Keep on Driving! Your Complete Guide to Golf Cart Maintenance
We get it. Your golf cart is one of your most prized possessions. We feel the same way about our golf carts.
To keep your cart running at its best performance, you need to perform regular maintenance. if you’re looking to keep your cart in tip-top shape, but don’t know how, then you’re in the right place. Use this guide to golf cart maintenance to ensure that your machine stays in great condition.
Keep it Clean
The first and foremost tip for golf cart maintenance is to keep that sucker clean. There are multiple reasons to keep your cart clean, and they aren’t just for its mechanical maintenance.
A golf cart is an investment. Chances are, you don’t use the golf cart regularly. But when you do, it’s an occasion. It’s part of a memorable golfing tournament, it’s at a family get-together on someone’s expansive land, or some kind of similar event. Thus, you always want the golf cart looking its best. To get the most out of the experience, you want the cart looking nice.
Golf carts aren’t hard to keep clean either! There are so few body panels, and so little space inside the golf cart that just a quick brush-down and a wipe of any obvious dirt spots is more than enough to keep your cart looking solid and shiny.
The more often you clean the cart, the less time you’ll spend each time you’ll do it. The only time-consuming part of cleaning is when dirt and grime are caked on. With regular cleanings, you can ensure that never happens.
By cleaning the motor bay and ll of the mechanical components of the cart, you can also ward away dirt and dust getting into anywhere it shouldn’t. You’ll also ensure that no debris makes it way to where it could impact the motor’s running. In the long-term, cleaning your cart every time you use it for a few minutes will extend its life by no small amount.
Refer to Your Service Manual
When performing any kind of mechanical maintenance or DIY fixes on your car, it’s important to consult the original service manual provided by the manufacturer. Don’t just go on Google and hit up the first forum you see in the search results.
Too often, the well-intentioned forum posters and bloggers use shortcuts to DIY their way to a working cart, and sometimes those fixes can cost you in the long run even though they work in the short run.
So if you ever need to do something mechanical on your cart, pull out the service manual and do it the right way, the way the manufacturer recommended.
Charge and Clean Batteries, But Not Too Much
For an electric golf cart, the most significant and obvious area for breakdown is in the battery. There’s a lot that goes into battery maintenance, but we’ll break it down into two main tips right here.
The first step to good golf cart battery maintenance is to charge your batteries regularly. This seems very obvious, as to use it you’ll need to charge it. However, what we’re talking about is keeping it charged up even during those long periods when it isn’t being used. That’s right — the battery being dead for long periods of time is a sure way to run down the overall health of the battery in no time at all.
However, don’t just leave your battery plugged in for long periods of time. That can lead to overcharging, wherein the extra electrical power can negatively impact the battery’s health in the long-term.
Next, remember to clean your battery. Constantly check it for corrosion. The more corrosion there is on the battery, the worse it will perform. That can lead to slow starts or even no start at all. Be sure to clean away any corrosion and rust that forms either on the terminals or anywhere else on the battery.
Keep Tires Aired Up
To ensure that your tires last for as long as possible, keep them aired up. Don’t let them get too low even when the cart is just sitting, and never drive the cart or sit in it (added weight) when the tires are at a pressure lower than optimal. Remember that during cold periods, the tires will need to be refilled to a higher than normal pressure because of how air gets more dense when it’s cold.
Store Golf Carts Safely in Winter
During the winter, make sure to store the golf carts somewhere where they won’t be exposed to the harsh elements. Rain, snow, and extreme cold temperatures aren’t good for the cart and can compromise the integrity of the internal structures.
Either put it in a garage or some kind of storage compartment or container for the winter when you’re not using it. Ideally, you want the environment it is in to be temperature-controlled.
Regular Servicing is Essential
The service manual that you pulled out a little while ago should have a maintenance schedule listed on it. Never skip the maintenance schedule. It’s easy for golf cart owners to think that the manufacturer overstates the amount of maintenance required, but that is not the case.
Just think of how much the golf cart cost you to buy. Now think about how much the servicing costs. There’s no comparison between the two! Why wouldn’t you make the extra investment now and get your cart serviced by professional, trained mechanics, rather than pay the big bucks later on when the cart dies prematurely before its expected lifetime and you have to shell out for a new one?
Golf Cart Maintenance Made Easy
At the end of the day, golf cart maintenance is not hard! There are only a few simple things that you need to do regularly. None of them takes much time at all. By taking 5 or 10 minutes out of your day every time you use the cart to clean it, and another few minutes every month or so to see to its maintenance, you can ensure that you keep your machine running for a long time indeed.
For more lifestyle and DIY advice, be sure to check out the rest of the articles on our website!