Can't figure out what's causing this noise...

[Hagies]

Long story somewhat short...

I own a new to me 2022 Club Car Villager 4L Gas with the 14hp Kohler Motor with only 245hrs on it. I have already done maintenance kits on the cart and all fluids, spark plugs, and air filters are up to date.

About 1 week ago, I began noticing a loud "turbo / whining" noise coming from the cart that wouldn't start until the cart warmed up. I attached a video so you can hear what I'm hearing.

At first, I thought it may be the belt, so I ordered a GBoost belt, and that didn't help it. With no idea what could be wrong with it, I took it to an authorized Club Car dealer/repair shop.

First, the isolated the motor from the gears by placing it in maintenance mode to rule out the rear gears. It still made the noise so it's not the gears. They then thought it may be the belt so they swapped it with another OEM belt and no luck. After an hour or diagnosing it, they came to the conclusion that is had to be the drive clutch, even though it only has 245 hours. $380 later, I purchased a new clutch and puller from them to do the work myself.

I removed the old clutch and installed the new and the noise was still there. After playing with it some more this morning, it became a little less frequent, but was still there.

Does anyone have an idea what this could be? I don't want to keep throwing money at it and no one from all dealers near me have ever heard this noise...

I don't want to drive it and cause more damage. All help is appreciated!

 

[Golf Cart Wizard]

Maintenance mode does not isolate anything all it does is allow the engine to run in neutral. Sounds like that shop was just trying to justify charging you for nothing. It is hard to tell without using a stethoscope to isolate the noise but I would suspect it is in the transaxle because in the video the noise doesn’t start until the clutches started “shifting” up which means the transaxle is spinning at higher RPM. The noise seems to increase as the clutches “shift” and increase the RPM of the rear clutch/transaxle input shaft.

 

[Hagies]

Maintenance mode does not isolate anything all it does is allow the engine to run in neutral. Sounds like that shop was just trying to justify charging you for nothing. It is hard to tell without using a stethoscope to isolate the noise but I would suspect it is in the transaxle because in the video the noise doesn’t start until the clutches started “shifting” up which means the transaxle is spinning at higher RPM. The noise seems to increase as the clutches “shift” and increase the RPM of the rear clutch/transaxle input shaft

Ah so they pulled a fast one on me there. I thought just because the tires weren't spinning, that the gears weren't spinning! They told me to drive the cart until I hear the noise, then stop, flip it into maintenance mode and see if it still makes the noise.. lol

When you say in the transaxle, are you referring to possibly the gears being messed up? Do you think it's not a smart idea to keep driving it?

I may purchase a stethoscope to see if I can locate it. I sent this video to about 5-7 different shops and non of them could tell me they have ever heard the noise. So I'm afraid they will just start throwing parts at it until I have a $2000-$3000 bill lol.

Thanks man

 

[Golf Cart Wizard]

When you say in the transaxle, are you referring to possibly the gears being messed up? Do you think it's not a smart idea to keep driving it?

More specifically probably a bad bearing on the input shaft. The transaxle is basically a 1 speed manual transmission (if you look inside it's got synchros and everything). In a car you need to press the clutch to change gear or the input shaft will still spin causing grinding, likewise the input shaft on your transaxle is still spinning as long as the clutch is engaged and the belt is spinning.

If you want to isolate the engine from the gears for real then just remove the belt and run the engine, if the noise goes away it's definitely in the rear end.

 

[Hagies]

More specifically probably a bad bearing on the input shaft. The transaxle is basically a 1 speed manual transmission (if you look inside it's got synchros and everything). In a car you need to press the clutch to change gear or the input shaft will still spin causing grinding, likewise the input shaft on your transaxle is still spinning as long as the clutch is engaged and the belt is spinning.

If you want to isolate the engine from the gears for real then just remove the belt and run the engine, if the noise goes away it's definitely in the rear end.

That's a great idea, I'm going to take the belt off and see if I can get it to make the same noise.

I don't have a lift or anything, just a floor jack and jack stands so if it is a bad bearing on the input shaft, they'll probably need to open up the transaxle which could be pricey.

If it is the input shaft bearing, with me driving it, could I damage anything else? Thanks again for the help

 

[Golf Cart Wizard]

That's a great idea, I'm going to take the belt off and see if I can get it to make the same noise.

I don't have a lift or anything, just a floor jack and jack stands so if it is a bad bearing on the input shaft, they'll probably need to open up the transaxle which could be pricey.

If it is the input shaft bearing, with me driving it, could I damage anything else? Thanks again for the help

See if there is any free play in the shaft. If the bearing is tight just noisy it won't hurt anything. If there is movement then you'll cause all kinds of damage from components touching where they shouldn't and vice versa

 

[Hagies]

See if there is any free play in the shaft. If the bearing is tight just noisy it won't hurt anything. If there is movement then you'll cause all kinds of damage from components touching where they shouldn't and vice versa

Not too sure on where the drive shaft is, but would this be it? If so, there is no play at all up/down/left/right/in/out.

 

[Hagies]

See if there is any free play in the shaft. If the bearing is tight just noisy it won't hurt anything. If there is movement then you'll cause all kinds of damage from components touching where they shouldn't and vice versa

So I purchased a mechanic stethoscope and poked around trying to find the noise and it sounds louder near the rear clutch/input shaft towards the transaxle.

Not sure if I can do the input shaft bearing myself but at least I can give the shop a starting point!

 

[Hagies]

I took it to the shop, they had it for 24 hours and couldn't figure it out. Not sure how a shop that with club car certified mechanics couldn't figure it out...

Anyways, now I'm back to square one lol. Any more advice from anyone?

 

[Golf Cart Wizard]

Take apart the rear end yourself?

I'm an independent shop so I don't know what exactly "Club Car Certified" means but it obviously isn't worth the paper it's printed on. If they are even going to have a "certification" program they really need to actually teach how to diagnose problems. I bet it's just some BS multiple choice test with questions like "what is a torque spec" and "how do you measure voltage" cause I've seen some "certified" techs do some pretty incompetent work. They've probably never even heard of a mechanics stethoscope if they're that perplexed by a noise.

 

[Jeff10456]

you can use a screwdriver or a long steel rod as a stethoscope
put one end on a bearing housing etc.
put the other just in front of your ear so that it is pressing on bone, then lean on it gently
the bone will transmit the sound inside your head/ear canal
with a little practice you can stop up your ear and listen all at once

when you stop up your ear, it eliminates other air born sounds
allowing you to concentrate on the particular sound you want

we used to do this to check bearings on 3 phase motors at the mill
it is really quite efficient, as long as you can reach it that way

 

[Hagies]

Take apart the rear end yourself?

I'm an independent shop so I don't know what exactly "Club Car Certified" means but it obviously isn't worth the paper it's printed on. If they are even going to have a "certification" program they really need to actually teach how to diagnose problems. I bet it's just some BS multiple choice test with questions like "what is a torque spec" and "how do you measure voltage" cause I've seen some "certified" techs do some pretty incompetent work. They've probably never even heard of a mechanics stethoscope if they're that perplexed by a noise

I would open it up but I’m not 100% what to look for, or what is exactly wrong with it. It only have 247hrs on it and I didn’t want to start throwing parts/money at an almost new cart lol. That’s why I took it to this shop hoping their knowledge of being “certified” by club car, would be able to diagnose and repair.

If you were in my neck of the woods, I’d bring it to you to repair for sure!

 

[Hagies]

you can use a screwdriver or a long steel rod as a stethoscope
put one end on a bearing housing etc.
put the other just in front of your ear so that it is pressing on bone, then lean on it gently
the bone will transmit the sound inside your head/ear canal
with a little practice you can stop up your ear and listen all at once

when you stop up your ear, it eliminates other air born sounds
allowing you to concentrate on the particular sound you want

we used to do this to check bearings on 3 phase motors at the mill
it is really quite efficient, as long as you can reach it that way

That's a good idea, I'm going to give that a shot. I bought a stethoscope which allowed me to be able to at least pin point the general area of the noise. I can't place anything on the bearing or the rear clutch as it spins when the motor is running, but I placed it as close to the rear clutch as I could..

It's just so strange that something could be going bad with only 247 hours on the cart.

 

[Jeff10456]

That's a good idea, I'm going to give that a shot. I bought a stethoscope which allowed me to be able to at least pin point the general area of the noise. I can't place anything on the bearing or the rear clutch as it spins when the motor is running, but I placed it as close to the rear clutch as I could..

It's just so strange that something could be going bad with only 247 hours on the cart.

for a bearing you should hear a smooth whirring type of sound
emphasis on smooth
if the bearing is bad, it could sound like marbles rolling on an uneven hard surface or even rocks

a guy i knew had a saying ....
new out of the box doesnt always mean good

 

[Hagies]

**UPDATE**

I re-installed the old clutch and for some reason, it stopped making the noise for a few days… WTF lol.

It’s making it again now, but something tells me that it has to be one of the components that gets touched during the install of a clutch which can only be the drive belt (installed a new belt and still makes the noise), the starter belt, or the starter generator.

I did tighten the starter generator belt pretty tight this time around. Maybe the starter gen is slipping down from hitting bumps and causing issues with the belt?

But then again, I hear the noise with the stethoscope right near where the input shaft and rear clutch is… so damn stumped on this one!

 

[Golf Cart Wizard]

Could be something with the driven clutch, removing and reinstalling the drive belt may disturb it to where it stops making the noise temporarily. I would take a closer look there.

 

[Hagies]

Could be something with the driven clutch, removing and reinstalling the drive belt may disturb it to where it stops making the noise temporarily. I would take a closer look there.

That’s a good idea. That’s exactly near where the sound is coming from. At only 250 hours I’m stumped on how something like that can go bad, but I guess things happen.

 

[Hagies]

Could be something with the driven clutch, removing and reinstalling the drive belt may disturb it to where it stops making the noise temporarily. I would take a closer look there.

I just removed the drive belt and it stopped making the noise, so that rules out the starter belt/starter gen.

I put the drive belt back on and boom, made the noise again. I tried a new drive clutch and belt and that didn’t fix it, so that leaves the driven clutch, the input shaft and bearing, and the gears I assume?

 

[Golf Cart Wizard]

I just removed the drive belt and it stopped making the noise, so that rules out the starter belt/starter gen.

I put the drive belt back on and boom, made the noise again. I tried a new drive clutch and belt and that didn’t fix it, so that leaves the driven clutch, the input shaft and bearing, and the gears I assume?

Likely not gears if it does it in neutral, the other items will be the culprit. With the belt off and the golf cart in neutral try rotating the driven clutch by hand. Try to spin it fast if possible, listen with the stethoscope in the bearing area as it turns and see if you feel any weird vibrations when turning, it should be perfectly smooth. If so then look at the clutch in the contact points and the washer that rides along the metal shaft (arrow pointed at washer). Make sure the shaft is shiny and no scoring. Try spraying some WD40 on the shaft and contacts and see if the noise stops or changes.

 

[Hagies]

I took the belt off and spun the driven clutch by hand and it makes a clicking/ticking noise while spinning it. I can’t pinpoint if the clicking is coming from the input shaft bearing, or the rear clutch as there’s no where to put the stethoscope on the rear clutch since the whole thing spins lol.

I sprayed WD40 on the contact points you suggested and the shaft and still makes the noise.

When you say “the bearing area” are you referring to the input shaft bearing?

Doesn’t seem to be any scoring on the shaft at the driven clutch but between the input shaft bearing and the driven clutch it ls pretty rusty as you can see in the photo you used. Here’s a photo of the driven clutch shaft.