April 2018 April 2018 | Page 45

4. CHARGING THE BATTERIES: Hopefully, you have been keeping your batteries charged up over the winter months, as lead acid batter- ies need to be stored charged. If you have stored your batteries for a long period of time without charging them you can cause serious damage to them. If cart won’t move and your charging won’t turn on, typically this is because your battery packs are so low that it won’t turn the charger on. If you have checked to ensure your tow run switch is in the run mode then the next step is to find a friend with the same voltage cart as you and connect their cart to your cart with jumper ca- bles. Once connected you can plug your char- ger in and it will turn on, as you have fooled it into thinking that your battery pack is charged. WARNING: If you do not know how to properly jump a cart, please contact a golf cart dealer in your area that can help, as you can do serious damage to your carts electronics. look at any visible bolts and screws ensuring that they are tight. 10. CHECK YOUR BATTERY CABLES: Also be sure to check your battery cables and make sure the connections are tight. A loose con- nection or bad battery cable can burn up a battery post in no time. just starts to cover the cells. Once you have just a very bit of water covering the cells you can begin to charge your cart. If you follow these simple pre-season tips you will be sure to have a great trouble free season with your cart. If you’re not a “Do It Yourselfer” - many of your local golf cart dealers offer a pre-season maintenance package that includes a com- plete inspection of your cart. Some even of- fer a convenient pickup and drop off service. Many offer initial maintenance package which includes: • Checking the brake pads and function of the brakes • Inspecting the battery cables • Checking the correct function of all front 5. CHECK YOUR TIRE PRESSURE: With the cart end components • Ensuring the air pressure in the tires is charging it is a great time to check the tire pressure and make sure they are all even and correct • Checking all fluid levels at the proper operating pressure. • Complete check on batteries including an 6. GREASE & CHECK YOUR FLUIDS: You will electrolyte test, load test, and charger test also want to grease any fittings and check The initial maintenance package usually runs your differential fluids at the same time. about an hour and their labor rate varies so 7. CHECK YOUR BRAKES: Next it is a good be sure to check around for a reputable or authorized dealer. Authorized dealers can idea to check your brakes by jacking up the rear of the cart, safely supporting it and then be found listed on the major OEM websites removing the wheels to access your brakes. It (we listed the links for you below). If anything is a great time to take some compressed air pops up that they feel needs attention during the maintenance process, they will contact and blow out the brake dust. Then you can check the thickness of your pads. you and provide you with your options. 8. CHECK YOUR BRAKE PADS: Also check the play in your brake pedal, you may need to adjust it so that you don’t have excess play. 9. TIGHTEN YOUR SCREWS & BOLTS: Have a Club Car Columbia ParCar E-Z-GO Star EV Yamaha APRIL 2018 45