Club Car starter/generator brushes

 The starter / generator has a dual purpose . It generates power to charge the battery and run accessories . It is also used to start the engine when the accelerator is pressed down. .Have you ever had a cart that randomly dies after stopping and when you turn the drive clutch a little or push it ahead and it will go again as if nothing happened for days ? The brushes may need  to be replaced.Also there are 2 micro switches that activate this circuit . One is on the forward / reverse lever and the other is in the black box under the drive seat side .

Very easy to remove and the wiring pretty much keep their shape for easy assembly . If the white wire is loose it may do the same thing as bad brushes .

 There are 4 rubber plugs so you can clean and inspect the brushes for wear .

Disconnect the battery before you start.

Use a 2 - 9/16th wrenches to loosen bolts holding it the engine bracket  and then the 1/2" wrench to loosen the adjustment nut then remove the belt off the generator pulley .Remove wires off the generator keeping track were they go, If it's your first time you can right on the generator the colors of the wires removed Y,W,B,G . Remove the bolts and lift out .  

I buff a little area off and mark a line to help line it up later . There are notches that let you know if it's line up right anyway but it makes good practice when disassembling multiple parts to mark them .

Surprisingly the brushes where in good shape and not to the wear limit yet . There is a good 1200 hrs. on them . Once a year I will pull the rubber plugs and spray the brush area with contact cleaner then blow it out with a little compressed air .

The center one in the pic had little spring tension on the brush and might have been the cause to the problem . It's fixed in the pic , I just wound it around a half turn to get the spring tension back on . It must have been not assemble right last time I replaced them .

 Putting it in a vice helps to make it easier to work on .
I cleaned of the armature and other parts before assembly .Check the bearings and replace if needed .

If you had to replace the brushes they will come as a kit and you just screw them in place . To get the top back on with the brushes in you will have to push the brushes out of the holder till the spring sits on the side. Line your marks on all the parts and install the 2 long bolts that hold it all together. Push the brushes into the holders making sure the spring sets squarely on top .

Clean up all the wiring and contact areas . I coat them with die-electric grease

You can re install all the rubber plugs . The vented one goes on the A2 brush which is the bottom one when it's all installed . Re install in reverse order and clean up the rest of the wiring connections .

This will work most of the time if it doesn't then there may be a problem with the armature which involves some tools not usually found in our shops . We have and alternator shop nearby that can refurbish them for around $100.00 .