More golf cart challenges

On New Years Eve, I was going to be volunteering for the morning shift at the Activity Office, and Carl was going to Stretch and Tone Exercise class, so we drove the golf cart up to the center. When Carl attempted to shift it into reverse, it would not go. It wouldn't go forward or backward. We tried many different things with no success. We finally tried putting it into "tow" mode to push it out of the driveway into a parking spot, so at least we would not be blocking traffic. Even that was challenging as, when we put it into "tow" mode, it would initially allow us to push it, but then it would put the brakes on. I would switch it from "tow" to "run" and back and it would stay in tow mode for about 2 seconds before braking. We just kept switching it back and forth until we got it into the parking space.

Later in the morning, Carl went back to the cart and tried various things -- eventually he got it to go forward, so he drove it to the RV lot and into the driveway -- he said he wasn't going to stop for anything because he was afraid it would stop again. Sure enough, after he parked in the driveway, he tried to shift it into reverse, and then forward, and again it would not move.

Our tenant in the casa, Al, works on golf carts at a golf course during the summer -- he came over and helped Carl do some debugging.

As they were testing various things, the results from the solenoid did not seem correct (it would not pass current through), so they decided that trying to replace it might be wise.

Unfortunately, replacing the solenoid did not resolve the problem...

Al did some additional research, and, from the symptoms, it seems that the controller might be a cause...

... so now, we're contemplating replacing the controller.

In the meantime, we were planning to go to Quartzsite for a week, and the golf cart is stuck in front of the motorhome. Unlike when it was stuck at the center, putting it into "tow" mode doesn't allow it to move at all. Carl was able to find another set of instructions to take the auto brake off, and he employed that, so we were able to push it onto the patio next to the RV lot. Further diagnosis and repair will wait until we return from Quartzsite.