1997 Club Car DS 48V, Single Solenoid

[Mustmach1]

Hi, this is my first visit to this site, greatly appreciate any help. I am ansutomotive tech, extensive expieriance, but not with golf carts. Here is what I have: Cart just had new batteries installed, verified connections, has 48+ Volts. When in gear, can hear pedal switch & solenoid click. Tested motor, will run on 12V. Tested solenoid, Open and minimal Ohms when activated. tested voltage at controller B- & M-, has Batt voltage, same when solenoid clicks, no drop in voltage through pedal travel. Thanks for any input.

[KillerCC]

Originally Posted by Mustmach1

Hi, this is my first visit to this site, greatly appreciate any help. I am ansutomotive tech, extensive expieriance, but not with golf carts. Here is what I have: Cart just had new batteries installed, verified connections, has 48+ Volts. When in gear, can hear pedal switch & solenoid click. Tested motor, will run on 12V. Tested solenoid, Open and minimal Ohms when activated. tested voltage at controller B- & M-, has Batt voltage, same when solenoid clicks, no drop in voltage through pedal travel. Thanks for any input.

Have you checked the potentiameter?

[jakesnake27]

Welcome to BGW!
I agree with KillerCC. I would check the throttle, whether if it is a pot box or a v-glide.
A pot is a black box under the cart and a v-glide is a black pie shaped box between the batteries in the battery compartment...

[jjance]

I would check the F/R switch. See if it will run in one direction or the other. Check for burnt contacts. And see if all the microswitches look like they are activating like they should. You have no voltage across the main solenoid. If you did you wouldn't be able to measure resistance.

[Mustmach1]

Thank you for the replies, I will check it tomorrow. I can hear a click from the throttle switch ( not to be confused with the solenoid ), when I disconnect batteries, turn on key, place in reverse, draining the power from the cap, measuring with a volt meter, speed of voltage draining ( started at 32 - 33 Volts when first disconnected battery Positive & Negative Cables, from batteries) will accelerate with more throttle, able to deplete voltage down to less than 0.5 Volt. Noticed, after sitting for a bit, key off, in Neutral, still cables disconnected, when moving throttle pedal, voltage actually began to increase to above 1 Volt.

[Mustmach1]

To JJ, I measured the resistance with the solenoid removed from power. It has battery voltage on both sides of the solenoid at all times (above 49 Volts) caused by the resistor installed between the two large solenoid posts.

[jjance]

It has battery voltage on both sides of the solenoid at all times (above 49 Volts) caused by the resistor installed between the two large solenoid posts.

Maybe its just the way you are wording it but if you have voltage all times the solenoid isn't closing. The voltage across a short is zero. And that is what you have when the solenoid closes.

[Mustmach1]

JJ, agreed, a solenoid, when open, should have battery voltage on only 1 post, once energized, and completing circuit, should pass through to the opposing post, once it has reached the load & then ground, Voltage would read zero, it was used up. This is one of my questions, and I appreciate your input. As the cart is built, there is a resistor ( approx. 244 Ohms ) that mounts on the solenoid, from one large terminal post to the other. Hence, with no load, will read battery voltage on both solenoid posts, regardless of solenoid state, but no amperage. Once the Solenoid is activated, and current is sent to the load ( motor) and to ground, should drop to zero. This does not happen, motor never engages, apparently no path to ground. I even removed the resistor, retested, now only voltage on the battery side, when activated, voltage on both sides, up to controller and onto motor, across motor. I presume that the controller is responsible for providing the path to ground, at that point, it reads zero volts, but still no motor operation. Once placed back into neutral, controller ground reads battery voltage. This is where I am wondering what is responsible for the completion of the circuit. On the F/R switch, battery voltage at both orange & blue in either Fwd or Rev. ( zero in neutral ) White is Batt Voltage & Rear Blue (ground) is not. This is my first cart to work on. I disconnected the motor, hooked up cable & battery power, motor runs. I am unsure what all 3 switches are for on the F/R switch, center is for backup beeper. the 1st one, closest to front, near as I can tell, never has power in or out of it. I was just able to print out a wiring schematic this evening and will look at it tomorrow. Any suggestions would be greatly welcomed. I even attempted to bypass solenoid, hook power from motor to hot side of solenoid, still nothing.

[ds1975]

Did you ever figure out what was wrong with your cart and why it wouldn't run?