Ezgo dcs solenoid clicks but wont disengage and wont move

[abbevilletire]

i have a dcs that wont move. it has a new solenoid and controller. battery pack reads 36.9 v. i also have changed the ITS. all conections are tight but the forward reverse feels funny. could that be bad and that is why the solenoid wont release? is there a way to clean it? why do i jump past terminal five only if my solenoid clicks? because out of all the tests eveything is fine but terminal five but it says skip that test anyhow? what to do now?

[JohnnieB]

For starters, 36.9V means the battery pack is only about 60% SoC (State of Charge) and the plates are sulfating as we speak. (38.2V would be 100% SoC) However, that should be high enough to troubleshooting.

Sounds like you have at least two problems.
1. Solenoid not de-energizing
2. Motor not running.

Problem 1. Check the voltage on Pin-5 of the 10 pin plug on top of controller.
It should have pack voltage on it when the pedal is pushed and zero when the pedal isn't pushed.

Problem 2. Connect your DVM test leads between the B- and M- terminals on the controller.
While the solenoid is energized, you should have full battery pack voltage when the pedal is up and near to zero volts when the pedal is down.

[scottyb]

rocker switch feels funny? Occasionally, they do go bad.... you could remove the wires and connect first the top and center, & then bottom and center for F&R operation with the switch removed. (key on)

[JohnnieB]

Originally Posted by scottyb

rocker switch feels funny? Occasionally, they do go bad.... you could remove the wires and connect first the top and center, & then bottom and center for F&R operation with the switch removed. (key on)

It's a DCS.

[abbevilletire]

ok so pin number five tests out correctly. but test number two i am using A1 instead of M1... i dont have M1 and i figured its because they decided they liked the looks of an A instead of an M and so they changed it? this is what i did. i went out with my voltage tester and swtiched my tow switch to run and turned the forward reverse to forward, turned on the key... there was no voltage. pushed the pedal, and the solenoid engaged, and voltage went to battery pack voltage. puched the pedal all the way down slowly and watched the volts drop to very near 0. now let up the pedal and try to duplicate the series of events. no luck! after my solenoid engages it will not disengage untill you switch to neutral on the forward reverse. but even after i have done that it still will not duplicate the voltage drop. now i am starting out at around 5 v and droping. but i am puzzled as to why my solenoid will not disengage? what to do?

[JohnnieB]

I thought the PDS controller (Curtis 1206MX) was to only one with M- labeled A1.
Oh well, I'm here to learn also.

I believe M- stands for Motor Negative, which typically connects to the motor's A1 (Armature-1) stud.

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Anyway, in a DCS cart, the solenoid gets B+ from the external control circuit.
Red highlighted circuit on attached schematic.

When the pedal switch is closed, B+ is applied to Pin-5 on the controller and the controller then connects B- to the solenoid.

If the solenoid does not de-energize when the pedal is lifted, either the pedal switch is sticking closed or the controller is bad.

You said the voltage on pin-5 came and went as the pedal was pushed and released, so that leaves the controller being bad.

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Perhaps you can get a warranty replacement from wherever you got the "new" DCS controller you installed, but if you can't, or when the replacement DCS controller fails, replace it with a Alltrax DCX400.

DCS controllers (Curtis 1206SX) don't have low voltage protection and are high failure items. The DCX and similar aftermarket controllers aren't afflicted with the same weakness.

[JohnnieB]

Originally Posted by abbevilletire

ok so pin number five tests out correctly. but test number two i am using A1 instead of M1... i dont have M1 and i figured its because they decided they liked the looks of an A instead of an M and so they changed it? this is what i did. i went out with my voltage tester and swtiched my tow switch to run and turned the forward reverse to forward, turned on the key... there was no voltage. pushed the pedal, and the solenoid engaged, and voltage went to battery pack voltage. puched the pedal all the way down slowly and watched the volts drop to very near 0. now let up the pedal and try to duplicate the series of events. no luck! after my solenoid engages it will not disengage untill you switch to neutral on the forward reverse. but even after i have done that it still will not duplicate the voltage drop. now i am starting out at around 5 v and droping. but i am puzzled as to why my solenoid will not disengage? what to do?

I overlooked the statement highlighted in red.

The cart should have moved, or something ought to have gotten hot when the voltage between M- and A1 decreased from pack voltage down to near zero.

You may have more than one problem.

Why was the controller and solenoid replaced?

Replacing the controller and solenoid may not have fixed the original problem, so you might have received a defective replacement controller, and added additional problems top the original one.

[scottyb]

Agreed - the test shows the control worked properly once but, failed to repeat until the control was rebooted. Throttle input issues can cause this type of failure. But so can control failures.
You might want to disconnect the solenoid activation wires and activate the solenoid manually from an independent source (jumper wires from main pack) just to verify the solenoid engages and disengages properly repeatedly when asked to do so.

[abbevilletire]

the controller and solenoid and resistor was replaced trying to get it to move the first time. then i got it to work. it was a faulty connection just up from the forwrd and reverse switches in the wire harness and i fixed it with a butt connector. but i left the new parts in there. cart worked flawlessly for a month and now this!

[abbevilletire]

so if would just take a jumper wire shouldnt the solenoid click when power is applied to the small terminal farthest from the battery pack> the one with the white wire going in to it