure in the field. It is one of the hardest controller failures to pinpoint. Next time it stops try shifting to neutral & turning the key off. Then turn the key on - put it in gear - and see if it goes?

It's worth a try.