bad solenoid? moves F & R no pedal applied

[Mark59]

36V Marathon about 1979. Cart takes off on it's own when in F or R with key on, I have to put it in neutral or turn the key off to stop that . Solenoid does click, I hear it & can feel it if I touch it. With the wiring hooked up to the 2 small posts and nothing hooked up to the 2 large I checked for continuity on the 2 large and had it, so I assume the high amp side is ok. Completely unhooked solenoid from cart checked for continuity between the 2 small posts and had NONE so is the coil bad in my solenoid??? Checked voltage at solenoid small posts - with key off - both small posts showed 38V, turned key on only 1 post had 38V....Bad Solenoid???

[Mooncarter]

First things first. Under those circumstances, make sure the go pedal is returning all the way up as it should.

[Mark59]

I will look into that next, if it's not returning all the way up how do you adjust it?? Not finding continuity on the 2 small posts of solenoid made me think the solenoid had a bad coil. Thanks for your help.

[meimk]

I'm pretty sure if it was the solenoid stuck engaged you wouldn't hear a click and it would still move even with the key off. Mooncarter is right that it could be the pedal not returning all the way. Could also be the microswitch stuck, which is what the pedal movement does to engage the solenoid. As a matter of fact I had that very thing happen with my 87 Marathon when I first used it this spring.

[Mark59]

IN the resting position it doesn't look like the wiper switch is touching studs 1 & 2 on the board at the same time - unhooked batteries then all the wires to solenoid - checked if there was continuity between the resting stud/bottom stud on board with any of the other 4 studs and found NO continuity.. Which makes me conclude it's not out of adjustment/or touching stud #2 when in resting position. But With the solenoid wired up it showed continuity from the resting stud to all the other 4 studs on the sweeper board. Help!!

[Mooncarter]

Check the micro switch as meimk says. Another thing. Do you hear the solenoid "unclick?" I have seen solenoids do some crazy things. Although rare I have seen them click and be bad etc. I would replace that solenoid and go from there.

Also, exactly what cart do you have so we can all look at the diagram.

[Mooncarter]

Also. Is this a cart you have been using and this just started happening? Or is this a new to you cart?

[Mark59]

I'd like to thank Mooncarter & Meimic for their time and on point help!! They kept me on the path to figuring out MY BLUNDER!! I retested and found continuity on 2 small studs on solenoid ( I almost bought a solenoid for nothing) I studied and finally understood how the whole mechanism worked. The pedal arm was in proper position and the micro switch was working properly but my whole problem was due to MY mistake - I neglected to mention I just replaced the wiper switch and when I reinstalled every thing I but the bracket on the wrong side of the plate witch made the cart think I was accelerating --the lever on the micro switch wasn't lifting up enough to open that circuit because it wasn't making contact on the bracket when it was in the resting position. I usually take a picture or draw out a diagram before I take something apart & that mistake caused me a lot of grief!!! Thank you guys for passing on your knowledge because that kept me in the correct area, both of your suggestions now make 100% sense when I realized how the system worked. With out your help who knows how much more time and $ I could a wasted!! THANK you BOTH for HELPING ME!!!!!

[Mooncarter]

Glad you got it straightened out.

[meimk]

You are welcome, & thank YOU for responding back. We don't always get to find out how things worked out. You'll find this a great bunch of folks, generally willing to help any way they can.