Help With 1991 Club Car

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ohmss6

New Member
Hi I have a 36 volt 1991 Club Car. The other day it stopped running. It clicks, but no run.

I am wondering what voltage is necessary to run the cart. I have 5 batteries clicking at around 6.25 after charging. I have one at 4.2. I then took out two including the bad one and put in a 12V battery I had. Now I'm getting a total voltage of over 36 volts, and it barely crawls. Do I need new batteries?

THANKs!
 
HotRodCarts

HotRodCarts

Cartaholic
Welcome to the forum...

Yes your going to need six good golf cart batteries. What does the voltage drop to when the cart is moving?
 
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ohmss6

New Member
I think it drops to about 34 with the 12 volt battery I hooked up to it. I'm not entirely sure how to test this though. I've found a wiring diagram but is there a site that explains how the cart actually works?

Thanks for the quick reply HotRodCarts.
 
HotRodCarts

HotRodCarts

Cartaholic
Hook your volt meter to the pack main positive and negative and drive the cart. If it dropping to 34 volts and staying there it's the batteries causing your problem. You can also connect your meter to one battery at a time and drive the cart to see what each individual battery is doing...
 
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ohmss6

New Member
I just tested them and they went down to around the 5.8 range when in operation. What should they be?
 
HotRodCarts

HotRodCarts

Cartaholic
They should stay at around 6 volts and slowly come back to around 6.25-6.35 volts as the cart gets up to full speed. I'd say it's time for new batteries...
 
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ohmss6

New Member
Ok so I went and bought 6 new batteries and guess what? The same result! They are around 38 volts and they when I push down the pedal, they drop to 35 and it doesnt run. What could it be?
 
HotRodCarts

HotRodCarts

Cartaholic
Does the cart roll freely? You mentioned before that the car ran but very slow. Now the cart doesn't run at all? Is the cart a resistor or controller cart? How many solenoids does it have?
 
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ohmss6

New Member
Thanks for the reply.

I did some more testing. I jacked it up and attached a 12 volt to the motor and it spun one wheel and not so much the other. Then I hooked the batteries back up and hit the pedal. The wheels spun pretty much the same as when I hooked up the 12 volt battery, one ok, the other sporadically. Also, when I hooked up the batteries again I ran the reverse and got nothing at all.

All the batteries seems fine, they are running at 36 when I run the pedals.

Also, I tested the terminals at the motor and they all check back at ~36 volts.

As far as what kind I have, I have one solenoid cylinder shaped thing, then the pie shaped controller, and then in the back a spirally shaped spring thing.

As much as this is frustrating me, it is kind of fun and I appreciate the help!
 
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ohmss6

New Member
Oh! I thought it might help to tell you how this all happened. For a little bit it seemed to be running a little more sluggish than normal. Then one day after going up a big hill it just stopped working! So sounds like something broke instead of the batteries being bad.
 
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ohmss6

New Member
Soo after a little investigating I found that part of the controller was loose. It was like a magnet type thing that attached to the back of the controller. Is this vital? Is it the problem? I cant make it attach back.
 
HotRodCarts

HotRodCarts

Cartaholic
The spiral coils are the resistors so you have a resistor cart. Make sure the coils aren't broken anywhere and that all the cables that connect to the coils are clean and tight. With the battery voltages you originally posted you needed batteries so it's not money wasted. One tire spinning is normal with a open rear end like golf carts have so don't worry about that. If it's not running at all in reverse your problem may be in the forward and reverse switch. Look at the F&R switch, check the cable connections at switch and look for signs of heat on the switch and the cables.
 
HotRodCarts

HotRodCarts

Cartaholic
I can't see the pic. You may need to host the picture somewhere else. Or you can email it to me and I'll take a look.
 
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ohmss6

New Member
Thanks for all the help. I installed my new V Glide box and the cart is back. I bought one new battery to replace the one that totally went bad.

So now I have a new question/problem. When I turn the cart on and put it in forward, the coils in the back get really hot. The cart is not moving. I know they get hot when the cart drives, but should they get hot just when the cart is on?

THANKS
 
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ohmss6

New Member
UPDATE: When the cart is on forward and key on, there was smoke coming out of one of the battery connections. The connection that connects the cart to the forward/reverse switch. Its green on my cart.
 
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