I have a 2006 GEM EL - I drove it Thursday evening - plugged it in to charge when I got home. Unplugged it when the batteries were fully charged. When I started to go out the next afternoon, I turned the key and the dash lit up showing full charge but the yellow plug was also lit as though the charger was still plugged it. The vehicle will not go into any gear. Possibly need a new charger or the plug to the charger is bad - thoughts?
How familiar are you with the car?
Is this new to you or have you had it a while?
Since the last time you drove it, have you done anything to the car?
The car basically thinks it is still plugged in and charging. It does this with a wire called the interlock.
If the only thing you did was plug it in to charge, try doing this again (plug it in and unplug again). Possibly the relay associated with it is stuck and it needs to be cycled.
Otherwise you will need to dive in under the hood and look for the interlock wire and follow it through the dash and make sure it is still plugged in.
I am not overly mechanical - my husband was but he passed away several years ago. we got this GEM in 2015 and, other than battery replacement and tires, haven’t really had any issues. I didn’t do anything different to it from one day to the next - just plugged it in. I tried plugging it in and unplugging it again - also turned the whole thing off for a bit to see if it would reset when I flipped the switch back on. I went back out this morning to check and now when I turn the key, nothing happens. The dash lights don’t even come on.
Accessories and lights will not work if the little yellow plug still showing on the dash display.
Next time out, see if you can get a view of the display on the charger itself. The charger is mounted up under the hood in front, and is visible from the driver side if you look over the front tire, past the shock and way back in there. When plugged in, you will see a panel with a few lights.
The yellow electrical outlet doesn’t even light up when the key is on anymore. When I plug the charger in as if I’m charging it, I have a flashing red light on top and then a yello,one right below. Bad charger?
Red(6) Internal error - is usually not a good code. Your charger may need to come out of this car. Have you had any storms lately that may have introduced a voltage spike?
Do you have a service company in your area that could take a look at the car?
Not having any 12v power is making me think something has happened to your 12v DC Converter. Check Fuse13 (inside the round holder), Fuse 10, Fuse9 and maybe even Fuse5.
Took a while - didn’t have a 10 AMP fuse for #13 or any 1 Amp fuses - 3 auto parts stores later I still couldn’t find 1 AMP, so I got 2 AMP. Once I replaced the 10 AMP fuse in #13 the dash lights up again. Still showing full charge and the yellow electrical plug when it’s unplugged and I turn the key to on. When plugged in, the charger light still blinks 6 fast red and a pause.
I live in a highly wooded area and do see chipmunks running around - to my knowlege, I don’t have any living in my garage and have not seen any evidence of chewed items or signs of any excrement.
I’m not aware of any service companies in my area that would be familiar with a GEM - any suggestions on how I can locate the nearest one? If it’s the charger, I believe I saw (a long time ago) a place on Electric forum that sells them and if you send the old one in, they will pre=program the new one for you.
Once I replaced the 10 AMP fuse in #13 the dash lights up again. Still showing full charge and the yellow electrical plug when it’s unplugged and I turn the key to on.
Good- I’m not sure why that fuse popped, but it is something to note if it happens again.
Still need to get rid of the yellow charge plug. Do you feel like poking around under the hood? I need you to locate a wire. Look for a group of wires coming out of the passenger side of the charger. A black cable comes out of the charger, then 4 wires will break out of that black cable. These 4 wires will be a Red, Black, White and Green. They will go out in several different directions.
I am interested in the Green wire. If you follow it, you should find that it joins up with another green wire that disappears through the dash.
Make sure that connector where the two wires join has not come apart.
Let me know if you can find this wire.
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I live in a highly wooded area and do see chipmunks running around - to my knowlege, I don’t have any living in my garage and have not seen any evidence of chewed items or signs of any excrement.
Ok, good. You got my reference. Just something to watch for.
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I’m not aware of any service companies in my area that would be familiar with a GEM.
Being familiar is somewhat important, but you also need someone willing to wrench on it. Do you have any awesome neighbors that can give you a hand?
If we need to pull your charger out of the car, it is a job that helps if you are part contortionist, good at Jenga, and make sure no young kids are around that don’t know all the sailor swear words yet.
As long as someone can follow instructions, we might be able to get you running.
Thanks! I appreciate your help troubleshooting this. Leaving soon for the evening. Will work on locating and checking the wiring connection in the morning. I’m not afraid to try to do any of it with good direction. Used to work on mechanical stuff all the time with my husband - just that he was the brains and gave me lots of guidance. I seem to recall that help removing the charger would be good. We used to have another one that I believe we did that on.
The cable I find out of the charger doesn’t seem to break out until in get inside the dash - I removed the top of the dash but still don’t see where it open up to 4 different wires. Thinking I have to remove the whole dash, but want to make sure before I do that. Don’t want to disassemble any more than necessary
Sure, it could be that the wires spread out under the dash. It shouldn’t be too far in and most likely visible with only the upper dash section removed.
Double check/make sure you are following the correct cable. It exits the charger (black and yellow box with fins) on the pass side.
If you want to remove the lower dash, it is only 3 screws and lifts up and out. It might be a bit of a tumble to get it out of the door.
And, I’d so, is there a place to get instructions and/or diagrams for “how to”? I live in an area with lots of golf carts - hoping one of the people who work on those can help me but would probably have to know what I’m getting them into.
Sorry, I missed your response.
Good that you found this wire. This is your interlock wire that is triggering that yellow charge plug and keeping you from driving.
To bypass this interlock and test run the car, this wire needs to be connected to a B+ source. Depending on where you found this green to green connection (inside dash or under hood?), I can direct you to where it can be placed.
