Gas golf cart battery draining fast
 

Any suggestions what to replace my 2022 Yamaha quiet tech cart battery with? Something that lasts. Can I order one on line and have The Villages Carts (where the cart was bought) instal it? Or a mobile cart service?

Call the battery boys in Oxford, they have a mobile service and many batteries to choose from.

You might look into what is draining it. Other threads on here have pointed to the wiring of the gps speedometer. My original battery lasted five years; I hope/expect to get at least four years from this one.

Just bought a new one last month. Autozone on 466.

take it back to village carts for repair.

Yes but… but… they sell only weak batteries I leave mine 6 months on trickle and I need a strong deep cycle battery.

IMO strong has nothing to do with it other than more plates which make last little longer. I suspect it’s been over charged causing early death? Some Yamaha’s have overcharging defect.


Was that original battery? If so they only last about 3 years or so anyway. You can measure the battery box, post position , and height go to Walmart get battery 600 or larger CCAs that fits in box. If you have no knowledge on how to do that just call someone that sells batteries and will install at home.

OP, a standard automotive battery works great in a gas golf cart. Now you or a tech needs to figure out why your battery is draining. First remove the positive battery cable and install a DC ammeter, with the key turned off, you should have nearly zero milliampere reading. If you get a reading then you need to determine what is still on, as suggested above check the speedometer, and any other auxiliary equipment that has been installed. If all of this checks out, reconnect the battery cable, change the meter to volts DC and measure the voltage on the battery should be close to 12.5 VDC. Place the cart in neutral, turn on the key, start the cart and see if the voltage on the battery goes up to 13.5 to 14.5 VDC, if not you have a problem with the charging circuitry.

Bottom line you do not need a deep cycle or similar battery.

Ok, I’m going to do that. I suspect it is the after market Speedo with GPS they installed at The Villages Golf carts but your suggestion is very good. My husband (before he suddenly passed ) worked in power sports industry and bought a very good battery for the cart - and it worked well for the first year but after that I kept having to charge it back up every week even after driving the cart around for 20 min at a time.

Thank you, my husband bought a better battery than what was available at The Villages Golf carts but they installed it. It is charged by a trickle charger which cannot overcharge it. But it is 3 years old. I prefer not to figure out how to change the battery- unless I am going to have to do this regularly.

How much do these batteries cost to replace? I’m debating on golf cart purchase type.

You may be a little confused as to what cart type is being discussed. Electric or gas cart.
The battery in this thread is in a GAS cart, not an Electric cart. It’s a regular automotive style battery like all gas engine vehicles use. Primarily to start the engine, lighting, and power for the spark plugs. Hope this clears things up.

I too have a Yamaha 2022, and was on my 4th battery when Willie's mobile service rewired my GPS speedometer and no problems for 9 months now. Highly recommend that route.

The tire store at Colony plaza has a good selection of good, better, best batteries and they will install free. They can also check your charging system. I bought a battery for my Yamaha quite tech last year. They did my bmw oil change, and aligned my front tires on my Nissan when I bought the tires. The dealer aligned the wheels when purchased new because wheel was crooked. They half fixed it, tire shop fixed it correctly. Highly recommend them. Not down there yet and don’t remember name

When the Villages Golf Carts started installing the Cheetah speedometer units (color display, GPS speed tracking) in 2021, they were wired in a manner that allowed the battery to drain. They have since started using a new wiring method that eliminates the problem. My 2021 Yamaha cart (purchased in 2020) does not have the Cheetah Speedo, and still has its original battery. My 2022 Yamaha cart (purchased in 2021) has the Cheetah, and I had to replace the battery a few months ago. I was told about the new Speedo wiring method by TVGC, and they will correct the issue at no charge. I would take it to them and have the modification done.

There is likely a 12v voltage regulator added to your battery for accessories. It will drain a battery in 10 days with key off and out. If you have additional wires going to the battery terminals following them will lead to the source. If you want to drive to Newell in your cart, I will help you test it, no charge. Message me if needed.

Two year old battery shouldn’t be draining that quickly. Thinking you might need service

Another Idea to troubleshoot
 

Great advise from villagetinker. If you don't have a DC ammeter, you can just disconnect the negative battery terminal overnight then reconnect in the morning to see if the battery holds a charge. If it doesn't then the battery is likely your problem. If it does, then there is a smoking gun that something is draining the battery and you need to have that fixed, before you do anything else.

Batteries will drain if you have an unused phone charger cord plugged into an outlet (like the outlet in the glove box). We found out the hard way. That unused cord trickles power and eventually drain’s battery low enough it won’t start.

Battery
 

Even better than a trickle charger is a battery tender. One of the very best ones is NOCCO brand. Available on Amazon, local Wally World. BTW NOCCO is professional brand and many shops use their equipment including Wildwood tire and the Sumter shop. It's the good stuff. Also you need to see what is loading up the battery. {Drain}

Call Mike at *********....352-433-5411
 

Call Mike at *********....352-433-5411
He looked at my cart (dead at the time) and immediately knew that it was the battery and also that the wrong battery was installed !
he has batteries on his mobile service vehicle.
He really knows his stuff and I highly recommend him

We bought our replacement battery from Sam's Club in August, 2019 for our Yamaha gas golf cart. It is a Duracell Gel battery. At the time, it cost $150. Of course, if there is an electrical problem-- that needs to be resolved first.

I had Villages golf cart replace mine. But did not supply my own battery. I don’t bring my own eggs to a restaurant either.

Gas carts have one battery for starting cost varies $125. And up depending on brand and CCA. Electric carts takes several batteries, to replace them probably 1K up to 4K depending on type of batteries.

Gas cart Starting batteries should last 5 years or so, electric cart batteries should last 8 years or more depending on upkeep and type of batteries.

We had the same issue.

Exactly as others have said, it was the original Cheetah speedometer installation. Villages Golf Cars fixed it under warranty using the improved wiring plan.

If this is the issue that you are having, a new, better battery will not solve it. It'll just take a little longer to die. Before buying anything, I'd get that checked.

I only bring Herdez salsa to restaurants. :beer3:

Get a cheap group 14 battery from Rural King in Leesburg. This is Florida so you don’t need 650 cold cranking amps. My last battery cost less than $60. Also, mount a piece of reflective aluminum between your battery and the muffler shroud with an air gap between the aluminum and the battery. The bottom of a disposable baking pan will work. This will keep the battery a few degrees cooler, and extend the battery’s lifespan.

This is what was draining our battery recently on refurbished 2018 Yamaha. It was disconnected, and no more drain.

I have a 2021 Yamaha quiet drive 2 cart with 12k miles on it and the battery is fine. When Todd’s mobile service out a month ago to do the yearly maintenance, they checked the battery. He said it was fine. You should never have to charge a cart with a battery charger, if you do, you have something that is constantly on or messed up wiring somewhere. Another issue could be your charging system, maybe it’s not charging the battery while you drive. If you constantly go short distances in your cart, you may not be driving it long enough to charge the battery.
For decades when I had to winterize my boats, I would put the battery on a trickle charger all winter and this never decreased the life of a battery.

Here I will sum this up...as some have already stated, if you have the new digital speedometer that is GPS, that needs to be re-wired so that it is " keyed hot". There is a Red, a Black and a Yellow. Take the yellow wire and move it to where the red wire is and it will then be all keyed hot.

If you dont have one of those and the battery is draining, always go to the aftermarket stuff that was added. Aftermarket fuel gauges are notorious for draining batteries, pull the ground wire off is the simplest way to check.

Hope this helps.

Deep cycle versus car battery
 

A deep cycle or marine battery has fewer and thicker plates inside. Its purpose is to run a very long time at full voltage. It it not for starting big motors. A car battery has many times more plates, that are thin. Its purpose is to have a big amount of current available to start big motors. The car battery works in a golf cart, but they do not last as long or stay charged up. So make sure your next battery is marine or deep cycle.

Gas carts use starter batteries, at least that is what my Yamaha is spec'd for. The battery runs the generator to turn the engine and cause it to start. Once started and moving, the generator charges the battery. There seems to be no need for a deep cycle battery except for the possible case of many holes of golf with short distance between holes where there are many starts in a short distance traveled. Still, as mentioned, my Yamaha manual specifies a starter battery.

Electric carts with lead acid batteries most likely benefit from deep cycle batteries. In an electric cart the batteries are regularly discharged and recharged which is not normal for a starter battery. The deep cycle battery is designed for this type of use.

Electric carts with lithium batteries don't have lead acid batteries at all. Many lithium carts come with an eight year warranty on the battery. I can't find the year lithium carts first came out so there might be few or none that have reached their eighth year yet. I have not yet read of any carts needing a replacement battery whether under warranty or otherwise.

My golf cart battery stays completely charged up, if fact do to Yamaha defect it gets over charged, don’t matter what battery go in there it going to get over charged. They only make big engines In diesel and gas trucks

Walmart, Group 24F 12V $69

CHECK THIS! The 2022 might take a 24F but my 2019 takes a Group 24.

The Group 24F has the terminals reversed but luckily my existing cables were just long enough to reach.

I use same one my car takes for my GC group 35.