Hello,
I am trying to troubleshoot a problem with my Gem.
I now have two possibly bad controllers. I replaced the last one with a new one and the gem car sat for a few months. I charged it up with this battery charger that charges at 20A. I made sure the gem was switched off when charging each battery individually however they were all still all connected in line and connected to the car.
When I go to turn on the car, all lights come on, except it doesn’t move and diagnostic light box does not illuminate or work. (Also battery meter is green but not full on gauge)
Is this a bad controller?
The real issue is I’m trying to sell this gem car. My wife hates that I bought it and I think I just created a terrible situation by charging it.
Does this sound like a controller issue?
I have the original controller and the new one that’s less than 6 months old. (The newer one was in the vehicle when I charged it up)
Thank you
No worries, this should not have damaged your controller.
When I go to turn on the car, all lights come on, except it doesn’t move and diagnostic light box does not illuminate or work.
This is a confusing statement. Can you expand on what is happening?
What do you mean by “all lights come on”?
Headlights?
Then you contradict with the statement " diagnostic light box does not illuminate or work."
Are you referring to the dash panel?
In review of your last post from October, you were trying to charge the car, then you disappeared without a word.
Somehow you jumped to replacing a controller? What made you decide that was the issue?
I see that we had you replace the DC Converter at that time. It was unclear if the car was working or not.
Hi,
Thank you so much for your quick reply. Oh my gosh, I did replace the DC converter and not the controller previously (my bad). It worked fine after that and then it sat again and batteries were low.
I charged up and now in this current predicament.
All lights come on meaning the dash illuminates, the headlights can turn on and off, it cycles through all shift selections (reverse and the two drives) but the diagnostic lights do not illuminate or turn on under the car. Also it doesn’t move in any gear. (Wipers work too if that helps)
The dashboard also only shows that the batteries are at the low green section when I believe I charged them all up to full?
The dashboard also only shows that the batteries are at the low green section when I believe I charged them all up to full?
I am going to ignore this for now. Whenever you Boost/charge batteries individually(with an outside charger) it messes with the columb counter that keeps track of the amps coming in and out of the batteries. Right now it is not aware of what you have been putting into them. It should reset after a few charge cycles.
the diagnostic lights do not illuminate or turn on under the car.
It sounds like you are referring to the Charger Status panel? These lights will only be active when the car is plugged in for charging. Are they not coming on when plugged in?
If Yes, what lights do you see?
Also it doesn’t move in any gear.
When you look at the Dash display, what other little lights to do you see?
When charging, the Dash will look a little different, but also show a little yellow charge plug.
When NOT charging, you will see a large zero (0) and mph next to it. You might also see a red Brake light, indicating the handbrake is applied and needs to be released.
Ok thank you for the information!
When vehicle is plugged in orange lights illuminate. I will try to attach picture
When not charging and trying to move it seems like the e-brake light is on, however, the e-brake is not engaged as when I manually push the car in my garage back and forth it moves. When I hit the accelerator pedal it doesn’t make any noise or seem to try to go in any direction if that makes sense
The hand brake light might be what is holding you from moving.
When KeyOFF and brake handle down, does the car produce a steady beep?
Beep is silenced by either lifting brake handle or KeyON.
Verify(Y/N?)
If No-
- Check Fuse 10. Bottom row, far right.
- Check for a Red/Wh wire on Accessory connection S6. Sometimes this wire gets pulled off and gets stuck on one of the other pins.
- Pull up the handbrake boot so you can see the base and locate the little micro switch. With the brake handle down, the tab should be pushing on the button. Verify that this produces a click. You can bypass the switch by pulling the wires off and connecting them together.
- If still no change, then check the twin relays mounted up on the passenger side of the firewall right under the windshield area. Sometimes they just need to be pulled out of the socket and reseated.
Wow, thank you!
The red/white wire on S6 was disconnected.
But now I have another issue…
It now beeps key off with parking brake disengaged
It won’t move in reverse and when I put it in DL I hit accelerator and heard sparking and saw sparking coming from the vicinity of this blue motor?
Follow those big orange cables down to where they attach to the motor and make sure they are clean and tight. You will also see two smaller black wires that should also be clean and tight.
These cars hate sitting. (Especially in a marine environment)
Sparking/popping/sizzling motors are a sign that the motor might have a stuck brush or dirty brush contacts inside and in need of service. Sometimes it can be freed up if you run the car in place (lift the front wheels off the ground). Attempting to drive it around is not recommended. The sparks you hear/see can create huge voltage spikes that are not good for the motor controller(causing permanent damage).
Thank you
Okay so I had a mechanic friend over who cleaned and checked all connections. He said motor isn’t stuck, but he would like to test the motor directly to see if it’s the motor or the controller that is not operating correctly. Is there a way to power the motor to see if it would go (like bypass controller)?
You misunderstood.
I did not say Motor was stuck,
The brushes might be stuck in their sliders. If the brushes are not making good contact with the comms on the armature, it is like arc welding. There will be blue fire arcs between the brushes and the copper surfaces of the commutator as it rotates around.
There is also a slight chance the commutator is very dirty/oxidized from sitting. The copper bars may be looking like an old penny and not conducting very well.
It is difficult to tell from the picture, but it does not look like a motor with an inspection cover that is easily removable. The end casting might be all one piece.
Did you try running the car in place(on stands, front wheels off the ground)? Sometimes the scrubbing action will clean off the comms.
Otherwise, it is best to remove the motor and take it into a shop for proper clean out and servicing. It is probably pretty ugly in there.
I had a mechanic friend over. he would like to test the motor directly to see if it’s the motor or the controller that is not operating correctly.
How much does he know about carts and DC motors?
Ok thank you, and yes I agree, you didn’t say it was stuck, but that’s what he told me.
I have a question I have the car jacked up on stands, is it okay for me to turn it on and hit the accelerator to free it up? I just want to make sure that’s what you mean by running it in place before I attempt.
Yes, that is what I meant. Doing so might clean off some of the tarnish from sitting, and movement/vibration may unstick a brush if it was only mildly stuck.
Doing so with wheels up does not use near as much current and will not make as much arc in the contact.
Uh oh… so now when I hit accelerator nothing happens. I wasn’t in my garage when my friend was working on it, but lights come on, it beeps when in reverse, but now when I depress accelerator in any mode no spark, no anything.
I will have to wait for my friend to come back to see what he has done…
Yes the handbrake is applied bc the front is jacked up, should I block the rear wheels and release the handbrake?
Having the handbrake does that not allow anything to happen?
If your car is 2008- then Yes. It is keeping you from driving around with your handbrake on.
If you feel that you need to leave the brake applied, there is a micro switch at the base of the lever. Pull off the wires and connect them together and you should be able to run the car as if the handle was down.
The only issue is now when you key off, the Handbrake not set alarm will sound off with it’s ear piercing scream. You need to disconnect the wires again when shutting down the car when done.
Viola! Okay e-brake down enables the accelerator pedal to power the motor. I depressed it for like 5-10 seconds but it’s still sizzling. How long do I do that for? The front tires are up the air. I just don’t want to cause more harm than good.
Hard to tell without hearing it myself, but it’s going to take more than 3 mins, or longer. Try running on DL. Speed will be limited to ~11 mph. The sizzle will probably be louder as it is ramping up/accelerating to speed (Accel requires more current). Once up to speed the sizzle should quiet down a bit. If not, then there may be something really wacked out with your motor. Stuck brush, or even a shorted armature winding.
If it is really making noise then just stop.
Is this truly coming from the motor? Could this be brake noise? If you rotate the tires by hand, does it make the same noise?
Example: This motor actually ran!
