Power Loss Issue

[YamahaJim]

I have a strange problem with my 2014 Yamaha Drive efi that I hope someone else has run into before. When I start the cart it runs fine, but the minute I turn on the headlight switch the cart will run for about a quarter mile and then suddenly starts to buck for a few seconds like the engine is stalling before it totally goes dead. And when I say dead, I mean no electrical power at all, no indication the starter is trying to turn over, and lights all go out. If I turn the headlight switch off, turn the key switch off and then back on the cart restarts and runs normally. It seems like a short in the headlights might be responsible , but what's weird is that it doesn't die instantly, but rather seems to take 20-30 seconds to drain the power to a low enough level to cause the stalling and total loss of power. Any one come across an issue like this? I searched the site using a couple of the key words above but didn't find anything posted. Thanks for any insight you might have.

[trentofdestiny]

On a car that might be due to a loose or bad ground, or a loose or bad connection at one of the battery terminals or the alternator. Perhaps something similar on a golf cart.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[YamahaJim]

***** UPDATE ****
The power loss problem does not seem to be directly tied to the headlight switch or headlights themselves. After tearing apart the dash today and checking all the wiring for any type of obvious problem and not finding anything, I put the whole thing back together and experienced the same power loss but now it happens without the headlights being turned on. The cart will run for about 1-2 minutes and then just dies and has no electrical power. After doing that 1-2 minute test several times the cart will have no electrical power for a couple of minutes and then return to having enough power to start up but will only run for 30 seconds or so. One thing I noticed though was that the rear brake lights (all three) will stay on when the brake pedal is locked even though the cart has no power to anything else. I'm guessing that those rear brake lights are fed before any other component on the cart as they stay on for a minute or so even when the key is switched off. The cart seems like it has a weak battery but the output voltage is 12.8 v and jumps up to 17.5 when it is running. I really hate electrical problem!!!

[trig123]

Originally Posted by YamahaJim

***** UPDATE ****
The power loss problem does not seem to be directly tied to the headlight switch or headlights themselves. After tearing apart the dash today and checking all the wiring for any type of obvious problem and not finding anything, I put the whole thing back together and experienced the same power loss but now it happens without the headlights being turned on. The cart will run for about 1-2 minutes and then just dies and has no electrical power. After doing that 1-2 minute test several times the cart will have no electrical power for a couple of minutes and then return to having enough power to start up but will only run for 30 seconds or so. One thing I noticed though was that the rear brake lights (all three) will stay on when the brake pedal is locked even though the cart has no power to anything else. I'm guessing that those rear brake lights are fed before any other component on the cart as they stay on for a minute or so even when the key is switched off. The cart seems like it has a weak battery but the output voltage is 12.8 v and jumps up to 17.5 when it is running. I really hate electrical problem!!!

17.5 volts is too much. It seems to be overcharging. Check your voltage regulator. Do a load test on that battery also

[YamahaJim]

Just to close this issue out and to provide the information to anyone who experiences a similar problem, my problem turned into it to b a burned sta-con type connector (a male / female type push on connector) on the 12v wire to the key switch. I can only guess that the old connector was loose or had some corrosion in it that caused it to overheat over time and slowly degrade the physical contact between the two halves. When the cart was switched on with the headlight on, the current through that bad sta-con would be high enough to heat it up causing it to loose connectivity and shut down power to the cart. Took a long time trying to unbundle and ohm out all the wires but at least it's now fixed.

This was also posted in response to my other question under the "Is there a thermal device" thread.