Sorry, new to all of this and trying to learn and figure out this car. Has been in family for 10+ years with minimal issues currently belongs to my father in law, he had issues with it last year and dropped off at my house last week. Batteries were replaced last year and will take a charge. Last fall car was driven down the road, pulled up to a neighbors house stopped to talk and went to leave car would do nothing, full charge electrical accessories working etc. got it back to the garage and sat all winter. Got dropped off at my house to try to diagnose/repair. Got batteries charged up, have 72V at controller, brake switch intact and working, key on contactor working, go to hit pedal to move in drive or reverse get very slight movement than nothing, seems like it tries to move but than just cuts out completely, all other electrical working normal. Any suggestions or things to check I’m at a loos. Have pulled and wire brushed/cleaned all terminals etc.
First wag is stuck brushes.
Any test to verify? I thought I had seen a procedure when I first started trying to find info but now that actually working on it can’t find anything thing. Motor is a grey case GE
Do you have a handheld volt meter?
Set it to DCV.
Attach both red and black probes on the A1 and A2 lugs on the motor and place the meter somewhere you can see the display from the driver seat.
KeyON, HandBrakeOFF, Press pedal a bit and watch the meter reading.
You should see the voltage go up and down with the pedal press.
Key to this test will be when you release pedal, voltage will probably remain high for a while, possibly slowly dropping.
If brushes not stuck, When pedalUP, Voltage will drop to zero real quick.
I do, I will give that a try tomorrow when get home from work, thank you.
Sounds like you’re on the right track so far—great job checking voltages and cleaning terminals. The issue you’re describing (brief movement, then nothing) is often tied to either a bad throttle signal, a failing controller, or a motor fault like a short or bad connection. Here are some things to check next:
- Throttle Signal (Potentiometer or MCOR)
- With the key on, test throttle output voltage to the controller. You should see a smooth voltage increase (e.g. 0.5V to ~4.5V) as you press the pedal.
- If it jumps or cuts out, replace the throttle component (e.g., MCOR on Club Cars).
- Check for Fault Codes
- If your controller has LED diagnostics (Curtis, Alltrax, etc.), check for blink patterns when the issue occurs.
- Motor Test
- Do a continuity and isolation test on the motor. If there’s a short to the frame or one of the motor terminals is open, the controller may shut down as protection.
- Solenoid/Contactor Check
- Make sure it stays latched when you press the pedal. If it drops out, trace why—bad key switch, run/tow switch, or loose wiring.
- Controller Output
- With 72V input confirmed, measure if the controller sends output voltage to the motor when you press the pedal. If not, the controller may be bad.
Let me know your make/model of the car and controller if possible—could help narrow things down.
Its a 2002?
I know how to resolve the issues
Sorry I didn’t get a chance to look into it at all today was busy with kids sports, will hopefully have some time tomorrow to do some more test.
Yes believe dom was March of 2002
So finally getting back to checking things out. First model of car is a E825? (4 seater with a little trunk on back) Date of mfg 03/12/02.
Controller has a ge tag nev:72V-350 amp with a serial #sh7r0118587p….is that helpful?
I have all of the dash apart so figured easiest thing to check would be voltage out of controller. Key on, brake released, apply pedal and tries to move than cuts out. With one meter lead on output of controller and one on chassis(same thing when testing each output) I have 45-48 volts once pedal is pushed voltage goes to 0, release pedal and slowly ramps back up to 45-48 volts
Without disconnecting cables at motor, when I check for continuity to ground on A1 and A2 I am getting continuity on A1….not sure how this motor is internally but would assume that’s a short to ground or stuck brush issue explaining the problem with car. I know enough to get me in trouble with electronics and have no experience with these cars so just wanting to check in to make sure I’m not heading down the wrong track.
I appreciate everyone’s help so far.
When it tries to move then cuts out,
Is there an error code and a wrench that pops up on the dash display?
No error code or light
K- then go back up to my post #4 and follow those instructions.
Ignore anan99. He is new and it looks like he comes from the cart world. Some of his instructions do not apply to the Gem world.
Ok, will give that a try and report back
Just went out and tried, when it makes the attempt to move it happens so fast that voltage won’t register on the multimeter, starts to try to go up than drops right back to 0. Have to shut it off with the ignition switch and turn it back on to try again with same result.
So with this test not seeing the 72V does that go back to the controller being the issue and not sending the required voltage to the motor?
Does your dash display show anything at all?
It should be showing 0 being speed, Then with the handbrake applied a -04.
Yes will show the 04 with brake on, shows state of charge etc
Ok, then this sounds like a pedal issue.
Locate the two pivot pins on the side of the pedal brick. Press them in and the top should come off.
Some people use contact spray in the pot to clean it out. It may be just too worn out.
Depending on how resourceful you are, You may be able to locate a new pot and swap it out.
If you don’t have much to work with (some of these brick pedals rust to thin shells of their former self), then see if you can locate a Linemaster foot pedal from a welder.
Ok, I had the pedal apart before posting to look in there and try to test but couldn’t find any info anywhere on test procedure so just inspected and put together. Will try some contact cleaner this evening if I get a chance. Are parts available separately or do I have to purchase a pedal assembly?
If you contact linemaster directly you can get certain parts directly, like the potentiometer . For Some parts like springs you may have to replace the whole pedal. Last i recall their prices are very reasonable. Been a few years though.