2014 Yamaha Electric Drive Transaxle Noise

[cc2008]

Bought a 2014 Yamaha G29 Electric Drive golf cart. Had some rear end "grinding" noise, especially when decelerating. Replaced the motor spindle bumper, and disassembled and cleaned the motor. Also checked the axle nuts to make sure they were appropriately torqued. If anything, the noise is now worse when I reassembled.

When I remove the motor from the spindle arm and turn the axle by hand, I can hear clicking noises from under the transaxle near the gearing. However, when I turn the driver side axle from the hub, it appears to be slipping at the spindle arm.
Is this normal? Any recommendations?

Also, see image of the input shaft. Does this look worn to the point of needing replacement?

Thanks in advance for any help.

[Bwebb1986]

I have the same cart same issues. I am told it could be a worn motor output. I may look into a new motor but I hate to shell the kinda cash not knowing if that will fix the noise.

[cc2008]

Well, I bit the bullet and took the cart over to a local repair shop thinking I would have to pay a diagnostics charge to have them look at it.
I described the problem and what I had done so far.
The owner of the shop backed it up about 20 feet, pulled back in and said definitively that it is a motor coupler problem. Best solution ... replace the motor.
I have ordered a D&D High Speed motor. Will let you know how it works out.

[Volt_Ampere]

I replaced my stock Hitachi motor with a D&D for both of my carts. They are doing well. One is 6 years old, the other almost 2. My most recent motor is an ES-66C-33 which is a higher speed motor than my other one. The gearing in my cart with the older motor is different so I used a high torque motor in that one. (ES-24-14)