Just bought 48V Club Car- bad motor??

[JasonWeb]

Hey all,

My brother bought a 48v Club Car a few weeks ago and we need some help diagnosing an issue. The cart is a 2009 (not sure model) and the seller said had no issues and batteries are about 3 years. After bringing the cart home and driving around the neighborhood briefly, the cart slowed to a crawl as if the batteries were dead. He charged the cart completely and after about an hour or so of stop and go driving on Halloween we had to push the cart home. We assume the batteries are shot and looking into replacing. However, last night on a short drive the cart slowed to a stop, again assuming dead batteries. He flipped the cart from “Run” to “tow” and then back to run and the cart was back up and running what felt like full power all the way home. Could this be a motor issue? I can’t figure out why flipping that switch back and forth would have revived it after dying? Anyone know what could be going on? Thanks for any advice!

[R&TBabich]

Originally Posted by JasonWeb

.... He charged the cart completely and after about an hour or so of stop and go driving ....

Did you check the battery water levels?
What is pack voltage?

[JasonWeb]

He did check water levels and said a couple were a bit low but not bad, but he topped them all off. Also the batteries were checked individually and read 12.4 after full charge. I’ll check the pack voltage though...

[Wakko47]

If pack voltage is 12.4 x 4, 49.6, that's not fully charged. There's a flaw in the slaw somewhere. Check this thread out:
https://www.buggiesgonewild.com/showthread.php?t=81161

What brand are the batteries? Do you see any date on them?

[JasonWeb]

They are Trojan batteries, don’t see any date anywhere on them though. Checked the pack voltage after full charge with multi meter and it was bouncing between 50.0-50.2. Checked it again after about an hour off the charger and reading was the same.

[Wakko47]

Check the negative terminal for the date.

[CP241]

I don’t think the batteries are your problem. At 49v the cart will still run. It will be slower but should still run. No need to push... and flipping the tow switch would lead me to believe something else is awry.

That said, 50.9 would be a fully charged pack. 50.0-50.2 is around 80%. Perhaps the OBC isn’t doing what it should and the pack isn’t being fully charged to begin with. How does the charger behave when you plug it into the cart? Does it hum lightly or anything before you plug it in? How long after plugging it in does it start to hum? Does the battery light do anything either while charging or driving?