I don’t have a good color coded or numbered pin out so I can run this test on the accelerator pedal.
If I only knew the number on the pin out or color of wires would help tremendously. One other thing I noticed yesterday is, no matter if I’m on the pedal the whole time or not. The car losses it energy by time not use. So if I turn it on, fire the solenoid it will stop trying to move from just being activated if that makes sense.
**** Hang on a sec… This sounds important !!! ****
The car losses it energy by time not use. So if I turn it on, fire the solenoid it will stop trying to move from just being activated if that makes sense.
Scrolling back up to review the original post it looks like this all happens within 30 secs?
So, to be clear-
You turn the key, maybe touch the pedal to engage the main contactor, do nothing else and in 30 seconds the car will not move?
Does the main contactor kick back out when no pedal is pressed, then kick back in on next tap? And still no move?
If this is true, it sounds like something is heating up and killing the cart. Possibly a bad/cold solder joint in the controller?
Here are the pin outs of the main contactor for checking, but ignore this for now. We need to focus in on your last observation.
Do you have these colors in your pedal harness?
Here is the plug pin outs for the accel pedal. (I believe this is the pin view of the plug, not the pedal. Translate accordingly)
Yes, it seems when I back it out of the shop and then if I sit there for just a lil bit then go to forward,the cart will start to move slowly till it stops. Solenoid does kick out after sitting still for several seconds. I’m gonna go do it again right now and time it. Be right back
Ok I just tried it again. First I backed up for 10 seconds in reverse. I waited for the solenoid to disengage which was exactly 10 seconds. Then I went to forward for about 15 seconds and then to a crawl. The solenoid kicked out again at 15 seconds later. Now I hit the pedal, solenoid fires,cart doesn’t move at all.
And how long does it take to cycle? A quick power off/on to do it again? or do you have to wait a minute/5 mins/10 mins?
Do you think you can get the controller off and apart? Do a sniff test and look for hot spots.
Also - does it do this if you don’t trigger the main contactor? ie- key on, wait 30/45 secs, then try to go backwards/forwards?
Probably not related- but do your accessories work when your car won’t move? (headlights look bright and normal?, turn signals work as normal?)
have you looked REALLY good at your battery cable connections? I’m talking about taking each one off and making sure they are clean clean clean and maybe even wire brush them. Any type of tarnishing is no good and must be removed.
Also look at where the heavy cable itself goes into the crimped(or other) battery connection end.
Might even be the contactor… when it’s engaged there should be no voltage across the large terminals on it.
All accessories are working when cart won’t move. Battery pack is strong, and dropping down in voltage about 2 volts when under power. I just did the key turn on with no activation to solenoid. Waited about 1 minute, hit the pedal and it goes 3 miles an hr to nothing. I am giving it 10 minutes again,then I will drive it. Ok waited 10 minutes, cart fired up and went to about 10mph, definitely moved just not as fast. I put my volt meter on the outgoing side of the solenoid. It showed 74.8 volts just when I turned the key on. When I hit the pedal it dropped to 76.1.
I get voltage on outgoing post of solenoid as soon as I turn the key on. Then when I hit the pedal it gone up about 2 volts. I have looked long and hard at the batteries. I see no corrosion or anything loose at all.
The solenoid is an electrical switch, nothing more. There is the low voltage control side which is what causes the “switch” to be thrown and then there is the switch part(that which makes the big clunk). Internally, the switch part is not much more than a heavy wire coming into a big round contact point and on the other side is another big round contact point and a large heavy wire. There is no connection between these two points unless the control triggers it and when that happens a large metal ring connects both of those round contacts together. When there is a good connection between the two round contacts and the switch plate there is NO VOLTAGE across the two heavy wires because they are basically like one wire. So when the contactor is engaged, there should be no voltage across it.
As for the battery connections, you can not just look at them. You need to gently wiggle the wire leading to the connection and see that there is NO WIGGLE of the wires entering the camping part which is bolted to the battery.
But it could be inside your controller if everything else has been eliminated. Seems to be an odd problem for sure.
I don’t know either, but I’m sick of not being able to figure it out!!
Have you verified that the throttle is working correctly? This is very similar to the problem I had a few years back, throttle tested bad, replaced it and it’s been good since. Did you happen to hit a large bump before this happened? It’s been known to cause them to start acting up
I think(assumed) gofast67 is measuring the V at the contactor correctly. He said he was on the Output and not across.
BTW- Don’t be thrown(like I was) by having +72 when the contact is open. You are getting a backfeed reading from the capacitor precharge circuit in the controller. (it keeps the contactor from big inrush arc when first kerchunked).
In review to make sure we are on point:
From a bone cold start the cart runs great for 30 seconds.
Just turning the car ON for 30 seconds (and not running anything) will do the same thing. Car will not move after 30 seconds.
I really don’t think this is a connection thing. That all involves current/restriction with a result of a heat byproduct. Just sitting does nothing for this.
Checking the accessories more/less clears this being a DC/DC converter issue. It seems to be working.
This all is very repeatable so I don’t think it is a pedal problem unless it is weirdly heating up. This can be checked by probing pins 7, 8, & 9.
Maybe the controller is losing the +5v source?
Continue with the thoughts…
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I thought it required moving… I agree, if it does this just sitting there with the brakes on for 30 seconds then won’t move then it’s unlikely to be a connection heating issue.
odd one.
I haven’t got there yet. I just got the pin out diagram so I can try a test it. Can I just pull my ground off the negative cable at the controller or from the battery pack?
I may have missed it above but is it a T4 or T5 controller?
If it is a T4 I have one if you want to swap and test?
I’m going out shortly to do the test with just the key activated and see if it goes dead just from that. I did it once, but I wanna try it again.
T4 - I have one if you want me to send it - send me PM.