96 DS randomly loses all power

[SlackerB]

I have a 96 Ds with a strange problem. Sometimes it will randomly lose all power. Mostly above half throttle. The governor and rev limiter seem to work. When it cuts out, the cart will come to a complete stop and not even the starter will turn. Put the shifter to neutral and back to forward, away it goes and works great. Even when it's rolling to a stop, if you switch the gearshift to N and back to F, it will fire up again and continue on. Electrical problem maybe?

[Fairtax4me]

The shift cable is not adjusted correctly or the limit switch on the FnR lever is possibly going bad.
If the shifter gets bumped and the switch disengages it kills spark and cuts power to the solenoid at the same time.
Check the adjustment of the cable to make sure the switch is pushed up on top of one of the ramps on the yellow dial on the back of the lever. If the switch is barely engaged it will shut the cart off if the lever moves even just a tiny bit.
Also check to make sure the lever pivot is not worn out and flopping all over the place. If you can wiggle the pivot lever around more than about 1/8" it will cause this same problem.

[SlackerB]

Originally Posted by Fairtax4me

The shift cable is not adjusted correctly or the limit switch on the FnR lever is possibly going bad.
If the shifter gets bumped and the switch disengages it kills spark and cuts power to the solenoid at the same time.
Check the adjustment of the cable to make sure the switch is pushed up on top of one of the ramps on the yellow dial on the back of the lever. If the switch is barely engaged it will shut the cart off if the lever moves even just a tiny bit.
Also check to make sure the lever pivot is not worn out and flopping all over the place. If you can wiggle the pivot lever around more than about 1/8" it will cause this same problem.

Thanks, I will give this a good go over, test the micro switches as well.

[SlackerB]

I think you are right. There seems to be a little more play in the yellow knob then there should be. Also in the shifter cable as well. Seems to be a combination of both that are free moving enough to disengage the microswitch. I'll see what adjustments I can make to get it a little tighter to the top of the knob. Thanks

[Fairtax4me]

The yellow knob should have some play in it. If you pull it out and rotate it 180° and push it back in it sets the switch so the cart engine can be run in neutral for maintenance mode.
The knob will have some wiggle to it because of that.

What shouldn't have much wiggle is the whole lever once it's in gear. Generally if the lever moves a lot, it's because the cable is worn, or the pivot shaft through the body is worn.
Problem is most of the time the pivot shaft can get rusted into the lever, which makes it almost impossible to take it apart without breaking the lever off.
All of those parts were still available from Club Car not too long ago (though who knows now with how many other things are on back-order/unavailable.
If the cable is worn out I would highly recommend a new one from Club Car if you can get one because they're much smoother and better quality than aftermarkets. Be sure to also order the cable ends (the cup sockets) because they do not come with the OEM cables. They have to be purchased separately.