Problem- can anyone diagnose?

[Mary Lou]

My cart, a 2005 Club Car Precedent, was fully charged and running what seemed like fine when I took it out the other day. Just drove it down the street for Mahjongg. Afterwards, I got in the cart, made a U-turn to head back home, and it stopped running. It seemed to move a little if I put my foot down on the accelerator just a bit, but if I pushed down all the way, I heard a clicking sound and it didn't move at all. I walked home and my husband came down and was able to "crawl" it home by just pushing lightly on the accelerator.

So, we have it towed to Cart World and after a short while they call back and tell us our batteries are over 5 years old and it will be $800+ to replace them. ???? OK, it is true that they are about 5 years old. It is also true that we hardly ever use this cart as we have 2 cars, but my husband takes meticulous care of the batteries, water, etc.

My question to you experts out there is: Do you really think the entire problem is due to the older batteries? My thought is to bring it back home and get a second opinion. I'm looking for recommendations for a good cart mechanic.

Thanks!

Mary Lou

[ilovetv]

My cart, a 2005 Club Car Precedent, was fully charged and running what seemed like fine when I took it out the other day. Just drove it down the street for Mahjongg. Afterwards, I got in the cart, made a U-turn to head back home, and it stopped running. It seemed to move a little if I put my foot down on the accelerator just a bit, but if I pushed down all the way, I heard a clicking sound and it didn't move at all. I walked home and my husband came down and was able to "crawl" it home by just pushing lightly on the accelerator.

So, we have it towed to Cart World and after a short while they call back and tell us our batteries are over 5 years old and it will be $800+ to replace them. ???? OK, it is true that they are about 5 years old. It is also true that we hardly ever use this cart as we have 2 cars, but my husband takes meticulous care of the batteries, water, etc.

My question to you experts out there is: Do you really think the entire problem is due to the older batteries? My thought is to bring it back home and get a second opinion. I'm looking for recommendations for a good cart mechanic.

Thanks!

Mary Lou

People who are getting rid of their electric carts and buying gas ones, because the 3rd set of $800 batteries they cared for religiously lasted less than 2 years, know the answer to this.

[jimbo2012]

Not if you have a solar system, batteries will last 5-6 years and you can get set of 6 for about $400

[Tom Grooms]

How can a solar system make a battery last longer?

Batteries have a shelf life. If you bought a brand new battery, never used it and just kept them charged, they would still be junk in a few years. You cant change chemistry with a charging solution or a solar panel.

Get the new batteries installed and be glad the old ones lasted as long as they did...

[ajbrown]

You do not replace batteries because of their age, you replace them because they test bad. That said five years is pretty good

Ask them what test they did. Did they do a discharge test? Is it one battery or all? Certainly possible that 5 year old batteries have lost their mojo..... Asking them to describe the test may give some confidence.

Even if they are bad, call Battery Boys or Spano for pricing. I think I paid $740 for 6- Trojan 890s which is a higher end 8 volt battery.

At a minimum, if you can or if you know someone who can help, you should get the voltages of the batteries when this happens. Each battery.... That will likely tell the answer about the batteries. Depending on the answer would determine the next step.

I always recommend 'c+a+r+t__f_i_x_e_r' listed in the paper.

[jimbo2012]

How can a solar system make a battery last longer?

Batteries have a shelf life. If you bought a brand new battery, never used it and just kept them charged, they would still be junk in a few years. You cant change chemistry with a charging solution or a solar panel.

Ok if that opinion works for you stick with it.

[Tom Grooms]

Everybody is entitled to an opinion, however we are not entitled to our own facts.

It's chemistry. A battery isn't a family heirlooms, they're disposable. Buy some new ones and boogie on down the path.

http://electronics.howstuffworks.com/everyday-tech/battery3.htm

[KBusch]

You can have a 1 year old battery that is bad, or a 10 year old battery that is bad, AJ is correct, its not how old the battery is, it is whether or not it tests good. Just because the batteries are charged and water is added, doesn't mean the batteries will last a long time. It is how you use the cart and maintain that the cart, that will also have an effect on how long the batteries last. Batteries that are 5 years old......that's good life and I would say you did better than most.
Read some of AJ's posts, he knows how to maintain a set of batteries. The problem is it is more than just adding water and charging. On a side note, solar is not the answer to long battery life.

[Mary Lou]

My cart, a 2005 Club Car Precedent, was fully charged and running what seemed like fine when I took it out the other day. Just drove it down the street for Mahjongg. Afterwards, I got in the cart, made a U-turn to head back home, and it stopped running. It seemed to move a little if I put my foot down on the accelerator just a bit, but if I pushed down all the way, I heard a clicking sound and it didn't move at all. I walked home and my husband came down and was able to "crawl" it home by just pushing lightly on the accelerator.

So, we have it towed to Cart World and after a short while they call back and tell us our batteries are over 5 years old and it will be $800+ to replace them. ???? OK, it is true that they are about 5 years old. It is also true that we hardly ever use this cart as we have 2 cars, but my husband takes meticulous care of the batteries, water, etc.

My question to you experts out there is: Do you really think the entire problem is due to the older batteries? My thought is to bring it back home and get a second opinion. I'm looking for recommendations for a good cart mechanic.

Thanks!

Mary Lou

Here is a follow up on my original post. As it turns out, the problem really was the batteries. We weren't convinced at first, since there still was power if we just "crawled", but when we put our foot all the way down on the pedal, nothing. We have since become educated in how the computer onboard turns off the cart if the batteries are discharged greatly. We weren't sure that we wanted to spend over $800 for batteries as we were quoted by Cart World, so we had the cart brought home and called The Battery Boys. What a great company to work with. They replaced the batteries and saved us over $100. My husband was impressed with the technician, Brian. He did a very thorough job. Since the cart is 9 years old (I originally said it was a 2005, but after checking our records I find it actually is a 2004) and we were planning on replacing it with a new one, we didn't really want to spend a lot on it. But, we reasoned that we didn't have a new one yet and in order to sell it, it will need to run - - so we went ahead with the new batteries. Now, it is running so well, we may keep it longer than we originally planned.:)

[rubicon]

My golf cart is now 7 years old. I replaced the initial set of batteries Trojan) after 1 1/2 years. A second set 2 years later because they were faulty (Trojan) . since then I have been running on Powertron (6 8v). I can travel some 30 miles and find when I pull into my garage that the meter is still on white. I make sure the connection are clean, etc . I religious maintain thes batteries with proper water levels and make sure I keep it charged.

One thing that hasten the demise of my batteries was due to the fact that I had the cart set to go 27mph. About two years ago I had enough and dropped the speed to 20mph.

I wax and wane about trading in my electric cart for a gas cart for a number of reasons including the fact that a golf cart financially is not a good investment

[NIPAS K-9]

People who are getting rid of their electric carts and buying gas ones, because the 3rd set of $800 batteries they cared for religiously lasted less than 2 years, know the answer to this.

Yep I have a gas cart any day over a darn electric one............. batteries, fires, plugging in, how far can I go still? replacing batteries:spoken: every few years, people are finally wising up to gas is the way to go..........

[ajbrown]

MaryLou, Thanks for following up. It is nice when folks do that so others get some information. Glad BB worked out.