86 Club Car troubleshooting - where to start and what to test

[Sergio]

You have at least 2 bad solenoids.

The one on the driver's side is definitely bad (welded contacts).

If the cart is not moving really fast without pressing the pedal, most likely the next one besides it is also bad (2nd from the driver side).

The best way to proceed is to remove the buss bar and all of the coils from the solenoids.

Once that is done you can do a continuity test on all of the solenoids between their big posts.

Any solenoid you get continuity is bad and should be replaced.

That will also help you figure out if the parts are in good shape and can be cleaned to be put back together or is time to consider a solid state upgrade.

[bcontento]

The driver side first solenoid is shot. I do get continuity tone with my multimeter on the big posts. No other solenoid shows continuity across the big posts. All of the other solenoids do show continuity across the small posts and they are supposed to correct?

[Sergio]

On that model for the motor to run without pressing the pedal, at least 2 Solenoids have to be bad.

The driver side solenoid is the master, all it does is connect the Motor to the copper bus between the Solenoid big posts.

You have another Solenoid sticking that is completing the circuit.

The speeds go from the Solenoid next to drivers side (slowest speed) all the way to the Solenoid on the passenger side (full speed).

You need to replace at least those 2 starting from the drivers side.

[bcontento]

If it were bad, wouldn't it fail one or both continuity tests? If two are bad, is it definitely the passenger far one or couldn't it be another?

[Sergio]

If the passenger side one is sticking, then the cart was running at full speed when you turned the key ON, is that what happened?

If the motor was running at slow speed, the 2nd Solenoid from the driver's side is likely the bad one.

To test the Solenoid you need to apply power to their coils to make sure:

A) The Contacts close.
B) There is actually Continuity when it closes, meaning the Contacts are not burnt.
C) The contacts release when You remove power, meaning they are not sticking/welded.

[bcontento]

Ah, got it. Thx.

[bcontento]

UPDATE:

didn't make sense to install 1 or even 2 solenoids. I replaced them all. Cleaned all of the contacts for the resistor coils and the bus bar. I wired the solenoids to 32v source and go all of the other wiring cleaned up and secured. Got everything installed as diagrammed.

No spark or fire. Good start. When I turn the key I hear a resounding click in the first solenoid. So far so good. I jump in and immediately feel like that cart has returned from the dead. Seemed very quick and had no issues running through grass. I thought I had it worked out finally. Still not quite right...

I took it for a spin around the block. Ran pretty strong on flat pavement but then began to decline after just a few minutes of running wide open. Once I had to brake then restart, that pep I felt initially was gone. It would still go, but sluggishly. When I got to a small incline in the neighborhood, it really struggled (and I mean SMALL incline bridge of a tiny little canal).

Not sure if this indicates anything worth noting: the inline volt meter showed 50+ volts at rest and 90% (not sure how accurate that percentage is or what it measures). Then, running wide open, the volts dropped into the 30s i think and the % bottomed out or close it. Both would climb back up at rest again.

The other thing I noticed is that there seems to be a flat spot in the acceleration. As I pressed the pedal smoothly, it seemed to steadily then flatten out even as I gave it more pedal, then it made a jump in speed. Could one of the new solenoids or associated micro-switch speed controllers be the cause? I did notice that the far left resistor coil got REALLY hot, but the others no bad.

[bcontento]

OK, next update.

I jacked up the rear end to try and tell if the speed switches were having issues. Before I even got to that, I noticed that the driver's side wheel was not spinning on throttle (I know, not supposed to spin the motor with no resistance...only did it a little bit). The brakes on that side were LOCKED up. I couldn't turn the wheel by hand. I pulled the wheel and the drum, adjusted the shoes and put that back together. I would think that a strain like that could definitely put undo load on the system, draining it faster.

I drove it around and did get significantly farther than last night with decent power, but still seemed to drain too quickly and it started out with plenty of torque but after a short drive, struggled with the same little incline and to drive through grass.

I pulled the bank of speed control micro switches out. Definitely have one bad switch (no movement at all). I also used this to test the solenoid that I was suspicious about. I switched wires from the suspect solenoid with a known good one and confirmed. One of the new solenoids is bad. A switch that would do nothing on that solenoid, did fire a different solenoid (eliminating that questionable switch). And a known good switch would not fire the now confirmed bad solenoid.

So, replacing the entire bank of micro switches and the one solenoid.

Still think the batteries might be part of the issue. They take a charge and seem to hold it (register about 53-54v and 100% on the LED meter). When I drive it, the volts display drops into the 30s and the % to low then 0%. Is that a load indicator in some fashion?

[Sergio]

I turn the key I hear a resounding click in the first solenoid

That is a problem, nothing should click when you turn the Key ON and put the FNR in forward or reverse.

The main solenoid should not click until activated by the first micro-switch inside the speed box.

A 48v pack dropping to 30v is a problem as well.

You may want to set your meter to 20vDC and test each individual battery under load.

Just clip the leads on each battery and measure the voltage at rest vs when you go full throttle.

[bcontento]

Thanks Sergio. I'll continue testing one I get the switches and new solenoid in hopefully on Tuesday.