1993 36 volt EZ GO – Low pack voltage and no go

[Longie]

Hi guys, I haven't visited the forum in quite awhile.

Here’s the back ground. The cart was running fine when I accidentally drove over a huge root along the road (yes, I was sober ) and tore out the entire battery tray. I repaired the tray and put the batteries back in.

All batteries show 6.4 volts. The dash gauge shows full charge, but pack voltage with the multimeter only shows 32.1 volts, so naturally the cart doesn’t run. When plugging in the charger, pack voltage shows it’s putting out 40 volts, but the needle on the charger never goes down, so I’m guessing the charger isn’t sensing a full charge. When on charge, the voltage jumps on all individual batteries so it would seem they are receiving a charge. I’ve triple checked the battery wiring diagram and I’m confident the batteries are wired correctly.

My multimeter is good as I checked pack voltage on my other cart and it is normal.

Also. as soon as I turn the key on, the solenoid clicks. I don’t remember it doing that.

I’m stumped as to why I'm not getting full pack voltage.

[Csaavedra]

Sounds like the throttle swith is broken. Mine did the same and that is what is was

[Longie]

Originally Posted by Csaavedra

Sounds like the throttle peddle switch is broken. Mine did the same and that is what is was

I'm not sure what the throttle peddle switch is. Would that prevent getting full pack voltage as it's sitting without the key turned on?

[meimk]

Check that you didn't wire one of the batteries backwards. May sound silly, but it's an easy mistake to make and I've seen it several times.

[Longie]

Originally Posted by meimk

Check that you didn't wire one of the batteries backwards. May sound silly, but it's an easy mistake to make and I've seen it several times.

Thanx for the reply, but I've triple checked the battery wiring. And as I said, when I plug in the charger, all batteries show increased voltage during/after a charge. But checking pack voltage, it seems there is one battery "missing".

[Csaavedra]

Commented on wrong post

[orangeman6]

Did you possibly damage one of the battery posts? You say each battery is 6.4 but pack voltage is 32? Meter around the series until you see where you’re not getting a multiple of 6.4.

The solenoid activation circuit, assuming series:
Reed switch
F/r micro
Key switch
Pedal switch micro
Solenoid

[Mooncarter]

If you replaced the entire battery tray on that cart you probably moved/unhooked a lot of wires. I'm with meimke, it sounds like you almost have to have a battery turned wrong or something not wired correctly. Can you post a photo so everybody can see it?

[Longie]

Originally Posted by Mooncarter

If you replaced the entire battery tray on that cart you probably moved/unhooked a lot of wires. I'm with meimke, it sounds like you almost have to have a battery turned wrong or something not wired correctly. Can you post a photo so everybody can see it?

I’ll see if I can borrow a camera and take a pic.

But in the meantime: The only wires/cables I disconnected were those connected directly to the batteries. I printed out the wiring diagram from the stickies and again, I’m confident the batteries are wired correctly.

I’m also assuming if they weren’t wired correctly, the individual voltages wouldn’t increase as they were receiving a surface charge?

I don’t understand why the solenoid clicks as soon as the key is turned on.

[Cartmaster]

Cant help with the solenoid issue, but may be to do with the odd voltages. The only time i have seen this is when one battery was connected in reverse. batteries will reverse polarity regardless of what many may think. I went to a customer years ago with the exact same voltage symptoms and all i did was rewire the incorrect battery and after a couple of full charges back to back, the pack was back to normal