Radio cutting out

[7harborcruiser]

So I have been lurking for sometime on the site tuning up and getting my cart in shape. It’s a 2004 club car with a 290 gas motor in it.
since I bought it I have put a new muffler on, oil and filter, checked valve lash,
changed all the fuel lines and fuel filters clean the carb new spark plugs, belts, new air filter all the typical thing to do when you aren’t familiar with the vehicle and it’s maintenance.




For some reason my radio keeps cutting out due to what I believe is too much voltage. I have replaced the regulator in the little black box.
Can anyone tell me what kind of output the starter generator should have? Even with the new regulator I am still almost 17 or 18 V under load.
Right about that is when the radio cuts out due to what I believe is protection built-in for too much voltage.
Or am I barking up the wrong tree? This is the second new radio I have tried with the same results.
Also tried wiring straight to the battery and get the same results.
Everybody likes pictures so I’ll take a picture to the cart to share

[Fairtax4me]

Can you make the pics any bigger? JK


Cart looks great! No 18v is not normal. You should only have about 14.5 at full throttle. Either the regulator is not working,
The yellow wire from the DF terminal on the starter gen is grounded somewhere forcing the S/G to full output.
Or the S/G is shorted internally.

Check the connection of the yellow wire at the s/g, make sure it is not frayed and the wire and crimp terminal are not touching the metal case of the s/g.

Disconnect the yellow wire at the s/g and check it for continuity to the frame. If you have continuity to the frame the wire is pinched or the insulation rubbed through somewhere.
If you have no continuity yellow wire to frame, leave the yellow wire disconnected from the s/g, start the engine and recheck the voltage output. Should have only battery voltage. ~12.5v. If the voltage is still high the s/g is shorted internally and will need to be removed for inspection.

If voltage is the same as pack voltage you have a failed regulator, replace the regulator. The cheapo regulators on eBay or amazon can be bad right out of the box. Buy a quality part from one of our site sponsors here and you can avoid the headaches of doa parts.

[7harborcruiser]

I ran your test thank you. No continuity between yellow and frame. With yellow disconnected battery stayed level at 13 V. I purchased the new regulator from buggies unlimited looks like it was DOA from the box. Just order another one off of Amazon we’ll see what happens. Thanks for the reassurance of what I thought was happening.


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[7harborcruiser]

Originally Posted by Fairtax4me

Can you make the pics any bigger? JK


Cart looks great! No 18v is not normal. You should only have about 14.5 at full throttle. Either the regulator is not working,
The yellow wire from the DF terminal on the starter gen is grounded somewhere forcing the S/G to full output.
Or the S/G is shorted internally.

Check the connection of the yellow wire at the s/g, make sure it is not frayed and the wire and crimp terminal are not touching the metal case of the s/g.

Disconnect the yellow wire at the s/g and check it for continuity to the frame. If you have continuity to the frame the wire is pinched or the insulation rubbed through somewhere.
If you have no continuity yellow wire to frame, leave the yellow wire disconnected from the s/g, start the engine and recheck the voltage output. Should have only battery voltage. ~12.5v. If the voltage is still high the s/g is shorted internally and will need to be removed for inspection.

If voltage is the same as pack voltage you have a failed regulator, replace the regulator. The cheapo regulators on eBay or amazon can be bad right out of the box. Buy a quality part from one of our site sponsors here and you can avoid the headaches of doa parts.

So I ordered a new voltage regulator rewired it still same thing pegging over to 17 V. While running more test. I discovered that if I check the ohms between the post that the yellow wire runs to on the starter generator and the frame I get nine ohms. Does that mean the starter generator has an internal fault? The yellow wire itself does not have continuity to the frame.


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[7harborcruiser]

Ok...... problem solved!. I replaced two voltage reg. , then a S/G. Neither solved the problem. Turns out the ground was not good enough for the regulator to sense the voltage. I grounded the regulator to the battery instead of the frame and it worked perfect.
Now with that said, my S/G was very well used and made a lot of noise bearing wise and has seen better days. So I don’t feel bad about replacing it.


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[Jeff McGuire]

I am about to install my radio this weekend and before beginning I did some voltage checks on my cart. I am seeing 15 volts while running the throttle up in neutral. Looks like I will probably need to do some checks of the regulator, S/G, as well as my grounds.

Thanks for sharing your outcome 7 Harbor. I recalled reading this thread in the past but didn't recall your outcome.