Motor Brushes

[okphil]

Has anyone replaced brushes on their motor? I only took the end cap off (not the whole motor) and I had to **** the brushes back in their holders with the springs just on the side of the brush to get it back on. Now I think they didn't reset themselves when power was applied. Pic doesn't show them in the ****ed position.

Bottom line is that after replacing all the battery and power cables, new F/R switch, new charge receptacle and new brushes, the cart won't run. Sounds like all five of the solenoids are working. Where would I put a meter to see if power comes all the way to the motor? Will I have to take the whole motor off and apart again (completely this time) to ensure the brushes make contact? 86 Club Car DS 36V resistor cart.

[okphil]

Guess I need to make a small tool to pop the brushes and springs home as I'm close to getting the end cap on...

[okphil]

Got it. It's Alive!!

[gaminde]

so what did you end up doing??

[okphil]

Well I couldn't get the whole motor off the shaft so I had to do it on the cart. That was a pain. I needed a tool like a stiff wire with a 90 deg angle on it. Could of used an allen wrench. But I had a concrete form anchor that was the perfect size, length, stiffness. Set the brushes back all the way with the springs just to the side to hold them open, put the end cap assembly on the motor just enough for the brushes to be over the rotor but leaving a 1/2" gap to work the tool.

The tool pushed the back of the brushes and snapped them in place on the rotor. The springs went back to their natural position behind the brushes. I had to do two of them from underneath the motor. Of course you also have to juggle the connection posts and their washers, gaskets and retainers as you're setting the job up and getting ready to close it up.

At some point I may want to replace the motor so I'll still have the issue of getting it off the differential shaft without destroying both but I'll cross that bridge later. Surely someone has had a motor that didn't want to come off and figured it out. Maybe there is a pulling tool like you would use to remove the steering wheel or something.
Anyway the cart's still on jack stands but I have strong forward and reverse. All five solenoids fire off and I'm happy. Now I can wire the lights and put the body back on.