Trying to fix loud squeal...now in pretty deep

[Josh740]

2008 Club Car DS has horrible squeal whenever the outside air temperature drops below about 70 degrees. (Have video but can’t figure out how to upload it) the squeal last for 10-15 minutes until the cart warms up then goes away completely.

This evening, I attempted to diagnose the problem by removing the motor. The motor was stuck, really stuck after about an hour the housing came off the armature. Still haven’t been able to get the armature off.

My Questions:
Any thoughts on what’s causing the squeal?
Did I ruin my motor or can it go back together?
Any tricks other than the reverse brakes and slam the axil on the ground for getting the motor off?

[LukeL]

It doesn’t look ruined – yet. The “dropping it on the floor” trick is your best bet. First let it soak in some penetrating oil or PB blaster.

[Fairtax4me]

Motors not ruined but you did ruin the bearing retainer, (small metal plate behind the bearing). The bearing may have been what was making the noise, but even if it wasn't you've probably ruined that because that type of bearing will be damaged by forcing the case off the way you did.
There are two screws in the end of the bearing plate (large silver cover on the end of the motor case) that are removed to release the bearing retainer, then the case would have just slid right off.

Looking a the brushes they look like they're just about worn out so new brushes would be a good idea before it goes back together.

At minimum you need new Bearing, new bearing retainer, and new screws for the bearing retainer. New brushes I would highly recommend.

With the axle out, it is possible to reassemble all of that without having to remove the armature from the transmission. But if you can get the armature off, it will be easier to reassemble the motor on a work bench before putting it back on the axle.

[Josh740]

Thanks Fairtax, I thought I was slowly prying the whole motor off the transmission (not separating my housing and armature). Ill look into the parts and will continue to try and get it off the axle.

[Josh740]

Got the rest of the motor off. Other than the previous mentioned things that need replaced on motor, the only other area I noticed is the bent fans on the armature (see photo) Advice on how to proceed?

Trying to decide rather to:

1. fix/repair existing
2.Buy refurbished motor
3. Buy new motor (great time to upgrade)

[Fairtax4me]

Those fins are the copper windings that the electricity passes through when the motor is turning. Good thing about copper is it’s malleable so it can usually bend without being damaged. If none of those coils are broken, then it’s fine to reassemble with them the way they are. But If any of them are broken, it won’t work right and you basically need a new motor.

Upgrades are usually best decided by what you have done to the cart or what you might plan to do to the cart. To upgrade just the motor can be done, but depending which motor you choose you may not get the best performance out of it while using the stock controller.
Typically the controller is the main bottleneck, as that’s kind of where the power comes from.

So what do you use the cart for? Does it see mostly street/golf course use? Or does it have mods like a lift kit, bigger tires, rear seat? If not right now, is anything like that planned for the future?
Do you wanna go faster? Have more power for climbing hills?

[Josh740]

Thanks, I guess I am more interested in having the motor rebuild since the rest of the car is factory. Thinking about sending to Plum Quick?

[handtools]

If you plan on leaving it stock then I would just get a new bearing and retainer and put it back together, then down the road if you decide to upgrade you can decide which motor would be best.