I have a few of these that I am working with, but only one has given me any problems of an electrical nature.
I have a 2009 that is giving me fits. At first, it threw a code 21. after following the factory manual which led me to beleive that the accelerator pedal was malfunctioning, I changed it.
No change.
instead of spending a bunch of money on parts, I took one of our known, operational vehicles… I used it to swap parts from one to the other, after having done the requisite electrical checks.
so… I have 72 volts to the controller. I have 72 volts to the contactor. the controller is a known good unit, as it works in another vehicle. the contactor is a known good unit, it works in another vehicle. the main motor switch is known good, swapped out into another vehicle where it operated. the motor is good, jumped it from other vehicle controls, while on jackstands. it operates fine.
battery voltage is fine, wiring is not screwed up. I have doublechecked with another known good vehicle to determine that I might not have put a wire back into the right place.
so… when you turn the key on, the instrument panel lights. when you release the brake, the 21 code comes up.
Check the parking brake micro-switch. Although I haven’t seen it in the wiring diagram, it appears that there’s 3 wires going to it. If one of the halves of the switch is bad, you won’t get the proper signal to the controller to allow motion. That ‘could’ be the problem but not necessarily.
GEM must have changed the circuitry pretty drastically on the newer models. There’s GOT to be one or more switches causing this problem. There’s several which must be closed or open to make the controller work.
First is the ignition switch. It supplies 72 volts to the controller and the DC-DC converter.
Next is the road/turf switch. It tells the controller whether to use the limits for turf mode. It may be a 2-wire switch so that would only cause it to be either in road or turf mode, not fail to move at all.
Then there’s the Forward/Neutral/Reverse switch. That’s a 3-wire switch and one or the other output bust be connected to the center to make the cart move. Off is neutral. You could check that switch for continuity and trace the wires to the controller.
Then there’s the start switch. When the gas pedal is released, it opens a switch that tells the controller the full-off position. If that switch doesn’t close due to dirty contacts or a bad connection between it and the controller, it will throw an error.
You’re lucky to have parts to swap around. It sounds like the wiring or a fwd/rev switch may be your best bet to check next.
[quote=bob.peloquin;16150]GEM must have changed the circuitry pretty drastically on the newer models. There’s GOT to be one or more switches causing this problem. There’s several which must be closed or open to make the controller work.
First is the ignition switch. It supplies 72 volts to the controller and the DC-DC converter.
Next is the road/turf switch. It tells the controller whether to use the limits for turf mode. It may be a 2-wire switch so that would only cause it to be either in road or turf mode, not fail to move at all.
Then there’s the Forward/Neutral/Reverse switch. That’s a 3-wire switch and one or the other output bust be connected to the center to make the cart move. Off is neutral. You could check that switch for continuity and trace the wires to the controller.
Then there’s the start switch. When the gas pedal is released, it opens a switch that tells the controller the full-off position. If that switch doesn’t close due to dirty contacts or a bad connection between it and the controller, it will throw an error.
You’re lucky to have parts to swap around. It sounds like the wiring or a fwd/rev switch may be your best bet to check next.[/quote]
no road/turf switch…
I will check for continuity at the High/low/reverse switch, and see what it has…
The high/low/reverse switch is where I’d start too. It must be a double-acting switch and the new controllers are programmed for only 3 states indicated by either of the end wires closed being high or reverse and both being open meaning low speed. That would be my guess - if it has only 3 wires coming out of it anyway.
I will get in the middle of it as soon as I can… I currently have another issue that has my attention… 4 inches of water on the floor in the basement , just outside the elevator shaft… Evidently the sump pumps in the elevator shaft arent taking the load… and theres a water main somewhere thats broken…
I am having the exact same problem on two of these 2009 models. I parked one about 6 months ago and now the other one is in the same situation with code 21 when you release the parking brake. New batteries in both about a year ago. Both bcarts are putting out 72 volts from battery pack. I took the screws loose to look at forward hi/low/reverse switch but wasnt sure how to pop everything loose to get column out of the way to see switches. Any help would be greatly appreciated.