Golf Cart Tune Up

[Scbang]

We had this discussion but the business changes, owners change. So here we go again. I used to go with Willie's and Casey's for my cart annual tune up which used to cost around &90-$100. I am sure they are still good but the cost and ownership may have changed. If you recently tuned up your cart at your house, who did you use, how much was simple tune up ( Mine is Yamaha 2014 ) and are you happy with the result?

Cheers!

[ThirdOfFive]

We had this discussion but the business changes, owners change. So here we go again. I used to go with Willie's and Casey's for my cart annual tune up which used to cost around &90-$100. I am sure they are still good but the cost and ownership may have changed. If you recently tuned up your cart at your house, who did you use, how much was simple tune up ( Mine is Yamaha 2014 ) and are you happy with the result?

Cheers!
I use Todd Casey. He comes to the house and does all work onsite: My last service about 8 months back cost $117.00 for oil change, complete check and spark plug. He also replaced a battery for me in August for $195 total (battery, installation and service call).

Very pleased with what he charges and the quality of his work.

[Topspinmo]

We had this discussion but the business changes, owners change. So here we go again. I used to go with Willie's and Casey's for my cart annual tune up which used to cost around &90-$100. I am sure they are still good but the cost and ownership may have changed. If you recently tuned up your cart at your house, who did you use, how much was simple tune up ( Mine is Yamaha 2014 ) and are you happy with the result?

Cheers!

Simple tune up kit.

Amazon.com (https://www.amazon.com/Huskey-Yamaha-G16-G22-Drive-Service/dp/B07F98S3WL/ref=asc_df_B07F98S3WL?mcid=7cab57c37c453fbf94dd657 984a535f3&hvocijid=13159364975185921659-B07F98S3WL-&hvexpln=73&tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=721245378154&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=13159364975185921659&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=1027028&hvtargid=pla-2281435182178&psc=1)

Buy quart of oil for 7 bucks. Yamaha EFI carts run pretty clean compared to older carburetor carts so spark plug last lot longer.

OK, that’s bare minimum on tune up and price. Naturally if you have to pay someone to come and do it which will include some safety checks anything close to 100 bucks is deal IMO. I do it cause I can still and cuts down boredom for me.

tune up plus and safety check may include inspection of: tires, drive belt, starter/generator belt, inspect Clean of primary clutch and one pump grease, inspect/grease secondary clutch, load test battery, check tires for wear/damage, rotate tires,
And probably change rear transaxle gear oil if older than 4 years? All that going to double Or more 100 plus simple tune up charge due to time and cost of gear oil which it takes 1 7/8s quarts. ( mine anyway).

When I do it I also clean engine bay, transaxle, frame, and gas pedal and brake cavity. Fine sand induced wear lot quicker if left dirty around moving parts. My cart 12 years old and still looks new other than normal wear and tear. I also change oil every 6 months just before summer and just before what Florida calls winter. My cart will probably outlast me?

[MrFlorida]

The last time I used Willie's, the guy was here for about 10 minutes, changed the oil, spark plug, left old air filter..... charged 100 bucks for 10 minutes..... never again.... I do it myself now.

[KennyP]

Its funny this topic should come up. Just a couple of months ago the question was asked among a few of the top guys you hear about all the time " whats the percentage of golf cars in the villages is improperly serviced"? This is just the service part, nothing else.

Understand, we all see who is good, who is bad, which customers are trying other shops, etc.....

Not to make all of your heads spin, but the consensus was between 75-to 90 percent. Yeah quite a big number.

The crazy thing is we all hear what has been posted here and elsewhere all the time. I think i have said this before here, there is more to a service than just changing the oil and putting air in the tires. A good trained golf car tech is looking at the problem areas of the particular model of car being worked on. Every golf car has problem areas, the issue becomes the tech looking at your car may not even know it, or even care. A failure down the road is money in their pocket and the consumer will never know.

Anyway, just adding some insider info everyone have a great weekend.

[Scbang]

Its funny this topic should come up. Just a couple of months ago the question was asked among a few of the top guys you hear about all the time " whats the percentage of golf cars in the villages is improperly serviced"? This is just the service part, nothing else.

Understand, we all see who is good, who is bad, which customers are trying other shops, etc.....

Not to make all of your heads spin, but the consensus was between 75-to 90 percent. Yeah quite a big number.

The crazy thing is we all hear what has been posted here and elsewhere all the time. I think i have said this before here, there is more to a service than just changing the oil and putting air in the tires. A good trained golf car tech is looking at the problem areas of the particular model of car being worked on. Every golf car has problem areas, the issue becomes the tech looking at your car may not even know it, or even care. A failure down the road is money in their pocket and the consumer will never know.

Anyway, just adding some insider info everyone have a great weekend.

So, do you have a name I can trust with my cart to be serviced?

Cheers!

[KennyP]

So, do you have a name I can trust with my cart to be serviced?

Cheers!

Everyone has their favorite....I'm not going to say good or bad, and I'm not out to say someone's shop is better than another. I'm here more to give insider input, know what to beware of and if I help someone not get ripped off, which happens ALOT, then I did my part.
In the villages, you can get someone who is trained in golf car repair, all the way to "should never touch a golf car" Both have work every day.
Sorry I can't be of more help on that question.

[biker1]

Same here. There is maintenance and repairs. The maintenance is easy, the repairs might not be. Fortunately, there is a good probability that your cart will go a long ways without needing any repairs. My 2014 Yamaha is over 10 years old and has been trouble free. Here is my maintenance schedule:

50 hours: change oil
500 hours: change rear differential fluid
1000 hours: change spark plug and air filters
500 hours: rotate tires
200 hours: lube both clutches
200 hours: check free play in brake cable, check drive belt width, check starter/generator belt, check toe-in and adjust as necessary, look over the cart, etc.
monthly: check tire pressure
batteries last about 5 years, best to preemptively change them before they fail



The last time I used Willie's, the guy was here for about 10 minutes, changed the oil, spark plug, left old air filter..... charged 100 bucks for 10 minutes..... never again.... I do it myself now.

[Topspinmo]

Same here. There is maintenance and repairs. The maintenance is easy, the repairs might not be. Fortunately, there is a good probability that your cart will go a long ways without needing any repairs. My 2014 Yamaha is over 10 years old and has been trouble free. Here is my maintenance schedule:

50 hours: change oil
500 hours: change rear differential fluid
1000 hours: change spark plug and air filters
500 hours: rotate tires
200 hours: lube both clutches
200 hours: check free play in brake cable, check drive belt width, check starter/generator belt, check toe-in and adjust as necessary, look over the cart, etc.
monthly: check tire pressure
batteries last about 5 years, best to preemptively change them before they fail

Good if have hour meter?

I do preventative maintenance so I do little repairs. But can’t do nothing about poorly designed parts that fail prematurely.

[Scbang]

Good if have hour meter?

I do preventative maintenance so I do little repairs. But can’t do nothing about poorly designed parts that fail prematurely.

I get your points ( re: 3 previous posts ) but other than tire pressure, I am not sure I can do things listed. And, as far as I can recall, the basic tune up guys did just oil, filter and plug without suggesting anything else that needs attention. I guess it's my luck to have running 2014 Yamaha without needing any of those services. So I really need someone who is qualified to thoroughly check my OLD cart before it dies on me. It started to make high pitch squeaky noise when I accelerate, and I have no idea which belt is doing that.

Cheers!

Cheers!

[biker1]

If your tune-up guy is not lubing the clutch, changing the differential fluid, and doing the other inspections then he is not following the maintenance recommendations of the manufacturer. The purpose of rotating the tires is to maximize tread life. If you are having him work on your cart yearly and he is changing the spark plug and filter each year, then he is replacing parts probably well before they are due. Once a year oil changes may be in excess of what the manufacturer recommends depending on how many miles you put on your cart each year.

I get your points ( re: 3 previous posts ) but other than tire pressure, I am not sure I can do things listed. And, as far as I can recall, the basic tune up guys did just oil, filter and plug without suggesting anything else that needs attention. I guess it's my luck to have running 2014 Yamaha without needing any of those services. So I really need someone who is qualified to thoroughly check my OLD cart before it dies on me. It started to make high pitch squeaky noise when I accelerate, and I have no idea which belt is doing that.

Cheers!

Cheers!

[Bay Kid]

So, do you have a name I can trust with my cart to be serviced?

Cheers!

I have been using Michael, cart fixer, for years. He checks everything in your driveway, including brake adjustment.

[KennyP]

Changing an air filter that is clean, changing a spark plug with 100 hours on it, changing a fuel filter that filtered 100 gallons, is not a service. Trust me, we like to hear this as the stuff that should be looked at is neglected. Everything you no don't need gets changed, and the stuff that needs looked at doesn't and then someone wonders why they have a problem. See it every day. Keeps work coming our way. Choose the shop with non trained techs and just change parts. 10 minute service is not a service.

[tophcfa]

I can only speak about the three services I have used. The Villages Golf Cart place is hit or miss depending on the day and technician assigned to work on your cart. Both of the mobile cart service companies I have used are excellent, and I would recommend either based on my experience. Those companies are Todd Casey 352-465-3934 and Cart Fixer 352-433-5411.

[Topspinmo]

I get your points ( re: 3 previous posts ) but other than tire pressure, I am not sure I can do things listed. And, as far as I can recall, the basic tune up guys did just oil, filter and plug without suggesting anything else that needs attention. I guess it's my luck to have running 2014 Yamaha without needing any of those services. So I really need someone who is qualified to thoroughly check my OLD cart before it dies on me. It started to make high pitch squeaky noise when I accelerate, and I have no idea which belt is doing that.

Cheers!

Cheers!

“ need someone who is qualified to thoroughly check my OLD cart before it dies on me. It started to make high pitch squeaky noise when I accelerate. “

How old is drive belt?

That would probably be drive belt. You check tension on starter generator belt by pushing down on it Middle should feel tight and maybe 1/4 slack. You can probably go on Utube for tutorials

I can’t recommend anyone I do all my maintenance.

[Topspinmo]

I could probably still be running the original air filter and spark plug (with cleaning) in my GC due to air not that dirty in my area of villages. (MY Yamaha C3 scooter had 8K miles and 5 years on resister spark plug until it had weak/intermittent spark, resister was burning out) ( now that I don’t ride it that much (hardly 200 miles year I still change oil due to short trips which contaminates oil)

Fuel injected carts burn cleaner and spark plugs can last long time. One thing I would never do leave oil in lawnmower design engine over year regardless of miles or hours due to poor design combustion which contaminates oil. Quart of oil cheap peace of mind to me. Admit Yamaha gas golf carts if governor not tampered with run at pretty low RPM but they still produce heat on hot days which affects condition of oil over time IMO.

I can look at engine tell it oil been changed/maintained as often as should, it’s dirty, creasy, signs or oil out all seals to me meaning oil was ran too long and dirty oil eating up crankcase seals. I like my oil working for me doing CCLs. Not working against me and life of my engine

[ROCKETMAN]

I use Titan got golf cart annual maintenance. Had it yesterday $177.17 and looked over my second cart and jacked up speed so electric bikes don’t whiz past me.

[ROCKETMAN]

Should be $117.77 for titan .

[OrangeBlossomBaby]

I have been using Michael, cart fixer, for years. He checks everything in your driveway, including brake adjustment.

I did too, twice. Never again. He charges $90 just to come out for the service call, no matter what. He charges for the service, on top of that $90 fee. The service may or may not solve the problem but if he has to go out to fix it again because whatever he did, didn't work - it's another $90 plus whatever he'll charge for the service.

My cart stopped moving. It'd had problems refusing to accelerate when I hit the gas pedal, and finally "turning" and "catching" and moving. This was sporadic, so I mostly just ignored it and considered it an idiosyncrasy. Until one day it just stopped moving. Had it towed home. Michael came out, replaced the battery and adjusted a bolt under the seat (where the engine and everything else is). All seemed to be well for a few weeks.

Then it started doing it again, again - sporadically. So I just let it be. Around 6 months later it conked out again. Called Michael. He replaced the bushings. Another couple hundred bucks (including the $90 for just showing up).

And then, it happened again. Got the Villages Golf Carts to check it out. Turns out, the cables connected to the battery were bolted on upside down, causing them to jerk and loosen whenever I sped up or stopped. In addition, some other cable was loose, and apparently had been loose the whole time. So they tightened it.

It's been trouble-free ever since and cost me less than $50.

[MikeVillages]

I do it myself, basically change the oil, filter, spark plug and check the tire pressures. I checked the tire pressure periodically.

[Bay Kid]

I did too, twice. Never again. He charges $90 just to come out for the service call, no matter what. He charges for the service, on top of that $90 fee. The service may or may not solve the problem but if he has to go out to fix it again because whatever he did, didn't work - it's another $90 plus whatever he'll charge for the service.

My cart stopped moving. It'd had problems refusing to accelerate when I hit the gas pedal, and finally "turning" and "catching" and moving. This was sporadic, so I mostly just ignored it and considered it an idiosyncrasy. Until one day it just stopped moving. Had it towed home. Michael came out, replaced the battery and adjusted a bolt under the seat (where the engine and everything else is). All seemed to be well for a few weeks.

Then it started doing it again, again - sporadically. So I just let it be. Around 6 months later it conked out again. Called Michael. He replaced the bushings. Another couple hundred bucks (including the $90 for just showing up).

And then, it happened again. Got the Villages Golf Carts to check it out. Turns out, the cables connected to the battery were bolted on upside down, causing them to jerk and loosen whenever I sped up or stopped. In addition, some other cable was loose, and apparently had been loose the whole time. So they tightened it.

It's been trouble-free ever since and cost me less than $50.

Darn. So far so good for me in the past, usually every October. But no real problems, just regular maintenance. I guess they all fail sooner or later.