Golf cart won't go after sitting all winter

A golf cart that will not go after sitting through a Griffin winter usually has a deeply discharged pack, a charger that will not start on a pack that low, or, if the pack sat partly charged for months, sulfated batteries. The first two are often fixed for the cost of the service call and a recovery charge. The third may mean a new pack at $1,200 to $1,800 for lead-acid. A load test after a recovery charge tells you which.

Why winter is hard on a parked cart here

The NOAA normals station at Experiment, about a mile and a half from the center of Griffin, averages 51.8 nights a year at or below 32°F, and its January average low is 34.3°F (1991 to 2020 normals). Winter here is cold enough for three things to happen to a cart that is parked and forgotten:

1. Self-discharge and parasitic drain. Lead-acid batteries lose charge slowly on their own, and accessories, a radio, or a controller with a small standby draw take more. Over two or three months a pack can drop a long way.
2. Sulfation. A lead-acid battery left below full charge forms sulfate crystals on its plates. The longer and lower it sits, the more of that becomes permanent.
3. Freezing risk. A discharged battery’s electrolyte freezes at a much higher temperature than a charged one’s. A charged pack shrugs off a Griffin cold snap; a flat one in an unheated building is at risk.

Check this first

1. Tow/run switch in run, direction lever fully engaged, key on.
2. Pack voltage, if you have a meter. Write it down.
3. Plug in the charger. Note exactly what it does: nothing, a click and off, or charging.
4. Look at every battery case. Bulging or cracked cases, or wet spots under the batteries, mean those batteries should be replaced, and charging should wait until a technician has looked.
5. Water level on flooded batteries. Do not add water to a discharged battery before charging, unless the plates are exposed; then add just enough to cover them.

What it usually turns out to be

Before spring registration

A cart registered with the City of Griffin renews between January 1 and April 1 each year, and Spalding County’s ordinance, as written, sets its cart registration due date at January 31 (confirm the current process with the county Tax Commissioner). If the cart will be driven on city roads, its head lamps and tail lamps must work and be on at all times (Code of Griffin Sec. 90-214(h)), and a pack that just came through a hard winter may struggle with that extra load. A spring check of the lights, horn, reverse warning device, and parking brake along with the pack covers both. See lights and street-legal equipment.

Next winter

A fall tune-up before the first freeze sets the cart up to store well: full charge, watering, terminal coating, and a maintenance charger. Lithium packs have different storage needs, covered on the battery replacement page. If the cart is clicking rather than silent, see clicks but won’t move; if it charges but runs short, see range dropping.