1990 Starter Replacement Wiring

[WaylandSmith]

First time to post and my first cart. I have a recently purchased 1990 with a 3pg engine. My starter died so I ordered a new starter/generator which arrived today. Upon inspection I noticed that the F1 and F2 are opposite in location as of the starter that came off. Also noticed that the A1 and A2 on the end of the starter are in opposite locations as of the old starter. Lastly, the green wire that goes to the voltage regulator is on top instead of the bottom where it was located on the old starter. I pulled the wiring schematic and wired it correct to the starter/generator markings (which is all opposite of the old starter). Tada, now forward is reverse and reverse is now forward. Will this damage anything and or will the new starter/generator charge the battery correctly? Thanks for reading and any advice that you have.

[cart around]

I would like to say don't worry about it, but I'm not 100% sure. There is no telling what you have inside there. Is it the correct starter?

F2 is always positive. F1 connects to the armature, and polarity is changed there. There are shunt windings between F2, and F1. That polarity should always be the same.

EZGO has never mentioned any issues running in reverse. There are no warnings.

This link is a wiring diagram. https://www.buggiesgonewild.com/atta...7&d=1323224205

The pdf is the internal starter diagram.

I would say put the cart on blocks. Put your meter on the battery terminals, and run it in each direction. Make sure that you get 13.5 volts in each direction of the same polarity.

[WaylandSmith]

Structurally it is identical, however all the markings on the New starter case are 180 degrees out compared to the old starter when installed. Worked fine other than fwd/rev swapped until yesterday. Driving the kids around yesterday I smelled something like it was hot so I parked it and gave it a rest. Hasn’t tuned the motor over since, just a high pitch whine every now and then. I wired it according to the ezgo repair manual posted on this forum. I’ll double check the wiring soon, but I went over it with a fine tooth comb a few times before I ever connected the battery.

[Dabble Inn]

Although I think you wired it like you had to and it should have been ok it bothers me that the terminals were opposite, obviously they sent you the wrong one. You probably shouldn't have had any problems but now you are, think I would send it back and start over with the right one.

Perhaps there's something internal in that one that you shouldn't have or something external that it needs that you don't have, I really don't know what the difference would be (resistor maybe?) but without using the correct one it's complicating the diagnoses now... Good Luck

[cart around]

I believe that whining is the solenoid telling you the battery is dead. If so, it wasn't charging. That's why I was concerned about the shunt windings.

[WaylandSmith]

Finally got time to tinker with the starter today, Saturday. I spoke with the company tech support from Buggies Unlimited on Friday and they asked if the starter was grounded properly. After further inspection, I found the ground for the motor just dangling (left loose by previous owner) Put a charger on the battery and it the meter on the charger showed the battery was fully charged. I took a test light and clipped the ground clamp to the unused top bolt hole on the starter and touched the prob to the + post on the battery. Nothing. So I loosened the nut on the bottom pivot bolt on the bottom and connected the dangling extra ground wire. Tested with the light, it light up. Pulled the plug wire so it wouldn’t start and pressed the gas peddle, worked great. After completely reassembling everything, it fired right up. Sorry for being so wordy, just information that might help someone in the future.

TLDR: Starter needed a ground wire hooked to it.

[cart around]

A ground wire where? There should be four large wires connected to the four big studs, and a small green wire attached to the df terminal going to the voltage regulator. Nothing else should be connected to the starter.

Never mind, I see what you did. There is normally a braided cable that connects between the frame and the engine. That provides the ground.

[WaylandSmith]

You are correct about the braided engine ground. Previous owner or repair shop left it disconnected. I just put it under the nut on the bottom mounting bolt as I’m uncertain where it should actually be connected. I’ll research where it belongs and mount it properly. For now, I’m back in action. I have a hunch the ground was my problem with the old starter. Thank you for assisting me, this is my first cart and I knew it was a project cart when I bought it.

[Dabble Inn]

Love the 'Ah Ha' moments....

When you first mentioned a ground wire I figured you'd zero in on the ground strap too, Glad it was that easy of a fix.

Mine runs from the frame to the engine, if I remember right there's a bolt on the fan housing for it. I'm surprised yours was long enough to reach a starter mounting bolt but that should be an ok place for it too, I'll see if I can get you a pic


EDIT;
I took a pic but it's not very clear so it's wired like this.

There's a grounding tab with a hole welded to the frame near the battery, a battery cable runs from negative post of battery to the tab, then a length of braided cable runs from the tab to one of the fan housing mounting bolts, another length of battery cable runs from the tab to the negative post of FnR switch.... This is on an 85, I would assume yours is the same

[WaylandSmith]

Update, starter still working great. I cleaned the carb, replaced some fuel line and fuel filter. Been running great every since this. As soon as it cools off some, I’m doing a few add ons. Thank y’all for helping.