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These days the market for golf carts for personal and commercial use is rapidly expanding. You can find these vehicles in a wide range of different environments, being used for all sorts of activities: hunting camps, airports, farms, resorts, casinos, large factories and industrial plants, on the beach, storage facilities, apartments and condos, and of course, on the golf course. Some places are tougher on a golf cart than others.

A new gas golf cart can cost as much as a motorcycle or compact car, and even a used golf cart will cost a few thousand dollars. So with that kind of money tied up in a vehicle, it is important to keep it running well, which will prevent breakdowns and the accompanying repair bills. The good news is that it is very simple, easy, and inexpensive to perform preventative maintenance on you gas-powered golf cart.

 

Here are the 5 most common procedures which prevent 90% of gas golf cart breakdowns:

 

Clean the battery posts and connections. Just disconnect the wires and wipe them down with a clean rag or give them a scrubbing with a brush or scouring pad of some kind. Lubricate and re-connect the wires and tighten down the clamps for a good connection.

 

Maintain the engine oil level at the “full” mark and change the oil often. Most specifications books for gas carts will tell you to change the oil every 200 to 250 hours, but I suggest you change the oil at least twice a year or every 100 hours, because 250 hours is a long time to run an engine that heats up to 400 degrees. Do not just use the owner’s manual as your guide, you should always keep good, fresh oil in the engine.

 

Keep a clean air filter. Most golf carts do not have a pre-filter you can wash off with water. You wll need to take out the air filter (which is very easy to do) and knock off the dirt and dust. Or even better – blow out the filter with compressed air or a cool-air hair dryer. Change the filter when it gets too dirty.

 

Lubricate the forward/reverse mechanism. If this switch gets too dirty and un-lubricated, it will get stuck and not work correctly or at all. It is easy to visually determine if there is a potential problem building up on this part. If so, clean it off thoroughly, and lube it up with some WD-40 or something similar.

 

Make sure the tires stay fully inflated. Because of a gas golf cart’s gearing and power output, low tires will put serious strain on the cart and can cause the engine to run even hotter (Remember the part about changing the oil?). So the 50-cent compressed air machine at the gas station for tire air could save you a $1,000 engine repair bill.

 

Taking these five painless steps on a regular basis will help you avoid the vast majority of costly major repairs and keep your vehicle running at its peak for years to come.

Shayne Hall is an entrepreneur and blogger who is also works at Cajun Carts http://www.cajuncarts.com in Lafayette, LA. You can find out what Shayne is up to at http://www.shaynehall.com or contact him at shayne@hall-partners.com.