2000 EZGI TXT Solenoid

[crowe211]

Thank you everyone in advance for your help. I have a 2000 36v EZGO TXT cart. I have an alltrax axe 450amp controller and upgraded motor from EMP Motors. I upgraded the solenoid about 2 years ago. 3 weeks ago I upgraded to a heavy duty f&R switch and all the cables to 2 gauge. The cart ran fine up until last night. We have a pretty steep hill in the neighborhood and last night it sputtered going up the hill and died. This cart has made it up this hill with no problem countless times over the past year. It even made it up the hill last week while carrying 4 adult males. While this is not the normal as it usually only myself wife and daughter or myself and a friend the cart has always had no problem climbing the hill. Anyway this morning I checked the battery pack and it reads 44.6 which seems fine for 2017 batteries. The controller clicks and a green lights comes on when pressing the gas in FWD but nothing happens when doing the same in reverse. The cart will not move in either direction. I also want to mention the when switching fwd and reverse the lever was really really hard to move from reverse to fwd so i loosened the not a little. Thinking i may tightened it too much when installing it. Any help on where I should begin looking for the problem? Could it be the solenoid?

[JohnnieB]

Sounds like you have a problem in the high current circuit. (Heavy cables and what they are connected to.)

Connect your DVM between the AXE's B- and M- terminals.

Press pedal just far enough to make solenoid click and you should read full battery pack voltage. If you don't there is a open somewhere in the high current circuit.

Use the attached schematic to find the missing voltage.

[scottyb]

The solenoid should click when you try to go in F or R. If not this could be where you should begin looking for the problem. The rotary FNR makes contact by sliding copper contacts onto one another. There are 4 contacts in the stationary housing and 4 in the rotating center. A sudden change in switching resistance indicates a change in contact surface like pitting.
Decreasing the center pivot nut tension decreases contact pressure and while it makes the F&R feel better it may lead to more pitting if the contacts are arching.
undo the nut and pull the center pivot shaft and center part (switch cam) off. inspect the contacts for heat damage. A quick look may reveal one terminal stud has changed color. See pics attached

[crowe211]

When putting the voltmeter on the m- and b- minus terminals i get a reading of -16.2 with the cart switched on and a reading of 0 with the gas pressed in fwd.

I also connected my volt meter to the small terminals and had no reading with cart switched on. When I press the pedal though I did get a pack reading of 39.6. this differs from the reading i get from the pack which is in the 40s. I did notice I don't think i actually upgraded the solenoid and only have an OEM solenoid at least from the looks of the solenoid i have versus what i see online when looking for heavy duty ones. I honestly do not here the solenoid click I only hear the alltraxx click and the green light on.

[crowe211]

Scotty B will the solenoid MZJ400A work on my ezgo? I have 14 inch wheels and 23 in tires, upgraded motor, heavy duty fr switch, the alltraxx axe 7245 contoller . The solenoid i have looks nothing like the ones on your site?

[handtools]

If the solenoid is mounted on or near the controller that is what you hear clicking, the controller doesn't (shouldn't) click when powered up.

[crowe211]

that would make sense. I relate to seeing the green light on the controller light up and the noise. Thank you.

[JohnnieB]

Originally Posted by crowe211

1. When putting the voltmeter on the m- and b- minus terminals i get a reading of -16.2 with the cart switched on and a reading of 0 with the gas pressed in fwd.

2. I also connected my volt meter to the small terminals and had no reading with cart switched on. When I press the pedal though I did get a pack reading of 39.6. this differs from the reading i get from the pack which is in the 40s.

3. I did notice I don't think i actually upgraded the solenoid and only have an OEM solenoid at least from the looks of the solenoid i have versus what i see online when looking for heavy duty ones.

4. I honestly do not here the solenoid click I only hear the alltraxx click and the green light on.

1. Put the DVM's negative test lead (Black) on the B- terminal so all voltage readings are positive. Not sure why there is a 16V reading with solenoid contacts open and 0V with them closed, but there is 0V when the contacts are supposed to be closed so there is an open somewhere in the cables, connection and contacts show in the circuit shown as heavy, wide lines on the schematic I attached to an earlier post.

2. The pedal switch contacts have to be closed to feed pack voltage to the solenoid coil and to power up the controller. The normal At-Rest voltage for a 36V battery pack is about 38.2V. The On-Charge voltage climbs to about 45V right before the charger shuts of and over the next few hours the pack voltage decreases for the On-Charge high of 45V down to the AT-Rest of 38.2V. The fact you had a 40 something volt reading was because the charger had been off for less than 8 to 12 hours. The fact you read 39.6V at the solenoid coil indicated=s there was a time lapse since you made the battery pack voltage reading.

3. It is a little hard to see, but the attached picture shows a stock solenoid partially hidden by cables.

4. Explained by "handtools"

[kernal]

Originally Posted by crowe211

Thank you everyone in advance for your help. I have a 2000 36v EZGO TXT cart. I have an alltrax axe 450amp controller and upgraded motor from EMP Motors. I upgraded the solenoid about 2 years ago. 3 weeks ago I upgraded to a heavy duty f&R switch and all the cables to 2 gauge. The cart ran fine up until last night. We have a pretty steep hill in the neighborhood and last night it sputtered going up the hill and died. This cart has made it up this hill with no problem countless times over the past year. It even made it up the hill last week while carrying 4 adult males. While this is not the normal as it usually only myself wife and daughter or myself and a friend the cart has always had no problem climbing the hill. Anyway this morning I checked the battery pack and it reads 44.6 which seems fine for 2017 batteries. The controller clicks and a green lights comes on when pressing the gas in FWD but nothing happens when doing the same in reverse. The cart will not move in either direction. I also want to mention the when switching fwd and reverse the lever was really really hard to move from reverse to fwd so i loosened the not a little. Thinking i may tightened it too much when installing it. Any help on where I should begin looking for the problem? Could it be the solenoid?

When you get this straightened out and if you decide to keep this style of switch to change direction, I recommend one of these (Caddy shifter): https://www.jasonsgolfcarts.com/Cadd...s_p/fr-034.htm. This one from a site sponsor.

[scottyb]

Oh boy - There is a stock 60 amp solenoid with the 450 amp controller. and big tires, aftermarket motor That's a mis-match. You should have 200 amps - Give the SW180 a try