Golf cart maintenance

[Tdog]

I just bought a golf cart from a country club that is buying new carts. It is an EZ Go cart. I don't know the 1st thing about golf carts except press the pedal to go. This one seems to work OK, but I hear a squeak while underway. Does anyone know if golf carts have lube zerks?

Thanks,

Jack

 

[Gem99ultra]

Mine has a few zerks, i.e. on the ball joints, tie rods and drag link.

There is another one on the steering shaft that is WAY up near the top. Difficult to see without a flashlight. Keep that one lubed and it'll steer easier for sure. I also lube the rear springs to keep them from squeaking. The lever that switching from forward t reverse gets hard to turn, so I do shoot some liquid lube like Dry Lube on it.

Main maintenance thing I'd suggest is to keep those batteries in near full of water. They're $100 each minimum but will last easily 7 years if you do regular maintenance. I have to charge up the batteries, usually at 1/2 reading, about once every couple of weeks, and check the battery water about once every quarter.

Other than a 15 minute task, just get in and go. No muss, no fuss.

 

[zzvyb6]

Get a rear view mirror for it. Put a trailer hitch on it for a 'garden cart'. I also recommend a fold down rear seat to use for a work platform. I put some square hooks on the side posts to use for carrying stuff around (weed wacker, ladders, tool bag, ...). I have a gas and an electric one. Both serve the needs here around the farm. No longer need my 4 wheeler.

 

[Gem99ultra]

I sure agree 100% with ZZ on the add-on's! Can't live without a mirror; I prefer the wide interior one rather than the outside ones. I have both, and am continually knocking the outside ones out of adjustment.

I have a box on back of mine, but the square hooks would be a great addition. That'll be my next thing to do. A trailer hitch is a given. You'll want to be able to tow a garden cart around.

I DID have two golf carts, but totally destroyed my older one, a 1991 model, towing many loads on an 8' trailer with 1200 pounds+ of logs. They're just not meant for abuse like that. I replaced that one with a Honda Pioneer 500, which is built much more solid and a good deal more power. My "new" one is a 1994 model, and is my go-to machine for normal tasks.

 

[tallyho8]

Keep the tires at maximum pressure for longest battery life.
Don't use the back fenders for a ladder, they break easily.
Batteries last longest if put on the charger every night it is used and if terminals are kept clean and tight.
Don't let the kids use it for a toy.

Oh, and one I missed that I learned the hard way. Park it far away when cutting down a tree.

 

[Gary Fowler]

I had to double check mine to see about the steering shaft and ball joint zerks and didn't find any grease points on my EZGo cart other than on the tie rods. I guess they changed to sealed bearings on my model.
Battery maintenance is a must for these carts. I had one battery in my 6 bank go bad and thus caused the other 5 to overcharge and burned them up. An expensive $800 correction.
I think on my next battery change, I will go with 3 ea 12 volt deep cycle batteries rather than 6 of the 6 volts. Likely wont get as many miles per charge but I don't go far with it so they should work fine for around the farm and cost about half as much and half the terminals to keep clean.

 

[Tdog]

Thanks all. I've been putting off getting down on the floor to look for grease points. I don't get down or up as easily as i used to.
Definitely going to install a rear view mirror & will likely put in a rear seat. And a trailer hitch.
I appreciate any words of advice, including not parking in a tree felling zone.

Jack

 

[tallyho8]

I think on my next battery change, I will go with 3 ea 12 volt deep cycle batteries rather than 6 of the 6 volts. Likely wont get as many miles per charge but I don't go far with it so they should work fine for around the farm and cost about half as much and half the terminals to keep clean.

I tried this with the largest deep cycle batteries that I could find and only got about 1/4 as far on a charge as with the 6 volt batteries because the 12 volt ones are not nearly as many amps as two 6 volt ones. They make 12 volt golf cart batteries that would do the job but they are much larger than the 6 volt batteries and won't fit in most 6 volt carts without major alterations of the frame.

 

[Rayrla]

Have 3 golf carts. Two for the golf course and one club car carryall for the property. One is 36 volt(6 volt batteries) and the other two are 48 volt(1-12 volt other 6 volt batteries). From my readings on the golf cart forums, definitely dont want to use deep cycle batteries as mentioned before. 12 volt golf cart batteries dont provide the run time or battery life of 6 or 8 volt batteries. My experience is that 12 volt batteries last about half the lifespan of 6 or 8 volt batteries. Last battery change on the 12 volt battery cart went with 6-8 volts with minor changes to battery rack. Key to battery life is maintenance. Dont overfill.

 

[mostly_gas]

I am finding that I need to cut my charging off before the charger kicks itself off. I pull the charger off at about 8-10 amp charge rate, and get much less battery boiling off.

 

[TnAndy]

Keep the tires at maximum pressure for longest battery life.
Don't use the back fenders for a ladder, they break easily.
Batteries last longest if put on the charger every night it is used and if terminals are kept clean and tight.
Don't let the kids use it for a toy.

Oh, and one I missed that I learned the hard way. Park it far away when cutting down a tree.

I'd agree.....just make sure you keep a close check on the water level.

All deep cycle batteries have a certain life based on the number of charge cycles and how deeply discharged they are between charging. If you discharge to 50%, you will get far less number of charging cycles than if you only discharge 20%.

IF you can find a chart for your batteries (not easy to do), you'd see a typical one might list 3000 cycles at 20% DOD (depth of discharge) compared to 1500 at 50% compared to 500 at 80%, or something along those lines.