PDS intermittent power loss, mostly while going up hills

[LEH]

Hi everyone, I am hoping some of you can help me with our EZGO golf cart. It has been having these intermittent problems for roughly about a year or so. We don't want to just guess and replace something, only to have it end up being something else; we can't afford that.

It is a PDS, but it has the F/R switch/lever down below the seat. It does not have the rocker switch on the dash.

The problems it is having is mostly making it up hills. It will be going just fine and then all of a sudden, while going uphill, sometimes even a mild hill, it will just not go anymore. It will go in reverse though, just not forward.

I can turn it off and turn it back on a few times, put in F/R a few times and it will go. If not, I can turn the key off and let it sit a few minutes and then it will go. Although, it will still be a bit sluggish on inclines.

Also, I have noticed that if I'm just going pretty slow, it will just randomly stop here and there even if there isn't a hill.

We are not sure if it needs new batteries, new controller, ITS, or what.

We checked some things today using the manual, but hubby got frustrated on some of the things about checking continuity like if it's yes, replace wiring or if no replace controller or whatever. I mean, something, even something that's brand new is going to either have continuity or not, but according to the manual whether it has continuity or not, something has to be replaced.

I had read something on here about Molex connector going from ITS to controller, but ours doesn't seem to have that if we're understanding that correctly. There is no in-line connector on ours that we can find between the ITS and the controller; it's a wire that goes straight to the controller. Maybe I confused that with a different model or something.

So, can anyone please help us get this thing running where I can depend on it?
Thanks in advance!

[LEH]

I guess I should have mentioned that this is a 36v. I'm not sure on year. The manufacturer code in dash is A300
Serial # is 1245203

[kgsc]

That is a 2000 PDS alright. Could be a couple of things.. How old are the batteries? Look at the - terminal and there should be a letter and a number(month/year). Also when it dies, check the cables and see if they are hot. Could also be controller going into thermal shutdown because of being too warm. Cart lifted? Big tires?

[scottyb]

You could check the F&R micro switches to verify the forward micro-switch is working when the cart will only go in reverse. If that is the case it is most likely the control has failed. Losing forward direction is a very common failure in the stock DCS control. Replace with DCX or XCT control from Alltrax.

[LEH]

Originally Posted by kgsc

That is a 2000 PDS alright. Could be a couple of things.. How old are the batteries? Look at the - terminal and there should be a letter and a number(month/year). Also when it dies, check the cables and see if they are hot. Could also be controller going into thermal shutdown because of being too warm. Cart lifted? Big tires?

When we bought the golf cart, roughly 3 1/2 - 4 years ago, the guy we bought it from had just put new batteries in it. He even gave us the invoice from NAPA where he purchased them. Without looking at the receipt, I believe he put new cables on it as well.

We will check if the cables get hot when it dies.

It is not lifted, but the back tires are mud tires someone gave us a few months ago. It was doing this same thing back then before installing the new tires.

[LEH]

Originally Posted by scottyb

You could check the F&R micro switches to verify the forward micro-switch is working when the cart will only go in reverse. If that is the case it is most likely the control has failed. Losing forward direction is a very common failure in the stock DCS control. Replace with DCX or XCT control from Alltrax.

How do I check the F/R micro switches? Is it something that will only show up when it won't go forward...like when we're actually using it and having this problem? In other words, when it's working fine, checking them won't show anything wrong with them?

What are the differences in the Alltrax DCX and XCT controllers & roughly how much do they costs?

[JohnnieB]

Sounds like you have an early 2000 PDS with a direction selector lever by the driver's knee.

The direction selector consists of two microswitches and a rotating cam (Picture attached). When the cam is rotated a few degrees in one direction, the arm on one of the microswitches is pushed, closing the contacts,and when the cam is rotated a few degrees in the other direction, the lever on the other microswitch is pushed. Only one microswitch is closed in either direction and when the direction selecting lever is in the middle position (Neutral), neither is closed.

I believe the microswitch on the left side of the attached picture is the on puts the controller in Forward. According to the parts manual, there is a cover over the direction selector assembly, so it may have to be removed to get to the switches and connections.

I'd unplug and spray clean the connectors going to the microswitches and check to make sure the microswitches aren't loose in their mounts.

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Intermittent problems are difficult to troubleshoot because you can only find the problem when it exists and when the cart is running, it doesn't exist.

[kgsc]

jb, not to contradict the master but I believe the DCS cam works just like a series cart cam. I think the drivers side switch is the run switch and the passenger side is reverse but I think the drivers side gets closed in F and R.. So if reverse works, I doubt it is the switches

[scottyb]

My gut feeling is controller failure but it's in the member's best interest to eliminate switches and bad connections as the primary cause.

[JohnnieB]

Originally Posted by kgsc

jb, not to contradict the master but I believe the DCS cam works just like a series cart cam. I think the drivers side switch is the run switch and the passenger side is reverse but I think the drivers side gets closed in F and R.. So if reverse works, I doubt it is the switches

You are right, the DCS F/R microswitch logic is the same as it is for series carts, that being one switch is activated in both F and R while the other is activated only in R, but LEH doesn't have a DCS, she has an early 2000 PDS.

(The hills and valleys on the DCS cam is the reciprical of the hills and valleys on a series cam, The series F/R assembly uses NC contacts while the DCS and early PDS use NO contacts, so the levers have to be released on the series F/R and pushed on the DCS and early PDS F/R)

In the early 2000 PDS F/R switch assembly, either one switch or the other is activated. It is the mechanical equivalent of the SPDT-Center Off rocker switch that later PDS carts have on the dash.

FWIW: The same microswitches are used in both the DCS and Early 2000 PDS, but the cam is shaped differently. See attached drawings from the respective parts manuals.

I believe the microswitch on the driver's side is for Forward because it connects to a Green wire and J1 Pin-3 (Forward) on the controller has a green wire attached.