Ok i have aquired a 2001 E-825 2 seater. 72v has been sitting in a garage for almost 10yrs. Got it home and started with 6 new batteries. All went well at this point. Had no key so i used a paperclip to join the 2 wires from switch. Well it runs after adjusting the parki g brake microswitch.
Didnt take long to figure out the jumper wire had no effect as i have bought new Medco key and switch works but has no control.
When you cut master on the loud click takes place whether key is there or even the switc is there. Unhooked switch and it still runs.
What am i missing here?
Is sounds like the KeySwitch might have been bypassed by the PO.
Do you know if this car has the New DC Converter Update?
Look for the Surepower Converter under the dash over on the pass side down low. It is a black box with fins, usually hiding behind a nest of tangled wires(as in this pic).
Verify if you have one of these and this will tell me where to look for the hotwire jumper.
I do not have that black box on mine.
Then you probably have an open faced circuit board like this?
(there were 3 variants of this Printed Wiring Board (aka the PWB). One of them was in an aluminum box and potted with epoxy.
Just like that one pictured
This gets a bit tricky.
This board does a few different things. One of them is switching the motor controller on/off depending on state of the key switch.
Either it is shorted in the ON state, or there is something jumped in the key loop (making the key position irrelevant).
Examine the PWB closely. Get down there with a light and get a really good look at it. The best way to view it is with the upper and lower dash panels removed.
Look for evidence of water/moisture. You may see dirty/corroded terminals and connections where the components attach to the board instead of nice clean solder connections. Water and electronic components do not play well together.
Do you have a handheld digital meter on hand to do some measurements?
Well…if I could just add my 2 cents in… I had a similar experience when my key switch was loose and the wires fell off. I reconnected the wires and nothing happened. ( Note: my oe switch has 3 prongs, but only 2 wires). It didn’t take long to figure out that one of the outside prongs is a dummy. Anyway after trying all the different combinations I found the one that worked. Also, (I know I’m going to get grief for the following ) It’s been a while, but I want to say that which wire goes on the center prong and which goes on the correct outside prong makes a difference. I suspect that there’s a diode or possibly a couple of resistors inside the switch making the wire position important.
I’m not sure what you got into, but the 3 prong switches are not that devious. There is no need
The center pin is usually the common.
Condition 1 - has one Pin (A) going active (closed) and the other Pin (B) going inactive (open) when the key is rotated forward.
Condition 2 - has Pin (A) going inactive (open) and Pin (B) going active (closed)
Perhaps your switch was in process of failing?
In any case, the OP has a condition where the car continues to run even after disconnecting the switch.
Exactly. The wires have to be connected to the correct prongs or it will mask the other symptoms… Having never had one apart, I have no idea what’s inside. Thanks for the clarification.
Ok i totally understand the wire connections, but why is the ign switch sitting in floorboard not hooked up and the master is like controlling it?
Possibly a jumper wire in the PWB someone stated?
Orange should go to center and green to outside
Yes i have a multimeter but no handheld aka curtis handheld
Ignore Cformony suggestion. I don’t think he fully understands what your problem is.
Can you get a good clear pic of your PWB?
How does it look?
Awesome. Thanks.
That is a very clean example of the PWB.
I am looking for any possible creative wiring hacks from the PO that do not belong. So far I do not see anything.
That small cigarette butt with a wire going into one end is a temp sensor for the charger. It detects excessive battery heat and adjusts voltage curve in charging cycle. Normally it tucks in between the two batteries up front.
What charger is in this car?
The charger is the box in the center of the dash. It will be silver or black.
Depending on charger, It will have wires coming out the bottom, or the top.
Could you show me these wires and where they go?
Also the connections on top of the motor controller. It is a box to the left of center.
Cart runs great just no way other than master kill switch to cut off power. When I turn it off and back on I get a -51 code and then goes away? Read somewhere that was a non 72v @ controller code?
That -51 is an error generated because it does not like the way it is powering up.
That is what I’m trying to ferret out.
Thanks for the pics.
On top of the charger you will find two smaller 18ga wires plugged into the top(behind the large round connector). One is Red/Gr stripe, and the other is Green.
→ Pull the green wire and see if the dash display goes out.
Verify(Y/N)?
No, dash lights still on after unplugging green wire from charger