2005 gem e85 wont go

2005 has the “long” GE motor and IIRC, if you unbolt the bottom of the shock, you can swing it out of the way and unbuckle the vent band on the back of the motor and get at the brushes with the motor in place. Pulling the hood off also helps with access. No need to take motor apart unless you have a bad bearing.

LithiumGods and GrantWest have both posted details on clearing stuck brushes and cleaning the holders. A thin pointed lady’s metal nail file, CRC lectra-clean and patience work well. Don’t scratch up the inside of the holders or you’ll keep having problems.

If you pull the motor, have a spare resilient bumper on hand, you’ll need it. You can buy a bag of them for like $12 from an online golf cart shop or pay $10 to have a single one from NEVA. Once it’s out, check the gearbox input shaft and oil seal, If they are worn or leaking @Old_Houseboater sells replacements.

Here’s an old thread of mine on pulling a clapped out “short” GE from 2000-2004, that ended up turning into input shafts, motor disassembly both short and long - lots of contributions & pics from others, and speedo magnets and how not to fvck them up by even slightly over greasing and hydraulicing the shaft into the bearing while putting stuff back together…