1998 Club Car ds will not move. please help

[OLD MEC]

Yes Shadowman The average technician in at least in the ( auto trade ) is just a "PARTS CHANGER NOT A MECHANIC" without a computer print out he doesn't know how to do a basic battery test that most cart owners do without thinking? Like any trade there are good and bad diagnostic people out there?
To say ALL ARE BAD would be wrong but IF IN DOUBT I ALWAYS ASK SOME ONE THAT HAS USED THE TEC"S SERVICES BEFORE, then go in with a simple question and see what kind of an answer you get?

[rabbitreborn]

well if you want to perform 2 final tests before taking it to the shop, I would suggest testing the ouput of the potentiometer and the voltage output of the controller. If you are interested, let me know and I will tell you how to perform both test (even with a bad solenoid).

[shadowman]

no i would never say all techs are bad, i mean we have a few members here ( you know who you are ) that just by reading their posts and the testing procedures and and advice they give well i myself would trust my cart in their hands.............but there are some who don,t know the difference between a 6 or 4 gage battery cable.............but they think because they are C.C. techs that they know it all and thats that..........the techs we have here are good guys and always try and help and bail us who don,t know as much as they do will jump in and correct us when we are wrong which is what they should do and they are still willing to listen to us.................i never worked at a shop but have worked on plenty of carts that came to me from an owner who paid big money and still have the same problem.........but the worst i have ever seen was a lady who paid 1700.00 dollars to a shop to have her cart worked on only to have them bring it back to camp not running after they put a complete rearend in and 2 new clutches..............they had the guts to bring her cart back after she paid them and somehow i ended up with the cart and i,m looking at the bill she paid and what they did and i,m thinking man if they couldn,t get it running what the hell am i going to do.............you,ll never guess what was wrong with this cart????? a friggin bad solenoid and nothing more, 1/2 hour later and 60 dollars cart was up and running like new, they had the nerve that they didn,t even give her the parts back they took off............unreal and i can,t imagine any one of our members doing anything like that, yes there are good techs out there we have several here to prove it..........but there are also some real eggheads...........................

[OLD MEC]

Right on the point Shadowman. I have asked a question locally of several dealers about their supposed tec's and never recieved a positive or negative answer "DOES CLUB CAR HAVE A TEC CERTIFICATION OF SOME KIND", only answer was they are well trained ( which to me means self trained, or shop trained by ??? qualified people )? I am not knocking self trained or qualified instructioners, as I myself learned from a master mechanic in a small shop starting at age 12 and felt that I got the best available at the time? I did go on to classes throughout my years as a auto and truck mechanic to keep myself up with changes. AND I MUST ADMIT that other than some local help from a retired Club Car factory tec, I am SELF TRAINED on golf carts. I was lucky enough later in life to get a small amount of electronic's training that has helped me with cart control systems.

[johnunger1001]

Thanks Tom, Let me tell you what the cart is doing. I have 52 volts across and at the motor. when i hit the gas the wheels turn very slow and reverse doesnt work at all. I put a new motor in and still the same thing. It there a way to test the speed controller ? one thing . I have 5 volts when the gas is all the way down at the black box by the batteries , not sure what its called but its a reastat. i put 8 volts to it and the wheels want a little faster. Do you know how much volts it should have and where it gets its power?

[johnunger1001]

Rabbit. Yes please tell me how

[shadowman]

sounds like a V-glide and yes its quite possible problem is in there.......take out the one battery so you can get to it and have a good look at it.............if you take the front cover off you,ll see all the guts.......5 to 7 flatheaded round copper contacs a plastic arm which holds the movable wiper arm and a micro switch........check condition of contacs see if they are worn out or burnt looking and flat not uneven.....check that the movable arm is working nice and smooth and hitting every contac..........but before all of that make sure you disconnect main power until you need it to check speed....................................

[johnunger1001]

Man, You guys know this stuff like the back of your hands. Thanks so much for helping me. I understand you are giving me your time and I do thank you.

I just went out and checked it and i think it is in good working order. I put the battery back in and the pedal at 0 I have 0 volts. When i press the pedal down it comes up to 6.6 volts on the arm. Does that sound like the right voltage?

[shadowman]

this might be one for one of our C.C. techs.................ok guys its showtime..........................lol............. .......i,m not sure what voltage you should have but one of these guys will know..................................

[rabbitreborn]

ok to perform both test, first raise the rear wheels off the ground and support on jackstands.

The first test is the output of the POT (in this case, the V-Glide). On the controller, look for the spade connectors labeled 2 and 3 and remove the wires (Pay attention to which color wire was on which connector so you know which to put back on each after the test). Set your DVOM to OHMS and put 1 probe into each of the wires. Have someone slowly depress the pedal. You should start at 5k OHMS and as the pedal goes down, so should the amount of resistance until at full pedal depression you have 0 resistance. If not, you have an issue with your V-Glide.

The second test (assuming the V-Glide is working properly) will need those 2 wires reconnected. Change to DC volts on your DVOM (200 if you are not using an auto setting) and check your Battery Reference voltage (total pack voltage). Next, connect the test leads to B+ (red) and M- (black) on the controller. Again, have somone depress the pedal as you watch the readings. At full pedal depression, you should be reading Battery Reference voltage. If not, then you have a bad controller.