Need help quick!

[JohnnieB]

I have no idea of what is going on either, but if the solenoid is clicking when the pedal is pushed and staying energized, the problem is most likely in the high current circuit.

That pretty much narrows it down to the batteries, high current cables, solenoid, controller and motor.

What is the battery pack voltage and what does it drop to when the cart is lurching?

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You say the cart will not move forward, so if the batteries check out, put the rear of cart on jackstands (tires off ground) and measure the voltage between the B- and M- terminals on the DCX controller while trying to drive forward.

When the pedal is pushed just far enough for the solenoid to click, you should measure full battery pack voltage.

If you get full pack voltage, slowly push pedal to floor and the voltage should smoothly decrease to zero.

If it doesn't, either the controller or the throttle is bad.

[Dondi12]

36 volt system and the batteries checked in at 37.8 under no load and 37.4 with pedal depressed but not moving forward. However, I tried it in reverse and the cart is working fine. Actually drove it around the yard in reverse to see if it would shut down and it did not. But no forward movement. Now I'm thinking switch gone bad. I'll have to get some help to put it up on jacks.

[JohnnieB]

Does the DCX controller power up in Forward? (LED flashes Green four times and then stays steady Green.)

If it doesn't, you probably have a blown diode in the PDS to DCX adapter.

If it does, you may have a bad controller.

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A DCX controller defaults to Forward and has to be told to go into Reverse.
Check the voltage on PIN-4 on top of the DCX. When it has pack voltage on it, it should go into Reverse. When there is Zero volts on it, it should be in Forward. If the is more than Zero, but less than pack voltage, it might not be in Forward, or Reverse.

[Dondi12]

Yes, the controller powers up in Forward (flashes 4 times then stays green). Which one is pin #4?
This controller is less than 3 yrs old. Is this the life expectancy of the DCX?

[Dondi12]

I don't live in hill country, the hardest thing this cart does is ride through the pasture. the grass can sometimes be tall but it has never hesitated before. I hope There is a warrenty!

[Dondi12]

i found the brochure that came with the controller and I checked the voltage on pin 4. Not sure what it means but here are my findings; my meter registers 38.1 on pin 4 when the cart is switched off, on, forward or reverse. The way I'm doing this is holding the positive lead on the #1 battery positive post and the negative lead on pin 4. 38.1 volts.

[JohnnieB]

The pins on top of a DCX controller are numbered 1 through 10 with Pin-1 being closest to the LED and Pin-10 closest to the B+ terminal.

To measure the voltage on Pin-4 (and most other voltages), attach the negative test lead to the battery pack's main negative terminal and touch the positive test lead to Pin-4 (or other point that you want to measure).

Theoretically, when you reference your voltmeter to the positive terminal as you did, you should have read pack voltage on Pin-4 except when the DCX controller was powered up and you got pack voltage when it was in Reverse, but I don't know what the input impedance of Pin-4 is, or what the input impedance of your voltmeter is, so that might be normal.

Connect your meter's negative test lead to the negative side of the battery pack and check it again.

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Check with Scotty or Alltrax to be sure, but I think the warranty is two years.

[Dondi12]

JohnnieB, I finally got a chance to retest pin 4 the way you suggested. I placed the black lead on the negative post on the battery and the red lead on pin 4. The meter registered 0.00. Does this mean bad controller?

[JohnnieB]

Originally Posted by Dondi12

JohnnieB, I finally got a chance to retest pin 4 the way you suggested. I placed the black lead on the negative post on the battery and the red lead on pin 4. The meter registered 0.00. Does this mean bad controller?

I'm pretty sure the controller is bad, but call Alltrax, they may have some more test to do.

[Dondi12]

I also checked the controller while on jack stands. On the first try when the pedal was depressed by hand the rear tires engaged and began spinning very fast. I let go the pedal waited about 15 seconds and tried it again this time the wheels did not turn and I could hear what sounded like wires frying but I never saw smoke nor smelled burning plastic. This sound stopped upon release of pedal. On the third try the wheels began the "lurching" I mentioned earlier I then took my foot and spun the tire in reverse and the motor engaged and was running in reverse wide open. Any suggestions?