48v cart slow to start moving

[jasonbay13]

have a late 90's or early 00's 48v cart that worked fine and now on it's third set of batteries as of 3 years ago but last year started taking time before moving after pressing the pedal.

upon pressing the pedal (all the way) you can hear a click and after you wait for 10 seconds or so it will begin to move, very slowly at first and will being to act nomally and will take off normally after that until it sits.

just today i've been told it has quit completely and will no longer move (not yet tried it myself).

i'm just wondering what could cause this symptom? i've googled for a few hours now to no avail of anything that sounds like my problem.

thanks, Jess :)

[NoleFan4Ever]

That could be an MCOR if you have one, it could be a throttle issue from a MSP-Vglide, or something non-related to those if the controller or something else failed. Need to get the serial number from under the right side of the dash and post it so we can help you more.... Like A9524-345444 or IQ34-645352

[jasonbay13]

the serial number is A9634-520236
i tried it out today, and its like before: you push the pedal all the way down and you hear the click but dont move then after waiting 10-30 seconds it slowly starts to whine and chug (like pulsed). only now it doesnt recover (except dont need to wait 10-30 seconds after it starts moving to press pedal again), it just keeps pulsing rather than providing constant power. its a smooth pulse like it would do when the batteries are dead, which even if they were you wouldnt have to wait 30 seconds with the pedal down for it to move at all and then recover to seemingly normal speeds (that is until yesterday).

[NoleFan4Ever]

So it is a '96 DS. Does it have a FNR lever or a Fwd/Rev Rocker switch?

1- What is the pack voltage right now?
2- Does it do the same thing in Forward or Reverse?
3- Have you checked all the battery and motor cables?
4- Does this have a v-glide (MSP)?

From those we will determine a starting place....

[jasonbay13]

49 volts - dead (charging now using bench supply since it seems the in-built charger is not working?)
it does do the same thing in forward and reverse, but not as bad in reverse.
cables are a bit corroded, but i've seen worse.
i believe it is v-glide. its got the oddly shaped semi-rectangular box.


i'll let you know what happens when its charged up. 6 of the cells seem to be ~6v and two of them seem to be ~8v
its dark and late so hopefully i'm thinking straight :P

if this works, what would cause the charger to not work, but it clicks on when plugged in as it has always done.

[Htownblue]

Originally Posted by jasonbay13

49 volts - dead (charging now using bench supply since it seems the in-built charger is not working?)
it does do the same thing in forward and reverse, but not as bad in reverse.
cables are a bit corroded, but i've seen worse.
i believe it is v-glide. its got the oddly shaped semi-rectangular box.


i'll let you know what happens when its charged up. 6 of the cells seem to be ~6v and two of them seem to be ~8v
its dark and late so hopefully i'm thinking straight :P

if this works, what would cause the charger to not work, but it clicks on when plugged in as it has always done.

You’ve got bad batteries most likely with a few dead cells in the pack which is like causing a traffic jam on the electric highway to your motor. You press go go go and the dead cells say slow slow slow....
This is my guess based solely on the battery input you’ve given. Could be something else but solve the battery issue first.

[NoleFan4Ever]

Batteries are definitely an issue. And the cables sound very iffy also. You need to get to a full 51 volts at 12 hours after the charge completed.

In regards to the charger, what is it doing? Reading any amperage, humming, etc?

[jasonbay13]

last i plugged it in it was doing the normal click and hum of charging but i did look at the ammeter on the charger and thought it was pretty high but maybe no one plugged it in for a while... and walked away. so maybe its only charging a little bit? i've seen a "smart" charger say a battery was fully charged always because the connection at the clip was no good once.

[Aflyer]

jasonbay13,
I would start with the cables, wash the tops of the batteries with baking soda mixed in water 1/4 cup baking soda in a quart of water. I use a cheap throw away paint brush.

After rinsing them off with the hose you can start taking each cable off and wire brush the battery post and the cable end. Pull on them to be sure none are corroded to the point of falling off.

Then try charging again and check voltage as Nole said.
Aflyer

[NoleFan4Ever]

From what you describe of the charger and observing the amperage, it is delivering current to the pack.