97 Ezgo Gas Wont Turn Over/Start - No Fire

[TableRockGC]

Sorry Guys, I only get to the lake on the weekends so it's been a bit to test this. Checked my solenoid and it clicks, all the grounds are good, positive 12v through out the system. Cart Guy, I miss spoke the one small post (ground). It did not have 12v. The only thing strange in the process was the green wire coming from the voltage regulator when moved with the car in reverse (changed the tone signal and then shorted out the reverse audible alarm). Figuring a short in my voltage regulator I replaced it and WHALA. We have fire and the cart is back running like a champ. Thanks for all the feedback. Closing this one out.

[krp]

cart around,

Here's the final chapter in my cart saga. First, I downloaded all the pdf files that contain the service manual. After reading and rereading the chapter on the electrical system, establishing that I have a late 1990 cart, pouring over the wiring diagram, sweating and cursing, etc., I admitted that I couldn't understand the diagram. Worse still, the "troubleshooting" section of the manual was no help.

Next I followed some of your suggestions. I jumped the cart battery with my car battery. Nothing happened. That told me that the battery might be low. I have a meter but don't know how to read it. Doh! So, I hooked the battery to a Battery Tender. The battery returned to full charge. Still no start!

So, I returned to the matter of the disconnected black wire. Girding my loins, I removed the nut on top of what I've called the "little metal box" into which the pedal cable goes. Miracle of miracles, nothing broke, the top came off and I could see the pedal/throttle micro switch. I enlisted the services of a neighbor who does understand cart wiring. We determined that the black wire had come unscrewed from the pedal micro switch in the "little metal box." I now understand that this--the screw that attaches the black wire to the switch starting to become unscrewed--is what started the problem in Maine. The neighbor screwed the black wire back on the micro switch. The cart started. It still starts. I'm willing to bet that it will start again tomorrow. Problem solved.

My takeaway on this is:
1) Golf carts are not designed to be driven in Maine except on the relatively few golf courses up there. As many of you know a cart has virtually NO SUSPENSION TRAVEL. My friend lives at the end of a dirt road. Plus, I drove the cart on a walking-hiking-biking-ATV trail that was a railroad track. The state of Maine removed the rails and ties thus creating a very long trail. It's fine if you drive an ATV. It's not fine at all for a cart. There's just too much vibration. Even where the trail is relatively smooth the crown is too high for carts.
2) Golf carts probably should not even be hauled on a trailer if the trip involves driving over frost-heaved, pot-holed, poorly-maintained roads in NJ, NY, CT, MA and ME. I'll keep mine in FL.
3) Even gas carts (as compared to electric carts) have way more wiring than I thought. And carts are not as simple as I assumed. They're complex little vehicles.

So, cart around, I sincerely thank you for your patient help.

krp

[krp]

cart around,

I have another "takeaway" from my experience:

4) It might make sense to use a tiny bit of the weakest thread locking compound on each of the three micro switch screws. I'll start with the pedal/throttle switch in the "little metal box" because the cause of the no-start problem was the black wire's screw becoming unscrewed.

Many thanks again.

krp