Cart goes from fully charged to no power. Batteries only a year old. Seems to be intermittent problem. Any suggestions?
You have a loose/corroded battery connection
did not remove any of the batteries conections but they all felt tight and looked clean. all the conector in the under hood area are tight.
I know you see the code 15. First, you do need to properly clean the terminals and then make sure they are tight. Do the same with the main fuse. OK then can you tell us exactly what the car does right before it stops? Do you hear any clicks? How do you get the car to go again? Do you have to recharge it before it will go again? More info please. Barry.
The next time it does this feel each connection Be careful dont burn yourself
Check for dragging brake
Thx, Barry. Right before the bars disappear there is one loud click and then it drops to one red bar. It drives fine but doesnt go very far on one red bar.
After you charge it, does it always drive OK for a short time? Looking under the front fender on the driver’s side after it says it’s done charging, while it is still plugged in there will be two lights on at the yellow battery charger near the top of the engine compartment. What color are they? This may be a battery problem. Very common. Later, Barry.
After you charge it, does it always drive OK for a short time? Or does it drive slow after you see the red bar? Looking under the front fender on the driver’s side after it says it’s done charging, while it is still plugged in there will be two lights on at the yellow battery charger near the top of the engine compartment. What color are they? This may be a battery problem. Very common. Later, Barry.
when I drive it usually it is fine but sometimes it clicks and goes to one red bar,still has good speed for about 3 miles then slows. This morning normal drive for over ten miles then home to charge it. the lights you mentioned are one solid yellow and one blinking red after the charge. I went for a very normal 8 mile ride after the charge then checked the lights, all off. Plugged in charger and got one steady yellow and one blinking yellow while it was on the charger.
When you dont get the 15 how many bars does the 8 mile ride consume? 2 or 3? or?
The blinking red light indicates a charging problem. You need to plug the car in after a use. When it is done charging, and still plugged in, you need to go look at the lights on the charger. Looking at the blinking red light. It is showing a code that it repeats over and over with a hesitation in between. It will blink like say 2 times with a hesitation in between each two blinks. Count how many blinks are in between each hesitation. Let us know the count. I will try and find the code sheet. It will give further insight into what the problem is. If you have a volt meter you will need to check the voltage of each battery, for now, after it says it is charged and after you have driven the car and it gives you a problem. Do the voltage checks with the car unplugged and the master switch turned off. Have fun, B.
After charging there is a steady yellow light and a blinking red light. The red light blinks four times then pauses and blinks four times again.
Hi. Make sure that your car is plugged into its own circuit with nothing else on that circuit when you are charging. You then need to check the voltage on that line. The charger wants at least 104.00 volts. After it says it is charged, what is the total voltage? 72v, 82v??? Then what are the individual battery voltages, be exact. A lot of problems in Gem cars lead to one or more bad batteries. Be suspect of the battery with the lowest voltage. One bad cell in one battery can cause a lot of trouble. Do you ever see the turtle on the dash light up when you have a problem? The next thing to do will be to find a friend. No this isn’t a game show. You will need them to help you check the individual volt drop of each battery while you drive your pregnant guppy (Gem). Enough for now. Peace out. (Not a political statement). Barry.
The turtle does come on. I don’t think I want to do the checks you asked for. It’s getting time to call a shop.
Yup. If you don’t feel comfortable doing the testing, don’t. I read this forum all the time and a lot of the time it is way over my head. But don’t stop reading it. It is also a lot of fun, just like driving a GEM. You do have to be careful about what shop to take it to. When Polaris bought the rights to GEM it didn’t bring the Gem people or their their pride and care with them. Polaris dealerships are not required to train their technicians nor have the proper equipment to repair Gems. Like any mechanic you should ask around to see who is a good one. I still think you have a bad battery. Batteries are around $300.00 each. Since your batteries are only 1 year old they may have a warranty. If one battery is bad you don’t have to buy all new batteries. Some people believe that you have to replace the batteries as a pack. You would want to if they were all old, but yours are new. All this said, I’m not a mechanic and I’m not there. I hope you have good luck and get it repaired soon so you can get back to having fun driving your GEM!
Thx, Barry. Advise from GEM dealer here was the same as yours about the circuit. Electrician coming on Sat. to put GEM on it’s on circuit. Will let you know. Thx for your time. Ed
We put in a new circuit & seems to be the answer. Will be on vacation for 2 weeks so will see how it goes when we return.
Thx again for you hell. Ed
WHAT!!! You’re not taking your GEM on vacation? I pull mine behind my rv on its own trailer on vacation. You must show it more love! I bet you put your dog in a kennel when you go on vacation. Lol. When you come back, recharge your batteries by unplugging for a minute and then plug it in again so you will have a fresh charge. WAIT!!! Take me on vacation. Forget your GEM!
To heck with the cart. (See how fast I can forget). I’m free!! Although some have said I’m an animal.