New to me 2001 rebuild is going well. New brakes, wheels, half-shafts, etc. I am down to thinking about the motor. I’m surprised how loud it is. No grinding, just a loud high-pitched electric motor noise. I don’t know what ‘normal’ is, but it’s louder than a regular golf cart and takes away from the ride quality.
I’m wondering if the rubber bushing/bumper is bad or what could be causing the noise? If it is normal, are the R4F/D&D motors quieter?
- What is the history of this motor? Has it been serviced lately?
- Does this noise also happen in reverse?
Lift your front wheels off the ground so you can run it in place.
- Does it still make this noise?
Unloaded, it might be less. This might mean what you are hearing is input shaft gear noise. Have you checked the oil level in the gearbox?
With it running in place (watch out for the spinning wheels) you might be able to isolate the area where it is coming from. Use a stick and place your hand on one end of it with your thumb knuckle wrapped over the end. When car is running, lean into the car and place the stick in various spots and place the end of your stick/thumb knuckle up to your earlobe and give things a listen. As you move the stick around you will be able to listen to various moving parts. Place it on outside of motor bearing, Where the brushes are, and the various shafts and their bearings in your gearbox.
Do you think you can figure out how to record, post the video somewhere, and link to it here in your next post?
Thanks for the reply!
I’ve got the rear subframe jacked up right now for some touch up painting, but will hopefully be able to run the motor and record a video in the next day or so. In the meantime, some info below.
** What is the history of this motor? Has it been serviced lately?*
Original from 2001 (3.5HP?). 5,300 miles. Cart was stored indoors, but I don’t think it has ever been serviced other than new batteries. Inherited from father-in-law, so can no longer get the details.
** Does this noise also happen in reverse?*
Yes, but I haven’t gone as fast, of course. The noise builds with speed. Not bad at low speeds.
Lift your front wheels off the ground so you can run it in place.
Will try to do this when I can.
Have you checked the oil level in the gearbox?
No. That is a good call. I should probably do a change regardless.
@AssyRequired Here’s a short video of the motor noise. I did change the gearbox oil before recording this. Not much difference. Maybe this is normal, but sounds louder than it should be to me.
For what it’s worth, there isn’t a performance issue that I can tell. Gets up to 25mph.
From what I can tell, that is just normal gear whine.
It is partly due to the while driveline is solid mounted to the frame.
What oil did you put in? Yes, the manual says something like 30wt motor oil. Most people ignore that and put in 90wt gear oil.
Thanks for giving it a listen. So a new D&D motor would have a similar noise? Do you think I should change the bushing after ~5,300 miles or not really needed?
Yeah, I did just use SAE 30, but agree with the sentiment. I might drain some back out and put in the thick Lucas stuff to supplement.
Yeah, a new motor will still sound the same.
90wt will quiet it down even more. Lucas motor honey additive will help even more.
You may notice range may suffer each step due to it being tougher to spin.
I wouldn’t worry about changing the bushing (rubber bumper?).
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