Battling a Ruff & Tuff Golf Cart

[Rojo]

So I have resurrected this Golf Cart several times but it may be over for throwing money at. This is for a good friend, they bought it when Obama was in the Whitehouse and the Feds was giving Tax Credits for people who bought a electric (street legal) vehicle. Well once the tax credits went out the window so did the manufacturer. There are parts out there but troubleshooting info is scarce at best. I had to skin out all the accessories bolted on the back to get to the motor itself to check the Speed Sensor & Brushes.



It goes without saying every bolt on it was rusted as this vehicle lives on a bayou. I put a 2x4 across the back frame up to the seat support on the front and rode it up and down in front of the shop today with my DVM leads connected to the Accelerator output, Speed Sensor output, main contactor coil, aux contactor coil, brake switch, and motor output terminals on the Controller itself.



If you notice the Minn Kota Battery Charger I installed that about 5 years ago. The batteries were dead for about 5-6 months and the Cart just sat this time, not in the weather but just sat none the less till they needed it to move some boat trailers around. I put new batteries in it no problem. It worked. Always there is a catch. Now it goes about 50-75ft and the Controller output just stops, bounce the accelerator and it starts going again even without stopping. A new Controller is over $1200 before programming if you can find someone to do it correctly. I'm thinking the current Controller is "Brain Dead".



Everything is shoe-horned in on this cart. I've got to pickup some stainless steel fasteners to put it back together. I could not find a single input to the Controller that was dropping out while underway.