Strange way to "fix" my cart

[ifmc100]

Thought I'd share something I found strange. I've got a 2000 Club Car DS 48v (Series). Fresh new batteries, new cables but otherwise stock. Been having issues with the cart only going in reverse (regardless of switch position). Figured it was the switch, but everything looked fine.

So I bypassed the F/R switch by simply bolting the the cables together and this is what I got:

BLUE + BLUE and WHITE + RED = Reverse (STRONG)
BLUE + RED and BLUE + WHITE = Reverse (STRONG)

The strange thing is, if I swap S1 and S2 on the motor (Orange to S2, Blue to S1), here's what I get:

BLUE + BLUE and WHITE + RED = Forward (STRONG)
BLUE + RED and BLUE + WHITE = Reverse (very weakly)

I left it like this for a test-drive and clocked 25 mph forward, but barely creeps along in reverse. It just doesn't make much sense to me. Is there more going on here than just switching polarity of the voltage to the motor?

[WalterM6]

I've attached a diagram of what should be your cart. Look for the items I've circled in the lower right hand side. That resistor is what determines the reverse speed. It may be broken or missing.

[Mooncarter]

Walter are you sure that's the right diagram?

[ifmc100]

Nope, no resistor on the new or old F/R switch

[WalterM6]

Walter are you sure that's the right diagram?

No but that is the closest I could find in the stickies to illustrate my point.

[WalterM6]

Nope, no resistor on the new or old F/R switch

Is there three micro switches mounted on the FNR selector?

[Swan]

here you go

[Mooncarter]

Originally Posted by WalterM6

No but that is the closest I could find in the stickies.

Yeah that one is for 95-97 with the pot box. I think Swan found the right one.

[Swan]

heres the whole PDF of the entire cart

[Fairtax4me]

I think your wires at the FnR may have been switched, and your half speed reverse resistor in the harness is possibly bad. If you have 3 microswitches at the FnR, the rear most switch is for half speed reverse. The resistor at the switch knocks down the throttle signal going to the controller when reverse is selected.
Try bypassing the resistor at the 3rd microswitch and see if you then have both forward and full speed reverse.

Per Sergio:

The controller output is proportional to the voltage signal it gets from the throttle on the yellow wire.

It varies from 0v (pedal up) to the voltage supplied by the controller to the throttle on the green wire (pedal down).

When you put the cart in reverse, the micro-switch #3 adds the resistor in series with the green wire which limits the voltage on the yellow wire at pedal down.

If the resistor or micro-switch failed completely, the cart would not run in reverse.

If the resistor is cracked it may cause intermittent problems.

If the micro-switch failed in a way that keeps the resistor in line all the time, the cart would run slow all the time.