EZ no GO

[joey561B]

good day all, cart noobie here. i recently picked up a 98 ezgo series. it does not run. im no stranger to forums so iv searched around a bit before i just jump in asking for help. im a fairly handy guy and actually a golfcart is not complicated at all (after looking over whats inside one) i just have zero experiance in dealing with them. so heres what iv done and what iv found and im hoping that you more experianced guys can help me out. bought this cart for 150 bucks. took it home filled the batteries with distilled water and charged them.put the rear end on jack stands. volt meter reads over 36v as they should. started poking around the meter and found that my solinoid does not click.so i replaced it just in case, it was old and crusty and a quick cheap item to deal with. it does have the correct voltage as per the diagnostic instructions in the forum.i jumped the solinoid and found the voltage for the pedal does not go all the way to 1.5 v at wide open throttle but does it only goes to like .98 v . so heres where it gets to the good stuff. everything else has 36v, the box that supposed to have 0v and go to 36v has 36v at all times. all 4 posts on the foward/revesre switch have 36v at all times. the reverse buzzer is operating very well. thanks for the help in advance and i know how much forum guys love pictures so ill post up some when i make it home tommorrow.

[JohnnieB]

Welcome to BGW!

Yes, an electric golf cart with a series wound motor is a relatively simple machine, but the devil is in the details.

Let's start with the batteries. Water (distilled only) should only be added to fully charged batteries unless the plates are expose.
If they are, just add enough water to cover them before charging.

Here is a State of Charge chart. As you see, 36V is only about 50% charged for a 36V battery pack.
The voltages listed are take 12 hours after the batteries come off charge and 38.22V is a full charge for a 36V pack.

The next step would be to get the solenoid clicking when it should and then troubleshoot the high current and throttle circuits.

Here is a schematic of a series cart with the solenoid activation circuit traced.
Four switches, 10 lengths of wire, 20 connectors and the solenoid coil.
The reverse beeper works, so you are getting voltage to MS-2 on F/R assembly. One switch down, three to go.

This is jumping ahead in the normal troubleshooting process, but all the low ITS voltage means is that the cart won't run at full power.
Also, there are two parts to checking out the ITS throttle. The input voltage has to be correct or the output voltage won't be.

Get the batteries fully charged and the solenoid clicking and we'll go from there.

[Irishjoker]

Welcome to BGW and hello from Indiana.