Motor Overheated Need advice

Today while running around my motor overheated. I was 1/4 of the way up a mild hill for our area and had over 2/3 of my battery life left. The GEM just stopped all forward motion. Luckily I was able to roll back into a driveway and sit for a while. 20 min later the light went off and I was able to drive back to my boat dock where I left it. The motor was hot enough you could barely touch it. When I was able to drive I went about 1 mile with no issues what so ever.

No noticeable smoke ever but I have noticed some very minor oil around the A arms. I am guessing I may be low on oil in the diff and from reading other posts here possibly have seeping oil into the motor though again, I have not seen any smoke.

The interesting part of the day was that I was in an area that was relatively flat leading to a very long descent down a steep road before I started up the small hill. There was no noise, grinding or otherwise… I will check all connections tomorrow when I go get it.

Any suggestions would be appreciated here.

I unfortunately knew this post was coming. When you put thoes $150 Craig’s list wheels on your car you unknowingly set your self up for a expensive road ahead.
Yes you got a great deal on some wheels but Now to make your car NOT overheat and make that code -41 go away your looking at some expensive upgrades. Get ready to shell out $350-$500 for a controller rebuild. Depending on what transmission you have you might need Gears. And depending on what motor you have you may need a new motor.
I’m sure this is not the response you were looking for but unfortunately I am speaking from experience.
Please provide some more details about your car.
I’m guessing you were going up hill! Were you carrying passengers, if so how many. What’s your terrain like

Never saw a code and it recovered quickly, Is the code 41 you mentioned the same as the temp light on the dash?

Slight upgrade hill, paved smooth surface, me my wife and 5 year old. Its the oil leak i spotted before I changed anything that is my suspect here. I have looked everywhere on the forum and not found out how to check or fill the diff fluid.
I was already looking into new motors and controllers. Still if I have to replace those I am ahead of what a bad boys golf cart would have cost and I like wrenching…

Wrenching is part of the deal your gonna have to do that weather u like it or not. It’s opening up your wallet that your gonna have to get used to. Lol You said your car over heated that’s Code -41 that should have poped up (motor or controller over heat), it’s either from dragging brakes, or to much weight, it’s normal for the code to go away and the car to return to normal after it cools down.

I bet if you put the stock wheels back on the overheat situation would go away.

[quote=Gwest;24508]Wrenching is part of the deal your gonna have to do that weather u like it or not. It’s opening up your wallet that your gonna have to get used to. Lol You said your car over heated that’s Code -41 that should have poped up (motor or controller over heat), it’s either from dragging brakes, or to much weight, it’s normal for the code to go away and the car to return to normal after it cools down.

I bet if you put the stock wheels back on the overheat situation would go away.[/quote]

The car has overheated a total of 3 times. Once when I first got it and the batteries were bad. The 2nd when I put the new batteries in and I had a loose connection and now. I will check all the connections today.

I only saw a temp light come on… There were no codes but I am sure its the same thing.

I noticed oil on the A arms from the day I bought it. I have read on this forum that oil can leak from the diff (transmission) both out and down and back into the motor.

I have not seen any smoke but I believe I may have an oil leak issue that I will need to address.

I have not found how/where to check the level of diff oil? Is there a fill port? Is there a drain port? How much oil does it hold? What oil does it use?

Since replacing the wheels and tires I had noticed;
Increased battery life
Better speed (still limited to 26 but I get there much faster)
Better handling
Overall better car “feel” it does not feel golf cartie any more

The only negative i have right now is;
Longer braking time

There is No way your wheels are extending your battery life. The best you could hope for is a zero to slight draw. The rotating mass of any wheel/tire combo will effect your performance. I’m still searching for the ideal wheel for a gem. The lighter the better. Something cool looking and tall 16/17 inch range that has the lightest wheel and tire combo. Anyone know what a stock tire and wheel weigh?

Your motor is probably full of oil from the input shaft bearing leaking oil. I convert input shafts to regular oil seal and that fixes the problem. If you have wheels larger than 14 inch you need to stay lightly loaded and on the flat unless you have a 12.44 trans axle.

The idea that larger wheels or a lower ratio will get you more range is a myth. With larger wheels or low ratio the amp draw is higher per unit of performance.

If you want to see the difference install an amp meter. There is an insane amount of amp draw difference between standard 12" equipment and 15" Acceleration is affected big time. You have to put your foot in it to get started. This really makes the amp meter dance.

In the real world your range goes from 20+ to 12/15 miles.

My observation is that I can now (or could until yesterday) go farther on a charge than than I was able to do before the tire swap. I have no real-quantifiable data to prove this. I agree that lighter is better.

[quote=OLD HOUSEBOATER;24524]Your motor is probably full of oil from the input shaft bearing leaking oil. I convert input shafts to regular oil seal and that fixes the problem. If you have wheels larger than 14 inch you need to stay lightly loaded and on the flat unless you have a 12.44 trans axle.

The idea that larger wheels or a lower ratio will get you more range is a myth. With larger wheels or low ratio the amp draw is higher per unit of performance.

If you want to see the difference install an amp meter. There is an insane amount of amp draw difference between standard 12" equipment and 15" Acceleration is affected big time. You have to put your foot in it to get started. This really makes the amp meter dance.

In the real world your range goes from 20+ to 12/15 miles.[/quote]

I never got over 10 miles, new batteries old tires, new batteries and new tires I got slightly more. I do not ever just stick it to the floor and hold it, at start or while running. I have found that the acceleration is the same with the pedal to the floor as it is with the pedal not buried. I took someone’s advice on this forum and do not hold it on the floor ever, especially up our hills. This advice has helped a lot with battery life.


Do I need to pull the motor to determine the gearing or can it be determined another way? What do I need to do to check the motor for oil? Do I need to pull the motor? What parts need to be sent to you to do the repair? How much do you charge? If the motor is still good or will last does the upgrade you recomend still need to be done or should I run it till it grenades then replace the seals and motor at the same time? I know absolutely nothing about electric motors so I will start another thread once this project commences for questions. Is there a FAQ or “how to” thread already up on the forum that I can follow to not re-ask old questions?

You have a PM call me

Sent another PM on part address

Rodney

Pulled the motor, no oil. Checked the diff… its full…Check to see if the brakes were dragging, no… Checked batteries. most were a little loose.
I agree that the wheels may be an issue and I may decrease the wheel size in the future but for now, I will install an amp meter to watch. If I roast the motor I will install a new one.

I found out 1 crucial thing today. These thing are easy to work on. Thanks to everyone, especially Rodney.

What you will find out is these cars were designed for the FLATS. The min you start pushing them up hills they start working hard. Add in passengers More issues, then you add big wheels Look out LOL. I’m all for big wheels I love the look of them, but if you think your just gonna bolt on some heavy automotive wheels and your good to go your mistaken. I’m not trying to discourage anyone. I’m just keeping it real. If you would like to just bolt up some wheels and have little to zero issues you should be looking at a set of the 14inch SS wheels they have on EBay example
ITP SS112 Black Golf Wheels 14" 205x30 14 Tires EZ Go Club Car 4 | eBay

Thats a $600 to $800 Barbeque on an 08 + the reprogram

Just for the Hell of it, go Low Rider and put on a set of 10 X 6 in 3X3 offset. You could then climb vertical hills. I ordered a set of Madex 12 X 6 in 3X3 offset to use with my existing tires. Ebay # 181724897907 $281

I guess that sounds like allot of money but since I stopped racing and started tinkering with this, its soo much cheaper to work on.

Rodney mentioned some huge electric motors 18+HP that are available. Where can I see those?

I tightened up the batteries (all were slightly loose) and ran the exact route I ran the other day with no issues.

Since I planned on doing a motor and controller swap at the end of the season anyway, I will keep the rim/tire set up and put away some cash getting ready for the ultimate failure everyone sees in my future.

Thanks for the advice.

Grant—Did you sell the rack off the parts car you had???

I sold the whole car