No Lights or Horn (Workhorse)

[itbedave]

We took our marching band's golf cart to get routine maintenance done on it - and discovered just recently that now the horn and lights won't work. (We hadn't needed it until recently.)

I've checked all the fuses. The battery is good. And the cart runs fine otherwise. I've wiggled and reconnected every connection I could find.

Where should I start? Do I have a grounding issue?

Thanks in advance!

[kgsc]

Should have a white wire from the fuse box back to the + post on the battery. Check for voltage on the fuse block first on both sides of the fuses. Ground should go from the - post to the frame and then the starter generator or engine block..

[itbedave]

I'm pretty unfamiliar with golf cart mechanics and electrical (but looking to learn!) Should I have voltage across the fuse block with the key on? Or do I need to have the motor running as well? Thanks again!

[kgsc]

JohnnieB put up a wiring diagram in the posting you put on the electric side. Will be very similar to that. We will work on the horn first. Key off, stopped engine. With your volt meter set to DC volts above 12 put the - lead on the - post of the battery. Test powered rail in the fuse box to make sure you have at least battery voltage. Then test the fused side of the fuses to make sure they have power. Now find the power in on the horn and put your meter there while someone pushes the button. If you have power to here I suspect ground issues. If not, possibly bad horn button. I suspect your issue is either in the main power feed or grounds since you lost both things.

[BrewCityMusic]

The wiring harness has a black grounding wire that I have seen hooked up to the + side of the battery many times on Workhorses (being as it's located right by the positive battery hookups) - it's possible that if they disconnected the battery, they incorrectly attached that ground to the battery +.

The wire in question is located at the rear of the battery tray, it actually comes out of the braided wiring harness that runs under the tray, it's about 12" long and should have a loop terminal on the end. It needs to be grounded, and if it isn't once You do that You should get everything back to normal.

[itbedave]

Thanks for the replies!

I checked the continuity on the horn button itself the other night (with someone pressing on it) - and it was good. But I wasn't getting voltage to it. :( I couldn't figure out why.

But I think BrewCityMusic hit the nail on the head!

I took some pics on my phone of the entire compartment for reference just in case I had questions or answers that I needed to refer to them for. So here you go:



Looks to me like they certainly have the ground wire connected to the positive terminal, no?

[itbedave]

I forgot to ask - where SHOULD that wire be attached? To the frame somewhere?

[BrewCityMusic]

it's the smaller black wire currently connected to the + ... I ground mine at the battery holddown clamp but anywhere is fine - anywhere EXCEPT the positive battery terminal, LOL

Give it a shot - I'd almost be willing to bet the farm on it. Deceptive, dumb design, huh?

[itbedave]

Thanks again - I'll be able to try it this evening and let you know if it worked. But I'm betting that's the case and it makes perfect sense why.

Earlier in the summer, when I first tried to start the cart for the season, the battery was dead. I pulled the battery to test/charge it and noticed it wasn't even tied down. Turned out the battery was fine but needed charged. When I brought it back, I didn't have time to reinstall it myself, so I left it for another parent. The next time I got back to it, the battery was reinstalled with the hold down clamp - but the cart wouldn't start. Turned out he had reconnected the cables wrong. But we didn't notice at the time that extra cable because it ran and we hadn't tried the horn or lights. So that ground cable wasn't loose when I removed the battery - but suddenly there's an extra cable the other guy probably didn't realize was suppose to be there when he reinstalled it with the clamp. Honest mistake, and yes, poor design. :-)

[kgsc]

Usually when I pull a battery and I know it won't be going back in right then I put a bread or twist tie through the rings of one terminal post as a reminder.. I ain't as young as I used to be..