EZGo Acting Odd: Charge meter, Accelerator, Battery post melting

[Duck_NovaCain]

I just picked up a used EZGo electric and I’m trying to troubleshoot it a little bit. The previous owners said it no longer ran, they had it looked at by a friend and were told there was some $170 “box” that needed replacing. They replaced it and it still didn’t run so the friend said it must be the batteries. They decided to not put any more money into it and sold it to me really cheap. The batteries were under filled, so I filled them, manually charged them, and the cart still didn’t work. It would, however, roll about 4” when the accelerator was pressed, which was the first sign of life I had seen out of this cart. I got brand new batteries and cables, installed them, charged them fully, and hopped on. I pressed the accelerator and it rolled about 4” again. I pressed it a couple more times and it took off. Rode it for about 5 minutes, as it was 11:30pm and I had no headlights. Placed it back on the charger and went to bed.

This morning we rode it some more and after we had been riding about 5 minutes, we noticed the battery gauge read “dead”, but we were still cruising and it had charged the entire night. Figured it was a faulty gauge. After riding about 30 minutes, we pulled back up to the house, switched the key off, and went inside for about 30 minutes. Went back outside and the cart, again, was barely budging when the accelerator pressed. Kept playing with the accelerator and finally got it going. Figured bad accelerator switch. Rode it for about 10 more minutes and it died, then we smelled plastic. Flipped up the seat and one of the battery posts had melted out and the cables were very hot. I switched the key off, put it in neutral, and flipped the tow/maintenance switch.

What is going on with this cart? Any ideas? I’m not upset about it as I only have a little over a grand tied up in it currently, I just want to get it running.

TL;DR - Battery gauge reads empty while driving, accelerator works intermittently, and battery post melted.

[cgtech]

Battery post melted points to improper installation or bad cable.

[Duck_NovaCain]

New cables purchased from a legitimate golf cart dealer, at the same time the batteries were. Must have been my installation but I don’t see how. Any explanation? Batteries were put back in in exactly the same orientation as the old ones were. Positive to the front and rear, negative posts in the middle. Cables ran from negative post of one battery to positive post of next battery. Ran the nuts down hand tight and snugged with a ratchet just about a 1/4 turn.

[cgtech]

The correct torque for Trojan batteries commonly found in golf carts is in pic below (95-105 in-lb). Note it is Inch Pound, not Foot pound. What size cables you get?

[Duck_NovaCain]

I am unsure of the gauge, but they were purchased along with the batteries, so I assumed they were adequate.

Any ideas on the battery gauge or the accelerator?

[cgtech]

Originally Posted by Duck_NovaCain

Any ideas on the battery gauge or the accelerator?

Yeah, melting terminals provide intermittent connection to the controller and meter.

[HiTechRedNeck]

Ditto --- melted terminals are almost always under-tightened..

When installing batts, we always do a 2 min test drive then touch every batt terminal.

You will quit under-tightening terminals after losing a little skin. :)

[scottyb]

Cable connections can loosen by expansion and contraction. They should be checked as part of the regular maintenance.

[Duck_NovaCain]

Ah...makes perfect sense about the accelerator and battery meter. So most likely my entire problem is loose connections. I’ve got a torque wrench that measures in in-lbs on the way. Should be here tomorrow. I’ll run through all the connections and be sure they’re tight. Still would have thought ¼-½ turn with a ratchet should have been sufficient, as they snugged up pretty tight. In my initial research I actually thought I may have over tightened them and started to pull the stud out.

I’ll be sure to do the 2 minute test drive and check the terminals for heat. Thanks for the help.