Problem with Resistor cart 1986 EZ-GO Marathon

[mybadomen]

Hiya guys i have been a long time watcher but recently got a Golf Cart and Posted it and also Posted a Hello in the Introduction Thread.

I am currently having an issue that comes and goes and i believe its a Resistor box its called causing it in my 86 EZ-GO.

Sometimes i get in my cart and it only has 1 speed and that's Fast only.

TRoday while trying to figure it out i checked all the new batteries i put in it plus all the new wires i added. And it still did the same. So i got out my Fluke meter and started testing.the pedal switch or whatever its called worked perfect and the solenoid . I am not sure the name of the toaster looking thing but i believe its called a resistor box from what i seen on a diagram on these forums.

Anyway this is what happens if i tap the resistor box all is good again for a day or so and i have all speeds. I am talking barely tap it. All connections look great and are tight and clean. What is under this box that could be going bad ? Is this something i can fix maby with a solder iron or something? or is this unfixable and gonna cost me more then my whole cart cost me.

I really need to fix this as cheap as possible because it really makes my life so easy as i am using it to help me maintain a campground as part of a deal towards my site fee,

I was excited to finally be able to get up the money to get a golf cart cheap and it does work.I just want to fix this before it goes completely bad and tapping it no longer works.

Please Help guys if you know whats under the box that maby i can solder or replace without paying a total fortune for a box.

Thank you so much in advance for any help .

MybadOmen

[rlw]

Mybad...

I'm no expert, but am in the process of restoring my '84 Marathon - a resistor cart as well. When I pulled out the resistor, some of the coils had been crushed together - effectively lowering the resistance. I took it apart (COMPLETELY), used a grinder with a wire wheel to clean up all of the bolts and connections (including shining up the steel wire where it contacts the bolts), and made sure the coils were not touching.

One thing I'd stress is that BEFORE you take it apart, mark each of the connections and the cables with the numbers 1,2,3,4 so you don't have to dig through the schematics to figure out how to put it back together. I used a "Sharpie" permanent marker. It would also be a good idea to take a photo of it before you disassemble it.

On mine, the end of the smallest gauge coil is marked "1". The connection between the small gauge coil and the next one up is "2", next connection between medium gauge and heavy gauge is "3", and the last one at the end of the heavy gauge coil is "4".

Those numbers correspond with positions on the accelerator/wiper board assembly - "0" is where the wiper arm rests when the pedal is not depressed. On mine, there's no cable connected to that post. From there on, they are numbered 1, 2, 3, 4. Make sure each of the wires go to the correct position on the accel/wiper assy.

I'm in the process of putting my cart back together - got all of the new 4 gauge cables installed last night and gonna build new low power control cables (the 16 gauge cables between the keyswitch, solenoid, beeper, micro switches, etc.) this evening.

We'll know this weekend if I have any idea what I'm talking about! If my cart flips upside down when I power it up, I got that wrong! ;^)

Hope that helps,

RLW

[barcloverranch]

If its not the wiper board, you can try removing the coils themselves and clean them up, make sure you don't have a short anywhere, and put them back on nice and tight. If all else fails you can buy new coils or a whole new resistor assembly

[mybadomen]

Originally Posted by barcloverranch

If its not the wiper board, you can try removing the coils themselves and clean them up, make sure you don't have a short anywhere, and put them back on nice and tight. If all else fails you can buy new coils or a whole new resistor assembly

Yeah whater is wrong with mine i just tap the coil box and its fine again for a bit but then i will come out and it will have no throttle bit wide open again. So i lift the seat and tap it and its back to normal. So thats Great news that i can probably fix it myself. I know they make a conversion to a new style setup to get rid of the resistor box . Anyone happen to have a box around for a reasonable price? Also my buddy is selling me his he forgot the year but knows its between 2001 - 2003 Yamaha Golf cart and chanrger but it has been sitting in his garage for 2 years. So i am hoping worse case i swap my batteries and have a beautiful cart. He said he wanted 800 at first which was an incredible deal but now he told me since its me just give him 500 for it. So im definitely grabbing it but it will be a long time before i get it so i need to get this cart fixed so i can work.

Thank you so much guys.

Here is a little Picture of my other Passion:

[rlw]

Mybad,

With plumbing like that in your system, you shouldn't have any trouble wrangling 2 gauge cables into your cart!

RLW

[mybadomen]

Wow I have the resistor box all apart. What a simple unit this is and it seems to just need some new hardware and cleaning .

[mybadomen]

Oh almost forgot to say thank you and will post the results.

[mybadomen]

I think i made a Mistake already :( . I marked the wires and marked the coil box thick and thin (Meaning coil size) so i know which way it went . I bought all new Stainless washers ,Lock washers and Nuts and cleaned everything with a wire wheel including the coils. So everything looks like brand new now and i FORGOT which way i took the box out of the cart. Omg i mark everything and make the stupidest mistake. I dont know what direction the wghole box was sitting in the Cart.

It may be easy to figure out . Does anyone know if the thick end of the coil is for high speed or low speed? from there i can tel which way it faces.

Thanks guys and hoping someone knows as i gave up until morning.I dony want to risk breaking something after all that work.

Take Care MybadOmen

[gadavis]

The thicker the wire the more resistance it would have. More resistance = less speed.

[yurtle]

Arm chair noodling only.

I don't have any experience with resister carts, but I don't necessarily agree with "thicker wire = more resistance", unless the resister alloy changes. I'd measure the resistance of each coil separately. Hooking it up "wrong" would only change what I'm assuming is a kinda linear increase in speed (power not burned up as heat). Again, I'm not familiar with resister carts, but I'd assume you'd go from maximum resistance (all coils in series), a little less, a little less... until the resisters are no longer in the circuit. It seems to me that as long as you go from maximum resistance to no resistance, the in between settings would only change how linear the increases in throttle are. If you hook it up "backwards", it shouldn't hurt anything, but you should notice right away whether it's "wrong", if that makes sense.

But I could be wrong.