# Choppy acceleration, surging, etc **URL:** \ **Category:** GEM Forum\ **Created:** [August 30, 2013, 7:49am UTC](https://community.electricforum.com/t/choppy-acceleration-surging-etc/3728 "2013-08-30T07:49:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![lukeduke95](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/45deac/32.png) [@lukeduke95](https://community.electricforum.com/u/lukeduke95)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2013, 7:49am UTC](https://community.electricforum.com/t/choppy-acceleration-surging-etc/3728/1 "2013-08-30T07:49:49Z")
Been driving my Gem for almost 6 mos now and noticed more and more often it is choppy when accelerating. Almost like the motor gets cut out of receiving power randomly, but over and over again. Oddly, some days it will only do it 1-2 times each time i get up to speed, other days it does it over and over till i can finally reach speed. I have new batteries. Anything to clean? Contact plate? Motor brushes? Wiring looks clean… Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![bob.peloquin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ec9cab/32.png) [@bob.peloquin](https://community.electricforum.com/u/bob.peloquin)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2013, 6:55am UTC](https://community.electricforum.com/t/choppy-acceleration-surging-etc/3728/2 "2013-09-03T06:55:35Z")
I would check all 4 motor connections and consider re-brushing the motor. The stock motor won’t take continual higher-than-stock speeds and programming without somthing failing. Might be your problem… ---
**Author:** ![lukeduke95](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/45deac/32.png) [@lukeduke95](https://community.electricforum.com/u/lukeduke95)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2013, 10:55pm UTC](https://community.electricforum.com/t/choppy-acceleration-surging-etc/3728/3 "2013-11-28T22:55:33Z")
Been busy lately so didnt respond. Problem is still around, oddly it will do it randomly but more often than not. Comes and goes… so that makes me think it has to be something in a controller that is doing it, and not on the motor… I pulled the motor and cleaned everything, didn’t have any new brushes so just cleaned the old ones and put them back in. It is like the motor cuts out and comes back, but over and over again at say 1sec intervals. Then randomly the motor will completely stall and the car feels like it is hitting the regenerative breaking hard, then the motor will kick back in and operate flawlessly until the next time I turn it off again. Then if I start driving the same problem will come back. Any ideas? it can be so bad with the pulsing the car will just crawl up a hill cause it doesn’t stay energized enough to get the motor spinning fast enough. ---
**Author:** ![bob.peloquin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ec9cab/32.png) [@bob.peloquin](https://community.electricforum.com/u/bob.peloquin)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2013, 3:49am UTC](https://community.electricforum.com/t/choppy-acceleration-surging-etc/3728/4 "2013-11-29T03:49:51Z")
Could be the accelerator pedal’s potentiometer. It can be replaced with a new one from the OEM pedal manufacturer (can’t remember them off the top of my head) pretty cheaply. You can test with an ohm-meter as you turn the shaft. It should be a smooth progression from zero to full resistance across the full range. Any skips or dips in the meter needle (analog meter is best) will show if that’s the problem. Motor speed sensor could also be causing this symptom. It could be randomly seeing multiple senses of the magnet poles which would signal the controller it’s going faster than it really is. Good luck. Keep us informed of what you find so we may all learn from it. ---
**Author:** ![GEMmechanic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ecccb3/32.png) [@GEMmechanic](https://community.electricforum.com/u/GEMmechanic)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2013, 6:14pm UTC](https://community.electricforum.com/t/choppy-acceleration-surging-etc/3728/5 "2013-12-01T18:14:54Z")
Be sure to check the parking brake interlock switch. This will cause the cutting in and out if the switch is out of adjustment. This is a safety device to prevent driving with the parking brake on. Daniel ---
**Author:** ![lukeduke95](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/45deac/32.png) [@lukeduke95](https://community.electricforum.com/u/lukeduke95)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2013, 10:44pm UTC](https://community.electricforum.com/t/choppy-acceleration-surging-etc/3728/6 "2013-12-02T22:44:24Z")
Wouldn’t the error code come up if the interlock switch was triggering? The problem is an error code never comes up. I’ve tried pulling the brake up gently when driving to check and see if it is similar to my problem but it isn’t. I also tried pushing the pedal to just one spot and staying and it bucks no matter where you leave the pedal. ---
**Author:** ![GEMmechanic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ecccb3/32.png) [@GEMmechanic](https://community.electricforum.com/u/GEMmechanic)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2013, 9:38pm UTC](https://community.electricforum.com/t/choppy-acceleration-surging-etc/3728/7 "2013-12-03T21:38:35Z")
Have you checked every battery cable throughout? Also, the main contactor? Look for pitting inside. We have even had rust build up on the connections at the motor that bridged and caused similar trouble. I have found new brushes, but not from GE. The US made motors 2004 and back use different brushes than the 2005 and newer Chinese motors. Arrowhead electric in CA can supply just about any size brush from vacuum cleaners to locomotives. Daniel ---
**Author:** ![DonnieInNC](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex030/user_avatar/community.electricforum.com/donnieinnc/32/553_2.png) [@DonnieInNC](https://community.electricforum.com/u/DonnieInNC)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2015, 9:46am UTC](https://community.electricforum.com/t/choppy-acceleration-surging-etc/3728/8 "2015-05-30T09:46:01Z")
I have the same exact problem with my 2003 E2. Did you find what was causing your problem? Donnie ---
**Author:** ![Old\_Houseboater](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex030/user_avatar/community.electricforum.com/old_houseboater/32/544_2.png) [@Old\_Houseboater](https://community.electricforum.com/u/Old_Houseboater)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2015, 10:08am UTC](https://community.electricforum.com/t/choppy-acceleration-surging-etc/3728/9 "2015-05-30T10:08:38Z")
Donnie Start a new thread - this one is so old no one will see it. I really get PO’ed when the poster doesn’t tell us what the solution ended up being. Everybody wants advice when they have a problem. Some don’t come back when they find the answer. Most of us are DIY guys. Danial is a pro that helps a lot of people. He should at least get a thank you. ---
**Author:** ![DonnieInNC](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex030/user_avatar/community.electricforum.com/donnieinnc/32/553_2.png) [@DonnieInNC](https://community.electricforum.com/u/DonnieInNC)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2015, 3:25pm UTC](https://community.electricforum.com/t/choppy-acceleration-surging-etc/3728/10 "2015-05-31T15:25:59Z")
[quote=old houseboater;24849]donnie start a new thread - this one is so old no one will see it. I really get po’ed when the poster doesn’t tell us what the solution ended up being. Everybody wants advice when they have a problem. Some don’t come back when they find the answer. Most of us are diy guys. Danial is a pro that helps a lot of people. He should at least get a thank you.[/quote] **_new post started_**