Just aquired a 1981 EZGO Flatbed

T

Todd82TA

New Member
Hey guys,

I just got a 1981 EZGO Golf Cart, it has a LOT of history, and it's fairly famous, but I don't want to say anything further than that until I've got it home and in my garage. As soon as I do, I'll post more about it.

But, in the mean time, I'd like to ask a few questions about how I can get it running again. There are a few things I know about it. It's an electric, and it appears to have 5 or 6 batteries (I forget). The original owners lost the charger too, so I don't have any way to charge it. I have a car charger, can I use that to charge the batteries? I see a connector at the foot of the passenger foot well, can I hook the car charger up to that? Is it 6 volts or 12 volts? (I assume 12 volts). I figure it's probably an insane amount of amperage, will I even be able to charge those batteries with the car charger?

The wiring looks shot on it too. I notice the tail-lights have a bunch of wires that aren't connected, and there seems to be loose wires all over the place.

Thanks guys!!!
Todd
 
Hi Todd and welcome to the forum... Congrats on the new cart...

I would say from your description you have a 36 volt cart and it should have six 6 volt batteries. You can charge 2 at a time with a 12 volt charger without unhooking any battery cables. Once you get the cart home and we know what you have we can give a better idea on how to charge it. I would start looking for a 36 volt charger, it will make things much easier for you.
Looking forward to seeing pics of your new cart...
cool.gif
 
Hey guys! I haven't posted much, but the deal FINALY went through (about friggin time).

The golf cart is at my house, in my garage!

I said it was famous, it's not THAT famous, but I work for the Miami Dolphins / Dolphin Stadium. They had a large storage area with all kinds of weird stuff that they've packed in there since the stadium was built (arcade machines, weird bicycles, and any props or anything else they had from back in the day). In the past couple of years, they've been preparing for the stadium renovations and they started clearing it out. They auctioned off an old AMC Marlin that was made into a custom convertible that the Florida Marlins used to use for Billy the Marlins. It went for about $800 bucks but I didn't want to buy it because I have enough projects of my own. But, now that we are going to have the Miami Hurricanes (we will have the Dolphins, the Marlins, and the Hurricanes) they had to make room for them. So they completely emptied out the storage area. What they found inside (waaay in the back) was an old 1981 EZ-GO that was dealer built as a "Medical Cart". It's a three seater. It has a complete front seat, with a single back seat, and a stretcher area. This golf cart was hauled to Dolphin Stadium (Joe Robbie / Pro Player) from the Orange Bowl when the stadium was first built. It was last used at the Orange Bowl and used to be the cart that they would haul injured players off the field with.

In any case, I had to go through THREE departments before I could get it, and I finally towed it home from the stadium this afternoon. I'm really psyched. It's in really good shape. It has over 20 years of dust buildup on it, and it needs a wash BADLY. I thought it was supposed to be beige, but I wiped a small area with a monitor wipe, and it's completely white. It's got Dolphins stripes going down the side with the old late 70s Dolphins logo on the rear quarters. It says "Property of Orange Bowl" on the rear, with "Property of SFSC Stadium Corporation" on the dash. (this was put there when Huizenga was taking inventory of everything when he bought the Panthers, the Panther Arena, the Marlins, the Dolphins, and Dolphin Stadium.


Anyway, I'll take some pictures when I get home tonight. It doesn't run, but I'd guess the battery is just dead. I also don't have a charger for it either. When I flip the reverse switch, the buzzer comes on, which is amazing to me because that's a 20 year old charge...
 
Thanks hot rod Carts. I do have a couple of questions. I know now that I can charge two batteries at a time with a car charger. But here is what I noticed. It didn't seem to budge. We had to use a fork lift to get it to move. The rear-right wheel seems to be jammed. But it's a solid rear axle (like what I'd find on a rear wheel drive car), not a piddly rear axle like you'd find on a Pontiac Solstice or a Nissan 350Z. It actually looks like a mini Ford 9" rear end! The tire is flat, but I'm wondering if there is something else that would be preventing it from being able to push it.

Another thing, I hear buzzing when I switch it into reverse... which is pretty amazing because that charge is 20 years old.

I'm thinking my first step might be to just charge the batteries, replace that tire, and see if it works.
 
It could be the brake shoes or the brake cable is froze up on that side. Push the brake pedal and make sure both cables are moving freely on both ends. You'll see a small arm by the brake drums sticking out of the backing plate where the cable connects, make sure they both move with the cable.

As far as the batteries go after 20 years of sitting they're more than likely bad. If your going to try to charge them check to make sure the plates are covered in all the batteries. If needed add distilled water until the plates are just covered then try charging them. After charging you can fill to them to the proper level just under the sleeve that sticks down into each cell. Like I said the batteries are probably shot but it's worth a try I guess.
 
As far as the batteries go after 20 years of sitting they're more than likely bad. If your going to try to charge them check to make sure the plates are covered in all the batteries. If needed add distilled water until the plates are just covered then try charging them. After charging you can fill to them to the proper level just under the sleeve that sticks down into each cell. Like I said the batteries are probably shot but it's worth a try I guess.
Thanks Hot Rod, quick question... if the batteries ARE shot, is there a way I can easily test the rest of the system? (motor, etc). I'm thinking, if the batteries are bad, and I need to get ALL new batteries.... then I might as well upgrade to stronger batteries and a stronger motor. But, if the motor that's on there works perfectly, then I might just go ahead and install replacement batteries. I would just like to be able to test the rest before buying parts (so I know what direction I want to go in).



Thanks!
 
Here's a test procedure for a series wound motor like you have:


Series Wound Electric Motor Testing

To test an electric series wound (Non-Regen) golf cart motor:
Raise the rear of the golf cart so the rear wheels spin freely, remove all wires from the motor. This electrically isolates the motor from the cart. Put a jumper wire from an "A" terminal to an "S" terminal.
Example: A1 to S1
Then hook a 12V battery or 12V battery charger in the 15+ amp (Start Boost) range to the remaining "A" and "S" terminal.
Example A2 and S2
Polarity is not critical for this test and the motor should turn one way or the other.

Do not run a motor with the front shaft unsupported.
 
Todd82TA,

It is my opinion that you should NOT try and charge those batteries that have been neglected for 20 years. They will be heavily sulfated and could EXPLODE if charged. The scenario you present is classic - straight to the ER!

SAFETY FIRST!
 
I've only been with the company for a little over 2 years now (going on my 3rd season), so I've never seen this golf cart used. But I came across some pictures on the internet that show this very same golf cart being used in the FedEx Orange Bowl in 2005 (at Dolphin Stadium). Likewise, there is a picture up on the wall at training camp that shows Nat Moore around 1983 on the same golf cart too (i've got to get a shot of it). So looks like this poor cart has been in continuous use for the past 25 years!

This tells me that the batteries clearly can't be that old, and it would make sense too... I had a hard time believing that the reverse switch would still make the buzzer turn on after 20 years of no charging.
 
Thanks guys, I appreciate it. Is there something I should be looking for on the batteries? Is there anything on there that would tell me how old they are?

I checked them last night and water was filled up to the top of the coils, so I think all I need to do is just charge them. (probably won't get to it until Saturday though).
 
If they're Trojan batteries you can look on the negitive posts for a letter and number to tell how old they are. The letter is the month and the number is the year, (A5 would be January 2005)...
 
Hey guys, I just started charging the batteries today. I am charging one set, two at a time. The batteries appear to be TROJAN batteries. They are 6 Volt / 75 Amp.

I'm not sure how this is going to work though, because my car charger only charges 6 or 12 volts, at 3 or 6 Amps. I am charging two at a time at 12 Volts / 6 Amps. I'm not totally familiar with how Amps VS Watts VS Volts work, but I just don't see how my car charger will be able to charge that? Is it simply cumulative? Meaning that it can only provide 6 amps but that it's capable of building a battery back up to 12 volts?

I've added new pictures if you're interested in looking at the guts.

There's some kind of weird coil looking thing under a metal plate which is attached to three cylendrical objects that my neighbor told me were solenoids. Do I need to do anything with that, at least at this point?

You'll notice in the foot well of the passenger side, there is some sort of pedestal. What exactly is this? The cart charger cable appears to be coming out of the floor there. Was that for some sort of on-board charger? Why would someone want to mount it there on the passenger side foot well? Makes no sense to me. There are at least a half-dozen other empty places around the cart that they could have installed it in.
 
Your 12v/6a charger will do the job, eventually. It is not the best solution, a real GC charger is the best solution. As for the platform, looks like a charger was there at one time. Why would it be this way? Because someone did it this way. Doesn't need to make sense to you, as long as it made sense to them. I agree it's a poor choice.
 
The coils you're taking about are the resistor coils that control the speed of the cart. Usually on a ezgo their is only one solenoid. But you have a different beast here so I'm not sure why their's three, maybe something to do with medical equipment. I have no idea what the bracket on the floor board is. Possibly for the charger or some type of equipment they used? Where do the wires go that come up by the bracket on the floor board?

If you can get a pic of the resistor coils and solenoids and post it.

I would start by getting 36+ volts out of the batteries and make sure ALL cable connections are clean and tight and go from there. Chances are good the solenoids and coils are fine.

The charger you're using will charge two batteries two at a time but at 6 amps it will take a while. Keep checking the voltages with the charger off until you get around 6.5 volts out of each battery. From the markings on the batteries they are September of 2005 so you may get lucky...
 
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