Cart wont shut off and battery drains quickly

[rgetter]

So, I am having a couple issues and possibly they are related.

I have a 2000 Ezgo TXT with the 295cc.

Issue #1 – when the battery is fully charged and I use the cart it doesn’t want to turn off when I stop the cart. Engine will just run for a few secs to a minute and then cut out. When the battery is not at full charge it seems to happen less often. I have replaced the accelerator microswitch already.

Issue #2 – Battery seems to drain and needs constant recharging. This past Halloween, we had a full charge and ran the cart for a few hours and I almost didn’t get home before it died. It seems once I turned on the headlights it was really bad. But even when I don’t use the head lights it seems like I need to charge the darn thing every week.

Any ideas what could be causing my issues and if they are related?

I already purchased a new solenoid, but haven’t installed it yet.

[Mooncarter]

Check for a stuck solenoid.

[Spicyunicorn]

I would check charging system with cart in nuetral and or on blocks put volt meter on battery terminals run it wide open it should read around 14-15ish volts also I would load test your battery you shouldn't have to put a battery charger on these unless your system isn't charging or you have a bad battery

[Mooncarter]

...or, something is draining the battery.

[Spicyunicorn]

Originally Posted by Mooncarter

...or, something is draining the battery.

If there is a drain easy way to detect one is unhook positive battery cable turn lights off in garage and touch the cable to the post if there is a drain you will see a small spark

[rgetter]

Thanks for your suggestions. I will check the running voltage tomorrow and see what it is reading.

As far as the drain, i did want you mentioned and I didn't see any sparks.

I am guessing the extreme drain when the cart lights was on (which i don't use very often) is probably due to a cheap light kit or some crappy install. I had to redo a lot on the cart when i got it due to some pretty redneck solutions lol.

You think the voltage regulator could be bad as well? Will probably try and swap out the solenoid this weekend. Was debating changing that out at the same time since it is in the same spot.

[Spicyunicorn]

The voltage check will tell you if it's working or not reason I suspect bad battery or VR not working is I have a stereo with two wake board tower speakers powered by a 500w amp and i can blast that all day with minimal driving and I've never had a issue of battery draining

[Cartmaster]

Exactly as Spicyunicorn says, either battery is dying or its the voltage regulator. Once you do the charging voltage test, we should be able to tell depending on the results. The battery will tell you itself with a load test but lets see whats happening with the charge circuit. And yes, as the solenoids are cheap change it anyway. That is probably what is making it run on. If the battery has been bad for a while and the charge circuit is working OK, then the extra load through the solenoid may have been burning the solenoid contacts.

I feel in my old bones its the battery and solenoid giving you the issues.

[rgetter]

So the battery is about a year old, got it around this time last year. And I have another I got as a backup, But do the same behavior.

Just got the battery fully charged and did some tests. Cart off battery was reading around 12.8v. Put cart in neutral and hit the gas and volts dropped to around 11.9v. Seemed the longer I ran it the lower it would go. Didn't run it too long as I don't like doing that too much without jacking the cart up. But I am assuming based on that the vr is probably bad. Looks like I can get one around $35, so will swap that and the solenoid and run the tests again.

Thanks for all your help. Will let you all know once I get them swapped out.

[Spicyunicorn]

There's one more test you should do before ordering the VR unhook the green wire from starter generator make a jumper wire hook it to the green wire coming out of the starter and ground it to the battery and then run your voltage test again at wide open throttle if it reads 17ish volts at wide open throttle this assures you it's the VR and starter generator is still good if it stays at the 12v range it tells you starter generator is bad