Non Running 1993 Marathon 36 V Golf Cart

[sanford4641]

My family and I just bought a 1993 EZGO Marthon 36V 3 wheel golf cart. Body is in great shape, just needs paint and cleaned. It doesn't run. Batteries are old and at least one is busted open. 1 is an 8 volt. Was told it ran last year but not this year. How do I do some trouble shooting or testing prior to spending money on batteries? Is there a way to test the controller and or motor? I pulled the potentiometer as I began cleaning. Out of the cart it measures ) ohms and when lever pulled to max it measures 8,000 ohms ( I assume i can regulate this to 5,000 ohms with the gas pedal linkage?). Other than that what should I test prior to purchasing new batteries?

[S-N-R Customs]

You can test the motor with a 12v battery.... jack it off the ground and on the motor
jump the S1 and A2 terminals together, positive goes to S2 and negative goes to A1. With that being said... the motors are pretty bullet proof. I would use three 12v batteries (any size) and make a quick 36v pack to test the system. DO NOT DRIVE IT. Just test it off the ground as you will probably not have enough amps for a load.
Since you’re just testing the batteries can be different sizes and jumper cabled together.
That’s my 2cents.


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[sanford4641]

Thank you. Will try it now!!!

[sanford4641]

My potentiometer reads over 8000 ohms when not installed and the lever fully depressed. Is this ok? Will the linkage in the gas peddle limit the lever travel or is the potentiometer bad?

[JohnnieB]

The throttle linkage only rotates the pot shaft for about 90° of its full rotation and you want to adjust the shaft collar and linkage rods to give you roughly 0Ω with pedal up and about 5000Ω with pedal down.

If the controller sees more than 7000Ω at the throttle input, it shuts down the output to the motor.

[sanford4641]

Thanks!!! The varistor on the controller broke. Do I need a specific EZGo varistor or can I use a "generic" 20 MM 750 volt varistor MOV?

[JohnnieB]

Originally Posted by sanford4641

Thanks!!! The varistor on the controller broke. Do I need a specific EZGo varistor or can I use a "generic" 20 MM 750 volt varistor MOV?

Generic off the shelf MOV is fine.

[sanford4641]

Thanks!

[sanford4641]

Ok. I followed all of your instructions, thank you. I got new batteries from a friend to test before I bought batteries. Nothing happened. I followed SNR Customs instructors and the motor did not move or make a sound. The terminals are rusty. Sprayed with PB and the Terminal snapped. Leaving just the post with the end broke off the length of the nut. Hooked jumper cables to them and nothing. I assume the motor is fried. Can they be rebuilt or buy new. If I buy new should I stop there or upgrade controller, motor, Seo kid and FNR? I still think I have a good value even if I need to replace, well I guess everything.

[JohnnieB]

Take the motor to a local motor shop and see if they can do anything with it. It the broken stud went to the brushes, they can probably fix it. (Some brush sets come with new studs attached) If the stud was to the stator windings, maybe not.

Controller might be okay, but probably needs a new set of cables (4ga or thicker - all 13 or 14 of them) and a solenoid.