Trouble shooting help

[scLocal]

Hello all,


I have an Ezgo TXT, 36v cart. I run the cart for under five minutes and the controller, solenoid, and motor gets very hot. If I keep driving the cart will slow and come to a stop. Cool it down and it will limp along. Leave it to cool completely and you can do it all over again.

So far....

Sent the cart to a shop, and they replaced the solenoid and resistor. Tested batteries, and checked everything over the cart. They said there were no issues.

Same issues

I sent the controller out and had it rebuilt. Came back with a good bench test. Also rebuilt the charger. Tested the speed controller, and everything else I could think of, nothing.

Same issues

Took the batteries out, installed three brand-new commercial 12v batteries, and cleaned up all connections and cabling.

Same issues

I tested the motor itself, and found some ohms reading to the housing. Sent the motor out and had it rebuilt and bench-tested.

Same issues

So I got four stock wheels, and that made no difference.

Could the wire size between the batteries and the motor be causing this? Currently, there is a No 6 to everything.

I am open to any ideas or thoughts. Locally I have talked to 4-5 cart shop mechanics and none of them have any idea.

TIA ! ! ! !

[golfcartg]

Welcome, what setup do you have? See attached photo guide

[scLocal]

Welcome, what setup do you have? See attached photo guide

SEPEX, Rocker dash switch, PDS, The far right system.

[cybercart]

Brakes hung up?? Since it shuts down within 5 minutes, raise it up on jack stands, remove the rear hubs [both sides] to disable the brakes, put a brick on the gas pedal and run it till it dies, if it doesn’t die, check the rear hubs for wear grooves. What’s the fluid in the rear look like??

[scLocal]

Brakes hung up?? Since it shuts down within 5 minutes, raise it up on jack stands, remove the rear hubs [both sides] to disable the brakes, put a brick on the gas pedal and run it till it dies, if it doesn’t die, check the rear hubs for wear grooves. What’s the fluid in the rear look like??

I will be checking the brakes this morning a lot closer. I have not checked the rear end fluid and that is on the work order today too.

[scLocal]

Morning update:
Took the hubs off, checked the voltage, and depressed the pedal 3/4 of the way or so. Heard a small pop sound and a puff of white smoke came out from the solenoid/controller. Now I get 38 volts on both of the small solenoid terminals. I removed the solenoid and tested it, and it works fine. The resistor tests fine. Let me guess I just blew up this controller somehow.
On the brakes, the passenger side everything seems good. On the driver's side, it doesn't seem like the shoes are retracting to allow the drum to rotate. Going to dig into this more and get to the hog head to look at the oil.

Maybe the repair for this thing should involve a couple of gallons of gas and a boat flare......

[golfcartg]

Morning update:
Took the hubs off, checked the voltage, and depressed the pedal 3/4 of the way or so. Heard a small pop sound and a puff of white smoke came out from the solenoid/controller. Now I get 38 volts on both of the small solenoid terminals. I removed the solenoid and tested it, and it works fine. The resistor tests fine. Let me guess I just blew up this controller somehow.
On the brakes, the passenger side everything seems good. On the driver's side, it doesn't seem like the shoes are retracting to allow the drum to rotate. Going to dig into this more and get to the hog head to look at the oil.

Maybe the repair for this thing should involve a couple of gallons of gas and a boat flare......

EZGO calls for 10-12oz of rear lubricant. The factory recommends SAE 30 motor oil as the lubricant. I would just dump the old fluid looking for chunks and to check to make sure there is actually fluid in there.

It seems like the shops that looked at your cart might have been more interested in selling you a new or different cart rather than putting in the time and effort to fix your older model. They might have been hoping you’d just give up and junk it with them. Not hating on the shops, they have bills to pay and money to make, its just the nature of life. However, your cart is definitely fixable, and it’s clear that you’ve invested a lot of time and effort to get this far, so it obviously means something to you. Just keep in mind that it’s going to take a lot of time and patience to figure out the root cause(s) if you are up for the challenge.

If you have any accessories wired into the system, it’s best to disconnect them all for now and get the cart back to stock condition. This will help you diagnose the issues more effectively through process of elimination. The fact that the brake hub is sticking is actually promising, just a little bit of drag can cause the controller to overheat, especially when combined with oversized tires, which can be a recipe for controller heat issues. Are you using this diagram to check your wiring? If not, could you post what you have?

[scLocal]

EZGO calls for 10-12oz of rear lubricant. The factory recommends SAE 30 motor oil as the lubricant. I would just dump the old fluid looking for chunks and to check to make sure there is actually fluid in there.

It seems like the shops that looked at your cart might have been more interested in selling you a new or different cart rather than putting in the time and effort to fix your older model. They might have been hoping you’d just give up and junk it with them. Not hating on the shops, they have bills to pay and money to make, its just the nature of life. However, your cart is definitely fixable, and it’s clear that you’ve invested a lot of time and effort to get this far, so it obviously means something to you. Just keep in mind that it’s going to take a lot of time and patience to figure out the root cause(s) if you are up for the challenge.

If you have any accessories wired into the system, it’s best to disconnect them all for now and get the cart back to stock condition. This will help you diagnose the issues more effectively through process of elimination. The fact that the brake hub is sticking is actually promising, just a little bit of drag can cause the controller to overheat, especially when combined with oversized tires, which can be a recipe for controller heat issues. Are you using this diagram to check your wiring? If not, could you post what you have?

Yes I am using that wiring diagram from Cartsunlimited.net. Also, there is a 10 or so page testing procedure that I have been following.

[scLocal]

Morning update:
Took the hubs off, checked the voltage, and depressed the pedal 3/4 of the way or so. Heard a small pop sound and a puff of white smoke came out from the solenoid/controller. Now I get 38 volts on both of the small solenoid terminals. I removed the solenoid and tested it, and it works fine. The resistor tests fine. Let me guess I just blew up this controller somehow.
On the brakes, the passenger side everything seems good. On the driver's side, it doesn't seem like the shoes are retracting to allow the drum to rotate. Going to dig into this more and get to the hog head to look at the oil.

Maybe the repair for this thing should involve a couple of gallons of gas and a boat flare......

Checked up the hog head, it was filled with something close to a 90 gear oil. Ran a magnet through it and found nothing but a very small amount of glitter. Got the 30 ND oil and am ready to reassemble the pan.