new member-84' club car 36volt

[dtownbound]

Hi all, I just got a 1984 club car from auction this week for 550. I thought it seemed to be a good deal, because I've been eye balling carts for sometime. Using a GPS to determine speed, the cart would top out just over 8mph on a slight inclined road and 12 mph coming back the other way. Does this sound normal. I bought it for use at my campground, but if I get passed all the time, it will drive me crazy. What are some of the things I should check over first? The batteries seem to be fine, I checked them with volt meter and they show slightly over 6 volts each. It has a coil resistor system on it, can that be changed out for speed controller? Any direction and advice would greatly be appreciated. Thanks, Chris

[dock98]

welcome.jpg

[OLD MEC]

Not to sound SMART but the only thing you need is MONEY and lots of it? The speed sounds down ( most later models run about 10-12 mph ) but there are so many factors that are involved that you will first have to determine how much you want to spend and try and dole it out accordingly. Resistor carts are as a whole slower with shorter battery charger power. Changing to controllers is expensive but to me would be the first step. This could depending on what speed control you have now, MULTI MICRO SWITCHES were used in earlier carts or later model Pie Shaped Unit between batterys in some cases have been installed. Almost anything could have been altered in an cart that old.
Post what you have now with battery voltages ( individual as well as total pack ) and hydrometer readings for each cell, as well as stamp on end of battery posts to find age.
Spend some time going through all the old Club Car Posts and you should start to get an idea of what you want or need to do.
Sooner or later most cart owners look at upgrading to 48 volts and this should be something to look at BEFORE purchasing controllers and solenoids etc because you dont want to buy parts over again because of voltage changes. A simple upgrade is to put 4 Guage wiring in to replace ALL 6 gauage exisiting wiring.
Good Luck and keep us posted on your cart and if you can we LOVE PICTURES and lots of them.

[dtownbound]

If I have to spend 1000 or more than I think I may be best off selling it and look for a newer model. I'm going to take some pictures in a few, after the ball game i'm watching is over. I read around some and I'm going to do the test with lifting up the rear and listening for the solenoids to click. Maybe I have one that's not working right. Do you think the resistor plate and tabs being rusty is a problem?

[OLD MEC]

Any rusted or corroded connection can make a difference, and bad solenoids will cause all kinds of problems. If all your micros and solenoids are working correctly on full speed you will be buy passing the resistors.
Hope you can find a simple fix so that you can enjoy your cart.

[dtownbound]

Here are some pictures of the cart, batteries, etc. It has 4 gauge cables on it.

[shadowman]

if your batts are reading just over 6 volts if you mean 6.1 or 6.2 than thats the 1st thing your gonnaant to do is put in new ones as that isn,t great readings.............as for upgrading if you also have to put batts in your looking at a few grand, top speed is 10 to 12 mph on flat land and a lot slower uphills or inclines its just the nature of the beast., whatever you do enjoy it and have fun thats what its all about..............................

[OLD MEC]

I see by your pictures that the cables from and to the forward Reverse switch are still orginal 6 guage and this will not help with the heavier 4 guage on batterys. Its like a kink in a hose that doesnt allow water to flow as fast. Any and all cables that go from Resistors or motor and any controls and switches should also be 4 guage. I have even taken a 1/2" copper tubing and flattened it and drilled it to act as a HD Buss across the solenoids and Forward Reverse switch connections on front side of switch.
I would still check your batterys for gravity with a temperature correcting HYDROMETER to see if you find a weak or bad cell. Anything below 1.200 is probably on its way out to the grave yard. The voltage should be about 6.35 or above for a fully charged battery after setting for 30 minutes to equlize. Total Pack voltage should be 38 volts approx under same conditions.
One tip run your cart at full speed for at least 10 minutes and then lift lid and check for any HOT wires or connections. They will be warm and the resistors will burn you as

[OLD MEC]

To Continue--
Resistors will burn you as thats what they do is heat up for anything but top speed to act as speed control. You may find one or more hot spots that are causing lower flow of power to motor?
Have you disconnected each connection and cleaned until bright metal and then used some kind of corrosion inhibitor spray to cover contacts?
Before its over and you pat yourself on the back you will learn alot about golf carts and batterys and controls.

[shadowman]

each resistor coil is a different size with a different # of loops their job is to disapate heat while driving at low speed so its not uncommon to see some of them glowing...............what you need to watch for is that none of the coils are touching each other at all and where they are mounted that they are good clean and tight...........if you have to take them off be sure to put back where they belong without any touching and or broke and all is very clean and tight.......and make sure you disconnect main pos. and neg. battery before doing anything.......................................... ...............