I got a 1998 Club Car DS 48 volt that does not run. The only thing it does is sound the warning beep when placed in reverse. Other then that, it does not make any sounds or move. I tried plugging in the charger and nothing seems to happen. The charger does not appear to turn on. The previous owner had the feeling that a friend drove it into the lake, but no one confessed to it. So, with the assumption of it being in the water and submerged, where do I start and what should I test. I'm not too familiar with these carts, so please explain how to perform tests/checks. Thanks for your help!
Club Car DS 48 Volt Submerged Not Running
- Thread starter coudav
- Start date
well 1st thing is to find out what voltage you have. if voltage is to low it won't do anything you'll need a digital voltage meter. check each battery take caps off check water levels they should be full to about 1/4 inch over the lead plates. if water is needed use distilled water only....than with a digital voltage meter check each battery. 8 volt batteries should have approx 8 1/2 volts in them and you need at least 38 volts before charger will turn on, also check the cables you want them clean and tight while your at it check all your cables, once you get that far if batteries don't have enough voltage you can charge each one with a 12 volt charger for 1/2 hour each and don't leave it unattended and also on lowest setting......just be careful and mindful. since your not familiar with carts i won't post how to bypass relay in charger to turn it on. anyways once you get enough voltage in batteries try plugging charger in it should come on if nothing else is wrong. at that point you should be able to turn key on put in gear and press pedal and at least hear the solenoid click. its loud enough you'll hear it. I'll stop here so you don't get to confused and depending it might take you a full day just to get this far. so when your done post your voltage #,.s and if you hear solenoid click and anything else that happens. by the way full pack voltage should be over 50 volts but if you get 48 volts in cart that's enough for some testing. if the battery charger does come on leave it charge until it shuts off or 16 hours whatever comes 1st. if you can post some pics of battery area we may be able to tell if cart was under water.
Pimp Daddy
Cartaholic - R.I.P.
Yes It's been WET
ok that's not enough voltage for charger to come on but yes you also need to unhook the main pos and neg cables and than take your time and start taking cables and wires off like 1 at a time and wire brush mating surfaces. after that you still need to get some voltage in batteries and see if cart does anything. its time consuming but doesn't cost anything and in the end you may be surprised you might get out of this with maybe just a controller and there's still a chance its not bad. slim but a chance.
Pimp Daddy
Cartaholic - R.I.P.
How long did it stay submerged ? I've seen pics of hurricane Ike carts and they were not that corroded.
Ok, I got 40v into the block of batteries and the charger turned on. So, that's definately a good thing! I'm not sure how long it will take to fully charge, but I will move onto the next item to see if it works after charging is done. My assumption is the controller is the next project.
Pimp Daddy
Cartaholic - R.I.P.
I agree Nubs... I've never seen that much corrosion from fresh water. Even if the controller survived, the corrosion on all the connections could prevent it from operating.. Was the cart overturned? The battery acid could have caused the corrosion.
Yesturday I took apart the v-glide/multi-step potentiometer to clean that up. Unfortunately, I accidently knock one of the resistors on the ground and I'm not sure if I placed them back in the same place. I'm trying to find out the ohms for each resistor (thinking of replacing all of them, just so I know they are new) and their location on the v-glide. If anyone has a diagram or knows this information, that would be great!
I took the v-glide/multi-step potentiometer appart, again, to look at the resistors. As I stated before, I dropped on an I'm not sure if they are in the correct order. Here's what I was able to cross reference online about each resistor. This sounds way out of wack compaired to the numbers I just posted about what the ohms should be. Any thoughts?
1 resistor (color code purple, green, brown, gold) = 750 +/- 5% Ohms
3 resistors (color code gray, black, red, gold) = 8,000 +/- 5% Ohms
2 resistors (color code white, gray, gray, gold) = 9,800,000,000 +/- 5% Ohms
1 resistor (color code purple, green, brown, gold) = 750 +/- 5% Ohms
3 resistors (color code gray, black, red, gold) = 8,000 +/- 5% Ohms
2 resistors (color code white, gray, gray, gold) = 9,800,000,000 +/- 5% Ohms