1997 g19e

[redharley01]

I recently bought a very clean '97 G19e ran great till last week. Now every so often the gas pedal does nothing, you have to mash it a few times before starts to move.
Is there some sort of pedal sensor that would cause something like that? My wife almost got stranded at the grocery store yesterday...any help would be greatly appreciated.

[golfcartg]

The symptoms you're describing could be related to batteries that are nearing the end of their lifespan. As deep cycle lead acid batteries age, they lose their ability to hold a charge effectively, which can result in inconsistent power delivery. This can cause the cart to hesitate or fail to move when you press the gas pedal, as the batteries may not be providing sufficient power to the motor at that moment. It's possible that mashing the pedal a few times temporarily helps the batteries deliver enough power to get the cart moving, but this is a sign that they may be on their last legs.

Typically, deep cycle lead acid batteries have a lifespan of about 4-6 years, depending on usage and maintenance. Factors like frequent deep discharges, improper charging, lack of watering, and extreme temperatures can reduce this lifespan. If your batteries are within this age range, they might be the culprit. To confirm, you should perform a load test on the batteries to see how they hold up under demand. If they fail the test or show a significant voltage drop, it’s likely time for a replacement. You can also hook up a digital voltmeter (DVM) with alligator clips to the main positive and negative terminals of the battery pack to monitor how the batteries perform in real time while driving. For a 36V pack, healthy readings should be around 38-41 volts when fully charged and shouldn't stay below 36 volts after load. If the voltage drops significantly lower and do not recover, it could indicate that the batteries are weak or nearing the end of their life.

If the batteries check out under load, the issue could also be with the speed sensor or throttle input, which measures how far the pedal is pressed and sends that information to the controller to adjust the motor speed accordingly. A failing sensor might cause intermittent issues where pressing the pedal doesn’t always result in movement. Another potential cause could be worn out motor brushes or loose or corroded connections, particularly around the battery terminals or the controller. Verifying all connections are clean and tight can sometimes resolve these kinds of issues.

If you have any questions or need further information feel free to ask!