Battery light issue.....on 20 seconds, off 10 seconds

[gregphilley]

Okay.....new issue.....got a cart that is slow as hell......been trying to get it up and running at a decent pace.......

AQ0715 - 747365

Now, I've replaced the MCOR from a faster cart that the frame is shot on, replaced the Motor Controller on it, serviced the batteries 4 12v's.....load tested them and they're all okay (about 12.5-13V each and under load they go to 12v)...I've even replaced the speed sensor magnet from a know working fast cart too......but now I went home and left it off the charger and I come in and the battery light is on for about 20 seconds, then shuts off for about 10 seconds, and comes back on for 20 seconds.....and so on......

Does anyone know what this means??? I thought if it had a low battery issue, wouldn't the light stay on solidly until you charge it???

[gregphilley]

I'm about ready to swap the motor out.....got a known good and fast one out already and ready to go if this is what I need to do but not sure what that light means before I get into tearing out that motor to replace it.......

Any thoughts?!?!?

[gaminde]

Two things come to mind, bad battery (s) or speed sensor.

put a meter on the pack measure the voltage, then with the meter still on the pack drive it slowly note the voltage what are your readings.

[redman34]

I had a 2000 DS cart that I replaced one battery in the cart. Then I had the amber lite doing something similar, on for about 15 seconds ( roughly) then off for about 5 - 8 seconds, and repeated this pattern constantly.
I then charged the one battery, by itself, with a charger. The lite went out.

[gregphilley]

Okay........I'll try the batteries first........I'll let you know what happens after I swap them out when I go in today........it can't hurt, right?!?!

[gregphilley]

I actually took a few days off but I'm in today.......got to my cart (still off the charger AND wasn't moved for 3 days) and the light isn't flashing anymore.....no one touched it......I took my CDM to the battery light and I get 49.65V.........

WTF?!?!?.........Now I'm confused.......

[gregphilley]

Okay......I changed the batteries out......they were US Batteries and now I've got Trojans in there (They're either new or reconditioned...not sure, we have a guy who brings us batteries but these were not used and look brand new)....and I have the same slow results......put my CDM on it and it shows me 49.50V.......

Thinking I need to swap the motor after everything I've done to it so far......Any suggestions????

[gregphilley]

I've just swapped the motor out and now it seems like I might have decreased the speed slightly......This motor was in one of the fastest carts in the fleet...........I'm wondering if there might be a drag in the rear end or something....I don't hear anything unusual.....and I don't feel anything unusual either........

Ideas?!?!?

[Keith]

.....since no one else is offering any ideas I'll through out this one.

1. You changed out the MCOR .......that didn't help.
2. You changed out the controller.......that didn't help.
3. You changed out batteries..........no go.
4. You changed out motors.............it seemed to go slower.

Does the cart feel like it is running at 1/2 speed?

If it does, you may want to check out your "solenoid". If the contacts are not dropping out as designed (welded closed), the controller sences a "fault" and will not allow the cart to travel more than 1/2 speed until the problem is corrected.

There is a test you can do on the solenoid, but I would need to look it up.

[gregphilley]

Changed the MCOR, The Controller, & Batteries prior to swapping the motor........

Keep in mind, I'm still a new guy here at this course but I have a BONEYARD of carts and I am robbing parts from other carts BEFORE I requisition new parts......and being the new guy here, no one has tagged out what parts are good and what parts are bad....I guess it's TOTALLY up to me since I get paid by the hour and I need to figure it all out myself.........hehehehe........like I've been saying here (and these carts are REALLY beat up)........I can only polish a turd so much......

Here's where I'm thinking too........I'll try the solenoid idea.....it's not hard to replace.......but I was thinking since the cart I took the motor from was one of the fastest in the fleet, I swapped it into one of the slowest in the fleet and it was sitting outside for about 2+ months and I'm trying to get it back online that maybe I over-torqued the motor bolts OR I was thinking of replacing the entire rear end and put the motor back into the rear end it was in since they seemed to work so well with each other......I also hope that when I dropped the motor when taking it out and it crushed my pinky nail from the directions it said in the service manual (it was only about 8 inches off the ground) that it didn't damage the internals.........the motor still works but I'm wondering about shifting and/or brush alignment issues.....is this a possibility???

Today, I'm gonna yank the motor and rear end.........but I'm gonna replace the solenoid first......sounds crazy, but I'm willing to try it first.......... I'll let you know the results but can you give me any other suggestions????

[gregphilley]

I changed the solenoid and no change to performance.......gonna try the rear end theory........

[Keith]

Greg;
Thanks for posting your last update. I really enjoyed reading it and I better understand what your up against with your cart fleet.

As far as dropping the motor goes, I don't believe you could have damaged it unless it landed on one of the terminal posts. The carbon brushes are very brittle, but once their loaded into the brush rigging and seated on the commutator I gotta believe the brush springs and the bearing would absorb the shock load.

One other thing to consider before you yank out the transaxle. If in fact you have a binding or dragging issue going on the motor will run hotter than normal. You might want to take it out for a five minute spin and then crawl under the cart and check the motor and cables for signs of overheating.

Good luck!!!!

[gregphilley]

Will do that.........I'm just going to take the leaf springs and the whole axle as a whole and swap them.......4 bolts and 2 brake lines basically........going to try it today........thinking also a magnetic speed sensor swap....pretty quick and easy but not sure if I have "good" sensors or not.....

[gregphilley]

I did what you said and took it for a cruise........it is getting hot on the side of the motor where the brushes are......about where A1 and A2 are also......did I screw up the motor or do you think I just over-torqued the motor a bit or is my theory correct about a drag in the back end???......I did notice a weird loping and a squeak coming from the driver's rear......the cart didn't drive fluidly....just barely a noticeable loping......

I think I'm gonna pull the rear end......it sounds like maybe a combination of all three maybe to me.........I dunno.....just about out of options right now......

[Keith]

Now I think you've found the "smoking gun" your looking for. The noise and loping are signs that you have a brake shoe hanging up (noise) or you have a warped brake drum (loping). If so, it would explain why the motor is showing signs of overheating. I would put the cart up on jack stands and Step #1: With the R/T switch in "Tow" turn both rear wheels by hand to see if you can feel the shoes dragging in the brake drum. Step #2: You could also test run the cart to verify that the driver side wheel is where the noise is coming from. If so, pull off the wheel and put your hands at 9 o'clock and 3 o'clock on the brake drum to see which shoe is dragging and heating up the drum.
..........If It's not the brake shoes dragging the only other thing I can think of that could be making noise and causing the cart to "lope" would be a failing or failed outboard axle bearing.

To aswer your question about possible damage to the motor during installation or over torquing the bolts that could cause the motor to run hot?

It is possible to damage an IQ system motor if it is installed incorrectly. As long as the motor spline coupling slides freely onto the "greased" pinion spline shaft and you didn't use a dead blow hammer on it to get it into place it should be okay. If it binds on the spline and you hit the motor with anything other than your hand you can damage both the motor bearing and the pinion spline shaft bearings.