Missing something with 36v diagnosis....

[cmar143]

1990 36v DS only lurches forward slightly when I step on the pedal. 37v across battery pack and solenoid when activated and cart moves forward slightly which drops battery load to 34V which is a little low but the cart should still move. The resistors are getting hot but the cart does the same thing in F and R. I tried sanding the contact on vglide and f/r with no results.

[jjance]

I think you have a bad solenoid. Does it click when you press the go peddle and you should read 0 Volts between the two large terminals.

[cmar143]

Yes I posted that there is battery pack voltage across both terminals of the solenoid when it's activated. The resistors get very hot after a while so there is a lot of voltage dissipating through it.

[Sergio]

You may want to lift the rear wheels just in case and make sure they turn free.

It sounds like the solenoid is clicking and sending power through all resistors, but the Vglide is not working at all. The wheels will probably move if there is no load on the motor (lifted off the ground).

Since the resistors are getting hot, we have a complete circuit, You can try jumping across the first resistor coil to see if the motor moves.

Put a jumper between the White wire that comes from the Vglide to the Orange wire that comes from the Vglide, that would eliminate that resistor and go into first speed as soon as the solenoid clicks.

Don't let the motor run too fast if the wheels are off the ground.

[cmar143]

I will try that when I get off work today but im pretty sure if the wheels are off the ground the cart will work in first gear because it lunges forward slightly when the pedal is depressed. The vglide looks to be in okay condition with the cover off and I lightly sanded both sides so contact should be good thats why I am not sure why its still not hitting the upper speeds. But if the cart is only going into first speed why are all the resistors getting hot? And are you suggesting that I jump the wires at the vglide or the resistor board? Thanks for the help

[Sergio]

First, here is a high resolution wiring diagram for your cart (different year but very similar).

high-resolution-1998_1999_ds_36v_wiring.jpg

When You first step on the go Pedal and the main solenoid closes, power is sent from the solenoid White wire to the Vglide wiper arm.

The power also goes to the first resistor coil.

As you press the Go pedal and the Vglide wiper arm moves, power is sent directly to connections in the middle of the resistor coil assembly.

The speeds correspond to power being applied directly to: Orange, Yellow, green, Blue and finally Black.

The black connection is the same that goes directly to the motor (white or gray).

Keep in mind power is always at the beginning of the resistor coil assembly (white from Solenoid/Vglide). The wiper arm only creates a parallel path for the current, but since current is inversely proportional to resistance, virtually all current would flow to the point in the resistor coil assembly where the wiper arm is connected to at the time.

I suggested jumping the White and Orange at the resistor coil assembly so the cart would immediately go into first speed once the pedal is pressed (only the last 4 resistor coils in the circuit), that should get you slow movement without being unsafe.

You can also get some Dry eraser marker and fully paint all of the surfaces of the Vglide contact Pads.

Press the pedal several times so the wiper arm moves across the Pads.

Take a picture of the Vglide contacts (we like pictures for reference).

There should be at least 30% of the copper visible in each Pad, that is according to the manual, I would prefer more than 50% of the dry eraser wiped off.

That will give you an idea if the pads have melted into the casing and are no longer making good contact.

[jjance]

Keep in mind that just because a solenoid clicks doesn't mean it's good. Take the connections off of one side of the solenoid. Then using a ohmmeter verify that you read zero ohms when the solenoid closes.

[Sergio]

The resistor coils could not get hot if the main solenoid contacts were not working.

[cmar143]

Jacked the cart up and wheels turn now but it seems like its only at one speed. Took out the two batteries closest to the vglide to get a better look and the copper wire on the wiper switch was spliced under the jacket (not very well with a small butt connector) and hanging by a thread which just fell apart. I ordered a new wiper and hopefully that will solve my problems. Thanks for the help Sergio

may i add that you need to make sure wiper arm is making good contact