2016 EZ-GO RXV Parking Brake Question

[SwaffordJGR]

Hi guys! My family and I are completely new to Carting and just purchased a 2016 RXV to cruise around town with from a reputable and recommended dealer close by. Everything works great, I’m just trying to get used to the regenerative braking vs. having mechanical brakes. I have experience in the automotive industry and consider myself relatively mechanically inclined so I look forward to reading through some threads here and getting some ideas on some future mods.

My brake and accelerator work as expected, no issues accelerating or braking, or coming to a complete stop at all. You hear the parking brake engage and disengage as you should when you stop and start, but I have noticed when stopping on a hill, and turning the key to the off position, the cart will sometimes roll 6-12” before engaging the parking brake. Not everytime, but about 50% of the time. I find myself trying to catch it with the brake out of habit but obviously that doesn’t work with the key in the off position.

Is this normal? I just realized tonight that I think I normally have my foot on the brake when this happens, would it react any differently if I turned the key to the off position without my foot on the brake after the parking brake is set with the key in a gear position?

I bought the cart from a reputable dealer that’s been in business for close to 20 years and was recommended by several people, I feel certain if there’s anything faulty with it he’ll stand behind it and make it right. Thanks for any advice guys!

[cgtech]

The motor is supposed to hold the cart still, then "hand off braking duties" seamlessly to the motor parking brake. Your symptoms is often a sign of a failing brake. How fast does it go (questioning weather it has "high speed gears")? It doesnt look like it has huge tires, which "feels like" high speed gears as far as the motor & controller knows.

[SwaffordJGR]

Originally Posted by cgtech

The motor is supposed to hold the cart still, then "hand off braking duties" seamlessly to the motor parking brake. Your symptoms is often a sign of a failing brake. How fast does it go (questioning weather it has "high speed gears")? It doesnt look like it has huge tires, which "feels like" high speed gears as far as the motor & controller knows.

Thanks for the reply!

I haven’t clocked it with a GPS or anything like that yet but I would estimate 20-25 mph.

[usgicollector]

Originally Posted by SwaffordJGR

Hi guys! My family and I are completely new to Carting and just purchased a 2016 RXV to cruise around town with from a reputable and recommended dealer close by. Everything works great, I’m just trying to get used to the regenerative braking vs. having mechanical brakes. I have experience in the automotive industry and consider myself relatively mechanically inclined so I look forward to reading through some threads here and getting some ideas on some future mods.

My brake and accelerator work as expected, no issues accelerating or braking, or coming to a complete stop at all. You hear the parking brake engage and disengage as you should when you stop and start, but I have noticed when stopping on a hill, and turning the key to the off position, the cart will sometimes roll 6-12” before engaging the parking brake. Not everytime, but about 50% of the time. I find myself trying to catch it with the brake out of habit but obviously that doesn’t work with the key in the off position.

Is this normal? I just realized tonight that I think I normally have my foot on the brake when this happens, would it react any differently if I turned the key to the off position without my foot on the brake after the parking brake is set with the key in a gear position?

I bought the cart from a reputable dealer that’s been in business for close to 20 years and was recommended by several people, I feel certain if there’s anything faulty with it he’ll stand behind it and make it right. Thanks for any advice guys!

Stopping on a incline it's normal for the cart to roll backwards a few inches but 12" is a little excessive I believe.

[SwaffordJGR]

Originally Posted by usgicollector

Stopping on a incline it's normal for the cart to roll backwards a few inches but 12" is a little excessive I believe.

I thought so too, that’s just an estimate I haven’t actually measured it, and sometimes the parking brake catches and it just rocks back very little, sometimes it rolls for a split second and then catches. But it always catches. May be fine and just take some getting used to. I’m used to riding ATV’s and this is our first cart. Worst case scenario the motor brake needs replaced? I’ve already researched that and would definitely go back with the OEM part. I think it’s around a $200 part? The dealer I bought from gives a 30 day warranty on carts that he sells so I’m gonna ride it as much as possible over the next week or 2 and then decide if I think they need to take a look at it or not.

[kernal]

My personal experience is this behavior is normal to a degree. When the cart comes to a stop, the motor holds it for a second or so until the brake engages. I can hear the brake engage. When on a hill, if you wait just a second before turning key off, the cart won't move or jerk. If you come to a stop and immediately turn key off the brake will not have engaged yet and the cart will roll until it does. In my case this is just an inch or so but definitely enough to notice. The consensus of opinion seems to be that larger than stock (18") tires exaggerates this effect. My tires are 21" for comparison. A 12" roll is way beyond anything I have experienced.

[SwaffordJGR]

Originally Posted by kernal

My personal experience is this behavior is normal to a degree. When the cart comes to a stop, the motor holds it for a second or so until the brake engages. I can hear the brake engage. When on a hill, if you wait just a second before turning key off, the cart won't move or jerk. If you come to a stop and immediately turn key off the brake will not have engaged yet and the cart will roll until it does. In my case this is just an inch or so but definitely enough to notice. The consensus of opinion seems to be that larger than stock (18") tires exaggerates this effect. My tires are 21" for comparison. A 12" roll is way beyond anything I have experienced.

Thanks for the reply! I have waited until the parking brake engages (about 3 seconds) before turning the key off, and it seems like the parking brake disengages when turning the key to the off position, rolls a little, then the parking brake re engages.

So, to summarize, when on an incline, you can coast to a stop, the motor holds steady, no roll at all, parking brake clicks and engages after about 3 seconds, no roll at all, but if you then turn the key to the off position it’s like the parking brake disengages when the key moves to the off position and then re engages, it may just rock backwards a small amount, it may roll 6” or so and then engage the parking brake.

If this isn’t normal, which sounds like it probably isn’t, other than taking it in under warranty, where would you guys start troubleshooting?

[kernal]

Doesn't seem normal to me and certainly not the way my cart works. Warranty should cover I would say. Scanner should be used to check codes. Statistically speaking motor brake is likely issue. The place I got my cart from replaces the brake routinely as part of refurbishment before sale.

[SwaffordJGR]

Originally Posted by kernal

Doesn't seem normal to me and certainly not the way my cart works. Warranty should cover I would say. Scanner should be used to check codes. Statistically speaking motor brake is likely issue. The place I got my cart from replaces the brake routinely as part of refurbishment before sale.

Thanks for the info! I’ve only had it a couple of days. I’m going to ride it around some tonight and test it out in a few different areas around where we live and just see how it reacts. If it’s consistent I’ll call my dealer and make an appointment to take it back in for diagnosis, like you said, should be covered under my warranty. I just found it odd that it always works, just sometimes rolls farther than others. Sometimes it doesn’t roll at all, just kind of rocks a little bit. I thought maybe there was something that needed to line up in the motor to engage the parking brake, therefore depending on where in the rotation of the motor you stopped it would rotate until the parking brake was aligned.

Like I stated earlier, this is my first cart so I’m still researching/learning how this all works. I have lots of years working on cars and small engine stuff.

[cgtech]

Originally Posted by SwaffordJGR

.....I thought maybe there was something that needed to line up in the motor to engage the parking brake, therefore depending on where in the rotation of the motor you stopped it would rotate until the parking brake was aligned.

This is definitely not how it works.