2001 club car wont tow or push

Rough House · 03-07-2013, 02:42 PM

Hi guys. Hopefully someone can help me here. My buddies father has a 2001 club car DS 48v golf cart that im looking at. This cart doesn't have the handle to switch from forward to reverse. It has the electronic switch. I cant remember what model they call this. Now the batteries in it are completely junk and I know I need to replace them. They froze and there bulging out so I don't want to put a charger on them. The problem im having is when he parked it he left it in forward and the button under the seat is set to run not tow. We tried to push it onto the trailer and the cart wont budge. Im not sure if its stuck in "gear" so to speak, or if the brakes are seized. Is there anyway to get this cart to roll if its not a problem with the brakes? I don't want to go and spend 600-700 bucks on new batteries if for some reason the motor is bad. Is there any way of getting this cart to roll so I can get it on a trailer and work on it???
I thought about getting 4 12v batteries and hooking them up just to flip the switches to neutral and tow but I didn't know if this can hurt the electronics in the cart... Any help would be greatly appreciated.

simple man · 03-07-2013, 05:01 PM

The brakes are probably seized, especially if the cart was parked with the pedal locked down. Release the brake pedal and get a hammer and a piece of wood that will fit in between the lug area of the wheel and whack the wheels a few times. This will usually unstick the brakes. You may have to remove the wheels and hit directly on the brake drums. Remember to put your " tow - run " switch in the tow position before any electrical work or moving the cart!

Rough House · 03-07-2013, 05:44 PM

ok. ill do that with the brakes. but if theres no juices in the batteries then the switch wont do anything because its electrical. This is where im having trouble. The batteries are destroyed. Im going to try 4 12vts just to get some juice so I can flip the switch.

jakesnake27 · 03-07-2013, 06:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rough House

ok. ill do that with the brakes. but if theres no juices in the batteries then the switch wont do anything because its electrical. This is where im having trouble. The batteries are destroyed. Im going to try 4 12vts just to get some juice so I can flip the switch.

I would just go ahead and get some new 8v batts...

Rough House · 03-07-2013, 08:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jakesnake27

I would just go ahead and get some new 8v batts...

Yea but what if the motor for some reason is froze up or something. I drop 700 bucks on new batts and for some reason it doesn't run. Id rather be safe that sorry.

kgsc · 03-07-2013, 09:52 PM

If the batteries are truly dead flipping the switch won't make a difference but flip it to TOW anyway. 4 12s will allow you to test but get it to roll first

jakesnake27 · 03-07-2013, 10:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rough House

Yea but what if the motor for some reason is froze up or something. I drop 700 bucks on new batts and for some reason it doesn't run. Id rather be safe that sorry.

Ok, yeah good idea

Rough House · 03-07-2013, 10:33 PM

oh yea the batteries are dead. They froze and the cases are all bulging out. Yea I just want to use those to 12v to try and give it some power to disengage run to tow and possibly put it in neutral. So I can roll it on my trailor and take it back to my garage to work on it. Its sitting outside now in the pa cold.

jakesnake27 · 03-07-2013, 11:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rough House

oh yea the batteries are dead. They froze and the cases are all bulging out. Yea I just want to use those to 12v to try and give it some power to disengage run to tow and possibly put it in neutral. So I can roll it on my trailor and take it back to my garage to work on it. Its sitting outside now in the pa cold.

If batts are dead, just put switch to tow, put shifter in neutral and push it anywhere you want. It won't hurt a thing

Rough House · 03-08-2013, 01:46 AM

it doest have the lever shifter. This cart has the electronic switch for forward neutral and reverse. In order for the switch to work we have to introduce power some how. Same with the tow switch. I was reading the owners manual and this is a club car ds powerdrive plus 48v. it has a feature call a zero speed detect which with the cart parked on level ground and parking brake disengaged and tow switch in run that cart cannot roll. Its some kind of safety feature. This might be the reason why it doesn't roll as well. It says that when you switch it to tow it disengages the motor brake. But I wonder since the batts died with the cart in run the motor cannot disengage the zero speed detect feature and has the motor stuck in the zero speed detect.??? I don't know.

03-07-2013, 02:42 PM	#1
Rough House Not Yet Wild Join Date: Mar 2013 Posts: 10	2001 club car wont tow or push Hi guys. Hopefully someone can help me here. My buddies father has a 2001 club car DS 48v golf cart that im looking at. This cart doesn't have the handle to switch from forward to reverse. It has the electronic switch. I cant remember what model they call this. Now the batteries in it are completely junk and I know I need to replace them. They froze and there bulging out so I don't want to put a charger on them. The problem im having is when he parked it he left it in forward and the button under the seat is set to run not tow. We tried to push it onto the trailer and the cart wont budge. Im not sure if its stuck in "gear" so to speak, or if the brakes are seized. Is there anyway to get this cart to roll if its not a problem with the brakes? I don't want to go and spend 600-700 bucks on new batteries if for some reason the motor is bad. Is there any way of getting this cart to roll so I can get it on a trailer and work on it??? I thought about getting 4 12v batteries and hooking them up just to flip the switches to neutral and tow but I didn't know if this can hurt the electronics in the cart... Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Rough House Not Yet Wild Join Date: Mar 2013 Posts: 10

03-07-2013, 05:01 PM	#2
simple man Gone Wild Join Date: Aug 2011 Location: Bunnell, Florida Posts: 2,408	Re: 2001 club car wont tow or push The brakes are probably seized, especially if the cart was parked with the pedal locked down. Release the brake pedal and get a hammer and a piece of wood that will fit in between the lug area of the wheel and whack the wheels a few times. This will usually unstick the brakes. You may have to remove the wheels and hit directly on the brake drums. Remember to put your " tow - run " switch in the tow position before any electrical work or moving the cart!

03-07-2013, 05:44 PM	#3
Rough House Not Yet Wild Join Date: Mar 2013 Posts: 10	Re: 2001 club car wont tow or push ok. ill do that with the brakes. but if theres no juices in the batteries then the switch wont do anything because its electrical. This is where im having trouble. The batteries are destroyed. Im going to try 4 12vts just to get some juice so I can flip the switch.
Rough House Not Yet Wild Join Date: Mar 2013 Posts: 10

03-07-2013, 09:52 PM	#6
kgsc Gone Wild Join Date: Dec 2009 Location: Aiken, SC Posts: 13,187	Re: 2001 club car wont tow or push If the batteries are truly dead flipping the switch won't make a difference but flip it to TOW anyway. 4 12s will allow you to test but get it to roll first

03-07-2013, 10:33 PM	#8
Rough House Not Yet Wild Join Date: Mar 2013 Posts: 10	Re: 2001 club car wont tow or push oh yea the batteries are dead. They froze and the cases are all bulging out. Yea I just want to use those to 12v to try and give it some power to disengage run to tow and possibly put it in neutral. So I can roll it on my trailor and take it back to my garage to work on it. Its sitting outside now in the pa cold.
Rough House Not Yet Wild Join Date: Mar 2013 Posts: 10

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03-08-2013, 01:46 AM	#10
Rough House Not Yet Wild Join Date: Mar 2013 Posts: 10	Re: 2001 club car wont tow or push it doest have the lever shifter. This cart has the electronic switch for forward neutral and reverse. In order for the switch to work we have to introduce power some how. Same with the tow switch. I was reading the owners manual and this is a club car ds powerdrive plus 48v. it has a feature call a zero speed detect which with the cart parked on level ground and parking brake disengaged and tow switch in run that cart cannot roll. Its some kind of safety feature. This might be the reason why it doesn't roll as well. It says that when you switch it to tow it disengages the motor brake. But I wonder since the batts died with the cart in run the motor cannot disengage the zero speed detect feature and has the motor stuck in the zero speed detect.??? I don't know.
Rough House Not Yet Wild Join Date: Mar 2013 Posts: 10

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