Mrs Fox marooned - EZ-Go became an EZ-Stop
 

While powering up the slope following a MMP tunnel the cart suddenly lost all motive power.

Everything else continued to work - lights, horn etc. (I have tested all of the batteries and they are around 6.3v each, and the acid float test has all but one ball floating for each cell) so I suspect it is something to do with the electric motor itself or that part of the circuit.

Any quick things I should check before calling in the experts?

Thank you

In case you're wondering - and there's not a lot else to do on a hot day like this - my trusty ParCar came to the rescue and towed her cart home.

If not already - I'd look for a loose connection first.

Clean battery terminals second.

Check battery voltage under load third.

After doing the above, check brushes if this is a DC motor, otherwise, I would jack up the rear wheels and try pressing the accelerator, if the wheels do not move, you probably have a fault in the motor control module. Hope this is not like a club cart I helped fix, the replacement controller was $1000.

And thank God for cellphones in this heat!

A 6 volt battery at 6.3 volts is about 80%

It’s the voltage under a load that’s important

Thank you.

How big a load does it have to be - only things like the horn and lights are operating?

I don't understand the "80%" part - grateful if you would explain

Didn’t mention how old cart? I think the 80% means 80% charged? Which should be enough to move cart if amps load of 80% reaching electric motor? You can volts but little amps if cells are bad?

Probably going to have to do load test on each battery to determine if it’s battery problem or wiring switch/relay bad part problem (I’m not familiar with connected batteries enough to know it you do load test while batteries are all connected? ]The lights and horn don’t pull enough amps like electric motor does to move the cart. Most Likely you will have call service tech that comes to home to troubleshoot your problems. It could be simple or complexed?

Check out the solenoid. It is a common failure point in electric carts.

Both electric and gas EZGO carts share a "stop switch" that is under the accelerator pedal. This is a simple switch which is spring-loaded. When the driver is not pushing down on the accelerator pedal, the spring-loaded switch is in the "off" position and the cart will not run. When the driver pushes down on the pedal he closes the switch, and the cart then runs.

The switch can stick. If it does, all other electric functions (lights, horn, etc) will work, but the cart will not move. EZGO has used two different versions of this switch over the years. Both are available from Amazon for around $20. When you've checked all the usual suspects (loose connections, fuses, etc) and are still scratching your head, check out this switch.

Every make and model of golf carts, both gas and electric, has some version of this switch. My trusty Yamaha golf cart failed under exactly the same circumstances as did your wife's electric EZGO. I was exiting a tunnel, lifted my foot from the accelerator pedal in preparation to make the turn, and the cart died. After 10+ carts had backed up behind me in the tunnel, the switch finally unstuck and I was able to drive home where I spent the next hour pondering over the cause of such an unusual failure.

Jus saw another EZ-not go dead on the side of Pinellas Road.

:22yikes:

Say it ain't so. I thought electric carts were supposed to be cheap to maintain. (Tongue firmly in cheek).

This is not going to help you in your crisis here. But a PSA.
There’s a reason I bought a gas cart. Tried and true. EV are hard to troubleshoot. Batteries don’t like heat. Even LiPo batteries. And now you store them in a hot garage. I’m hearing of LiPo batteries failing in 2 years. Good luck with the fix.

EVs have about one fourth the number of parts as a gas engine golf cart. So, theoretically the Electric golf cart should be easier to troubleshoot. Owners and repair people just have more experience with gas golf carts. That will change as more people buy Electric golf carts

Thank you all for your helpful suggestions

This morning I used my limited electrical expertise to isolate the batteries one by one, trying the accelerator each time I had five different batteries in the circuit.

The battery that is at the start (or end?) of the wiring and has numerous leads attached (I'm guessing lights, horn and anything else that doesn't need 36v) is the one causing the problem, and excluding that got the cart moving again.

Last time this happened I just replaced the one battery with a similarly-aged one so am hoping to do that again. Mrs Fox, however, has her eyes on a whole new set (outrageous!) Of course, that would be the sensible option, but where's the fun in that?

Congratulations. You not only troubleshot and solved your problem, but you disproved the idea that Electric golf carts were harder to troubleshoot than those CO2 and methane producers that require a trip to the gas station periodically.

Ezgo
 

Same thing happened to our 2008 EZGO electric. Had to replace the solenoid.

Check batteries individually, is 1 battery is low it will drain all the others enough for a no go.

Got it. Please tell us three things:

1). Your experience or skill with golf cart repairs -specifically gas vs electric, and;
2). Why do you capitalize every instance of electric but lowercase gas in your response above?
3). What electric vehicles of any sort do you personally own?

Just trying to determine with how much weight to regard this advice. Thank you.

On my way to lunch today, I watched a guy unload his golf bag from his Yamaha along the MMP and start walking.

No fun in this heat :-(

btw, any recommendations for a cart rescue service in TV?

Using my cart to tow Mrs Fox's home is good fun (traffic permitting) but not if one of our carts breaks down many miles from home, rather than 1.5 miles like this time

Kart Aide

I bought a very used 48v 6 battery RXV cart and when the batteries near end of life I plan on a Lithium conversion which will be ~3K. Before I start replacing one battery at a time or all I would convert to Lithium. A buddy of mine did it DIY. With the price I paid for the cart and even adding the 3K I am still sitting same or lower than a similar gas cart, minus brake jobs, gas refills and oil changes, etc.

We have AAA and have used them twice, with excellent results. We passed two electric carts on the side of mmp today.

Have you figured out what happened to your wife’s cart yet?

One cell of one battery is almost dead, so it lets enough current through to power the lights etc. but not enough for the motor. I suspect going up the hill after the tunnel was just too much for it. The batteries are over seven years old, so I have BatteryBoys coming on Friday to put in a new set.

Those in my cart are over eight years old, so you can expect more tales of woe :-)

We keep a tow rope in our cart, just in case. We used it once with ok results. Second time on Evans Prairie the guys had to tow us in, with much more power. Then AAA picked up the cart.

I believe the Battery Boys can do the Lithium conversion too. You will never look back!

Same. I keep one of these in the bag-well:
Just a moment...