'93 Electric CC Randomly Stops and Starts

[joepiccaso]

I have a 1993 CC electric converted to 48V. Most everything is new, Charger, Controller(Alltrax SR), FnR switch, Solenoid, motor and cables. The V-Glide is about the only thing original. All done about a year ago. I've been having some charger issues, which is another issue, but I have completely tested the battery system and all is good.

So, I tested the cart after working on the charger system and all worked well. But a couple days later my daughter took it for a drive and it wouldn't
t go, Forward or Reverse. She did say she could hear the solenoid click when she pushed on the pedal. I told her to be sure that she had pushed the FnR handle all of the way. It seems a bit tight and you need to kinda push hard. Then it seemed to work. So, she took off and drove, but when she made a turn and hit her brake, it died. Nothing when she hit the pedal. She fooled with it a bit, details I don't know, and then it took off again acting normal. Stopped at an intersection and it dies again. She pushed it off the road and then tried it again and it worked fine. Then just before pulling into the drive it dies again. When I got home, I tried it and it worked fine. I checked for loose or broken wires, hot wires, there's no corrosion as it's all new. This has never happened before. There was like a minute or two between stops. She drove it less than a mile. Batteries still check out OK.

So, any ideas? Where to start looking? Probable causes? I live in a hilly neighborhood, so getting stranded is really a pain.

[joepiccaso]

Just an update. I check it over again and cannot see anything visually. I just tried it again and when I first put it in Reverse and depressed the pedal, the solenoid clicked, but nothing. I put it in Forward and it worked fine. I took it for a spin and drove about a mile up and down hills, slowly and fast, braking and coasting and it did well . . . until I came down a hill and started back on the accelerator, and it wouldn't go. I tried moving the FnR handle but still nothing. I felt for hot wires and there were none. waited 10 minutes or so, and still nothing. I pushed it back a foot or so to clear someone's drive. and then before I called for help tried it one more time and it went, Drove about another mile and then back home with no problems. There is no warning, no sounds, the solenoid clicks, the lights come on, but nothing. The SOV Meter worked well the whole time, even when it wouldn't go. What could it be? Where do I start looking and for what? Thanks for any help.

[joepiccaso]

This must be a really difficult issue or a really easy one that I should already know the solution to, bc I've gotten no responses in two weeks. It's rendered the cart unusable, as no one will drive it in fear of it stopping. I guess my next stop is to rent a trailer and haul it to the Club Car shop. Joe

[joepiccaso]

Just an update on this issue. I bit the bullet and took the cart to a Club Car shop here in Atlanta, and spent almost $900 and it's worse that when they picked it up. They said it was my FnR switch, which I questioned, as it was <1 year old, and I couldn't fathom how that could be the problem. When we went for the first ride after getting it back, it had like half of the power it did before. It acted just like it did before I converted it to 48V. Level ground the speed seemed to be about the same as before, but even a slight incline it lost power. It would barely top some of the bigger hills. And, then to top it off, it still stops running just as it did before. So much for professional trouble shooting. $900 and a loss of power. I'm worse off. I will say that they did rebuild the front suspension, which I did have on my list of thigs to do. So it does handle a bit better . . . when it runs. They come to pick it up on Monday. My wife drove it to the park, about a 1+ miles, and just as she got there it died as she was pulling up to the curb. I went to get her and the grandchildren, and sat in the seat depressing the accelerator pedal a few times and it took of. I drove it back without incident, other that the loss of power.

So, could it be something in the Vglide unit? That's the only thing I haven't replaced. I did buy some new resistors to swap out in it, just haven't really gotten a chance to do it. It is the original Vglide on the cart, 1994 36V.

Anybody got thoughts on the loss of power and maybe the Vglide? Also, I noticed my SoC meter has stayed in the White (Charging) zone since i charged the batteries. The charger Bluetooth app shows no issues with the charger or batteries. It would stay in the Green section while driving and never dipped bellow about half in the Green. But when just sitting the needle goes into the White, even with the charger Not plugged in.

I hope y'all are doing better!

Thanks, Joe

[joepiccaso]

Just an Update. After three trips to the golf cart shop, it seems to work. They finally went into the V-Glide and found something with the contacts or sweeper that may have caused it. That was the only item that I hadn't replaced when I did my upgrade from 36V to 48V. It seems to work now having made 4 or 5 trips. The shop did go into my Controller and change the power setting from 60%, as it was set from the vendor I bought the motor and solenoid from, to 100%. It now goes much faster than I like. I just wanted extra torque to climb hills, not speed. I'm a bit afraid to try to program the controller, but it doesn't seem too bad. I don't want to hurt the motor. We'll see. Another project to report on later. Thanks for the comments.

[Fairtax4me]

Dunno how/why nobody responded to your original question. People just get busy I suppose.
I don’t remember seeing this thread before. I’m glad you finally got the cart figured out.

The pie wedge v-glide on all of those older carts is fully serviceable, and a lot simpler than people give it credit for. If you have an ohmeter you can test the resistance of it without even taking it apart but by checking the throttle wires at the controller.
A visual check of the wiper and the copper pads for any corrosion, loose or uneven contact, or burn marks. The resistors on the back can fail in various ways but they are replaceable.

With the Alltrax if you have a laptop running some version of Windows you can use the Alltrax Toolkit software to adjust the controller however you like. And the good thing about Alltrax is it really doesn’t let you mess up anything. If something gets changed and you don’t like it you can change it back with the click of a button, or go fully back to the factory default settings and start all over. There are not many adjustments that can be made on the SR controllers, so there’s not a whole lot to figure out.


For anyone else reading this thread, if you’re having problems after an upgrade and there are old parts still on the cart, there’s a good chance the older parts are to blame. There are tons of threads here on the forum about how to test throttle systems, solenoids, FnR switches, and just about every other part on the cart. A little searching around will usually bring up something relevant.

[Bama Brad]

Strange that this first time i have seen this thread also, glad you got it working ok, sad you had to pay so much. Very unusual for you to have posted this many times with no comments/advice from someone here


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[joepiccaso]

Thanks, FairTax. Good Info! I do have a laptop and I just bought a cable to go into the controller. I have a 48V (8-6V batteries) and a high torque motor. I really want more torque than speed. Would changing the Power setting to 100% from the Vendor's setting of 60% change my torque? It seems like it doesn't climb hills as well as it did before, but is much faster. It will burn rubber from a standing start. I carry grandchildren and that much speed is disconcerting in an old 6-seat cart.