I have a 2003 825E GEM car and the car drives very well however recently there is no horn,lights,blinkers, etc (stuff with 12volts)
I stored the car for about 5months and went back to get it out and the batteries had no power (obviously) The charger would not work to charge the car so I had to trickle charge each battery individually.
Now the car has power and drives but it seems to have no 12volt power.
If anyone could please point me in the right direction in getting this problem resolved I would greatly appreciate it!
Check the fuses on the DC convertor. This is on the right side under the dash.
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I checked the 2 fuses and they were good.
Any other recommendations? Is there anyway to check the controller to see if the 72DC to 12DC converter is working?
If it’s the open-frame DC converter (PN 169-14095, GEM P01-11504), check for 12 volts at the top left spade terminal labeled J1 with the red wire on it (with reference to frame ground). If dead, check for 72 volts between J11 and J12 right next to the 2-pin Molex plug where it feeds in from the motor controller. If you’ve got 72 volts but no 12 volts out, the card is dead. According to Ken at SPS Electronics all these open-frame converters are a ticking time-bomb as GEM was never able to properly weather-proof the under-dash compartment adequately.
I suspect it’s a bad DC converter. Mine just went but it kept the vehicle from working too. There are (I think) 2 separate systems on that board that could allow for your symptoms I suppose. I ended up buying a new, fully potted DC converter from SPS Electronics directly since GEM/Polaris no longer seems to support these older cars. It took a little fiddling but the plugs were the same and it works perfectly. With the external backup horn kit and shipping it came to a little over $350 direct from SPS Electronics
Check out SPS Electronics through their GEM Aux card web page here
SPS Electronics Incorporated
8005 Island Road - Eden Prairie, MN 55347
Phone: 952.934.7004 Fax: 952.934.8882
info@spselectronics.com
thanks for the reply. I will check that tomorrow and see if that is the issue. thanks for the information regarding where to buy the part! hopefully ill be able to get it fixed
Bob, so nice to have someone so knowledgeable here!
That back up beeper - any way to move it so it’s noisier OUTSIDE than inside?
The beeper on the open-frame DC converter/AUX board is part of the board itself. There are two spade terminals on the board (J10 and J12 I think) where an external 48 volt beeper could be connected.
On the new style, fully potted DC converter/AUX board there are 5 terminals along the bottom edge of the board. The right-most pair are for the beeper which is no-longer on the board since it’s buried in epoxy and wouldn’t work there. Extending these wires would allow a beeper or buzzer to be activated by it.
The motor controller itself has a 72 volt output that tells the AUX board it’s in reverse. Intercepting that wire with a relay of the appropriate coil voltage would allow you to run a conventional 12 volt backup alarm off the reverse signal just as they do with the backup lamp option. You’d have to look at the wiring diagram for your particular T1, T2 or newer controller to see exactly which wire it is but I know it’s there someplace.
My 12 volt converter went out one morning and the day before it was fine. I just bought a new one and that fixed it. That’s one of the things that anyone buying a used GEM should ask about. How many of the known going to fail items have already been replaced. That will make a big difference in the selling price. I have a new converter, charger, motor and all new wheels and tires. Plus the controller has been updated for the new more powerful motor. There isn’t much left for a new buyer to have to replace except that fragile crap in the steering column. I’ve even gone through the key replacement dance but bought three just to make sure I have to never do it again. Since this car was started by Chrysler I think the acronym stands for Get Even Mopar.
That was my first thought, too! Check the fuse(s).