Is it worth buying a saltwater flodded cart/

[purplehick]

Hello all,
I have a stock solenoid, controler , motor and wires off of a 05 ezgo PDS cart. I am thinking of buying a flooded cart(saltwater) to put them in and use around the house. What i am wondering is it worth it. Can i purchase all off the wires and connectors to replace the ones out of the flooded cart. the carts are 2003 and 2002 and they are being advertised for $500. I know it would not be worth buying new controler and moter, but i have no where to sell the stock parts. I am also thinking of upgrading to 48volts so i would have some batteries to put in it also. thanks kathy

[roady89]

If you upgrade to 48 volts you will have to upgrade the controller, solenoid and possibly the motor. You just need to plan on everything being corroded, then cleaning everything up REAL GOOD, use some sort of rust preventative. Wash the frame rails out real good, use some rust preventative inside those too. Drain all the fluids and change. I myself would jump on it...but thats me.

[purplehick]

Tha nks Roady, I probably will. I was wondering where/if I can get all of the harnesses to plug into the controller and such. And I really want to thank all of the people on this site. You all gave me the confidence to do my own upgrading on my first cart.

[AimlessRolling]

Purplehick,

I am almost finished with rebuild of my cart, which was briefly claimed by Hurricane IKE. It was very educational, and I have enjoyed the task, but there are quite a few variables in doing this that you just cannot predict. I gained much of the knowledge and support from this site, so this is how I give it back.



The value in the cart is of you want to rework one from the frame up and you get one with good bones to start with. I wouldn't recommend paying $500 if you are going to have to paint it and replace the seats, etc. The saltwater does not immediately damage the frame, springs, shocks, and metal components; it is crucial that you get the thing disassembled and pressure washed as quickly as possible to stop the rusting from continuing to eat at the metal on the cart.

As for rear differential, rear axle seals, front wheel bearings, steering box & boots, brake shoes & brake components, accelerator petal, brake petal, brake cables, etc., they will all need to be removed, cleaned, then diagnosed, and potentially replaced.



The wiring & batteries are also an issue. While the salt water went over my batteries, they were salvagable. Most of the 36V positive connecitons were burned off, but the batteries are testing good. I replaced many of the wires & harnesses, was able to salvage some, found that it was better to replace them.

There was no option on the controller, solenoid, resistor, diode, FNR contact board & microswitches, and the microswitch in the ITS throttle box. All were no-brainers to replace.



There were also the opportunistic upgrades, better motor, better controller, HD solenoid & buss bars, and lots of bling to add while I was in there.

The water level in my garage where the cart was sitting reached 30 inches and my cart was lifted, so the seats remained above the water level. If the seats go under the salt water, they need to be removed and discarded - do not clean them.

I found water inside the steering boots and the ITS throttle box. I serviced the differential and there was no water inside. I removed and repacked all the bearings and the seals appeared to have held and no bearings needed to be replaced. I did chose to replace the brake cables.

It is a work in progress, here are the pics and slideshow:

http://s491.photobucket.com/albums/r...sRolling/EZGO/

http://s491.photobucket.com/albums/r...view=slideshow

At this moment, the cart is running, but I haven't put the body back on as I am doing adding some wiring for lights, stereo, 12V power jack, power meter, etc. I'll post up more as time permits.

I have an XLS spreadsheet with all the part numbers, prices, and websites used to order the parts I can share if anyone requests this via IM. Right now the grand total is just over $2300, but i could have done it for $1300 without the enhancements and upgrades to the suspension.

Good luck,
Aimless

[rusty]

Welcome to the forum purplehick.....................

[coal_man]

Wow Aimless, the salt water is bad news for carts. The pics are worth a 1000 words to others wanting to buy a flooded cart. The cleanup/restoration looks good. Good luck.

coal_man

[scottyb]

You are doing an excellent job of restoring a salty
Thank you for giving some goo goo eyed members a look at all of the work expertise and money that has to go into a restoration like this!

[Otter70]

Aimless, your frame-off resto looks great, I found my cart in the woods and also did a frame-off resto. I regret I didn't take any pics. Nice slideshow and good luck with the rest of you cart project

purplehick, I too, would jump on one of these carts for $500. but be prepared to spend $$$