Lights on a golf cart provide a safer driving experience by ensuring that your driving area is bright enough to see.

They also warn you of any troubles with your cart and make it easier for other people to see you on the road.

Unfortunately, golf cart lights can end up experiencing some difficulties that make them dim when you accelerate your cart, causing other issues with your ride.

There are many types of problems that may cause this issue and other concerns with your cart’s operation.

Let’s take a look at 5 things to check along with fixes if your golf cart’s lights are dimming during acceleration.

 

Golf Cart Lights Dim When Accelerating (5 Checks, Fixes)

 

1. Wiring Issues

In most cases, lights dimming when you accelerate your cart is likely down to wiring issues that make your cart struggle to run properly.

For example, if your battery is not properly charging due to disconnected wires on your battery, accelerating may cause a drain that can dim your lights.

Your lights are likely to dim in this situation because of the drain they also put on the battery as you drive.

The exact type of wiring trouble that will cause this problem usually varies depending on your cart.

Let’s break down a few of the most common that you’re likely to experience to get an idea of what to expect in this situation and whether or not you have the skills to handle repairs on your own:

1. Battery Wires are Loose – If your battery wires are loose, as mentioned above, you’re likely to have a hard time getting power to your lights, and accelerating may cause a drain in power.
2. Wiring in Your Pedal – Pressing the accelerator triggers an electrical surge that may be uneven or too high if your wires are not properly connected, leading to a drain in your power and dimmer lights.
3. Alternator Concerns – When a golf cart has an alternator to keep the battery charged – common in gas carts – loose wires on the alternator may cause a drain on the battery that leads to dimming lights.
4. On-Board Computer Wiring – Your on-board computer or OBC needs a steady supply of electricity to keep your cart’s parts in proper operation. When not wired properly, your cart’s lights may dim when you accelerate as a reaction to the power drain.

Whatever type of wiring trouble is plaguing your cart, you are going to need electrical help.

It’s not that changing wires is too difficult – in fact, it is one of the simpler repairs you can do on your cart – but it is often tough to identify where the problem originates and usually requires expert help to diagnose the spread of the problem and to fix it in a way that makes sense for you.
 

2. Accelerator Concerns

The accelerator of your cart is one of the most important parts for keeping it driving.

And when it starts to fail on you, there are going to be some complications with your cart’s operation.

You may easily see the lights start to dim out on you when you accelerate.

This problem is one that can be frustrating and may occur due to a myriad of different complications with your cart and its overall range.

For instance, the accelerator may be running down and needing more of an electrical charge to operate properly.

This situation occurs when your cart is getting older, and its parts are starting to wear out.

Unfortunately, it can result in your accelerator – particularly when you press the pedal down as far as it can go – to cause your lights to dim and may trigger excessive battery drain on your cart.

Here’s the easiest way to tell if this is the problem plaguing you. Have someone stand about 100 yards from you on a cart path or driveway.

Drive your cart and accelerate it – increase the rate of acceleration as you drive and stop long before you reach the other person.

Have them pay attention to your lights – do they dim more as you accelerate faster and reach higher speeds?

If this type of increased dimming occurs, you are having some type of accelerator troubles and need to work with a professional to get help.

Unfortunately, there isn’t much that you can do in this situation on your own without expert help.

Trying to change the accelerator without expert help may result in you causing more damage to your cart and may cause troubles with its operation that you can’t afford.
 

3. Solenoid Concerns

The solenoid is one of those parts on your cart that can be very easy to forget about maintaining.

This mistake is one that too many people make, and it is a concern because it can cause your cart to experience a myriad of issues.

For example, you may not get the electrical flow needed to keep your cart and your lights shining smoothly as you drive.

This issue may also be connected to a malfunctioning of your OBC – mentioned earlier – which may cause the battery to distribute electricity less effectively to your lights and other parts of the engine.

As a result, it is important for you to reach out to a repair specialist if you believe that your OBC is failing.

Or you can try resetting it using this simple process – most cart owners can.

Unplug the negative cable of the computer from your battery and put the FNR (forward-neutral-reverse) switch in reverse.

Keep it like this for several minutes to drain the power out of the OBC. Reconnect the cable and let the OBC charge up.

This may do the trick for you – if not, you need to reach out to a repair specialist to get help for this situation.
 

4. Harness Troubles

Another issue with your cart’s lights and dimming during acceleration is the harness that holds them in place.

These harnesses are designed to not only hold lights in their proper position but to ensure that they get a good flow of electricity at the same time.

However, these harnesses can end up getting loose on your lights and causing them to dim or flicker as you drive in many situations.

This issue is not related to the electrical flow of your cart in the sense that your battery and other parts of the cart aren’t necessarily damaged.

Instead, your lights may end up getting loose in the harness as you drive and may end up dimming.

This problem usually becomes more pronounced on difficult roads or those that may bounce up and down as you ride across them on your cart.

The best way to test this out is to set up a similar test, such as the one you performed in the second section.

Have somebody watch you as you drive and set up some rough terrain that may make the rough harsher.

Typically, a little dirt and some small rocks, like gravel, can provide the shaking ride that you need to produce the change between the various types of roads on which your cart may ride.

Do your lights seem to dim or “flash” as you drive your cart?

Does this dimming get worse as the road gets rougher, and the cart bounces more?

If so, you need to open up your cart and find the light harness.

Tighten the light inside of the harness and make sure that the pins are contacting the bulb.

In this way, you can make sure that your harness provides you with the power that you need.
 

5. Other Problems to Watch

Though the four issues mentioned above are the most common, there are many others that you may experience here.

Though they aren’t as common as the ones we have already discussed, they can be just as frustrating and cause your lights to dim just as much as other issues when you accelerate.

Just a few to watch out for when driving your cart for extended periods include:

• Wrong battery installation triggering bad electrical distribution
  Battery wearing down and becoming much weaker
• Overcharged batteries causing strange effects
• Bad diodes on some of the electrical elements
• Broken terminals no longer sharing charges
• Faulty charger leading to poor battery charge
• Problems with the AC power supply
• Bad fuses
• Faulty wiring connectors

Like with many of the other concerns mentioned here, it is important to contact a repair expert if you don’t feel comfortable doing these repairs on your own.

We find that changing fuses or swapping out batteries may not be TOO hard for some people to do.

However, it is usually best to have an expert diagnose these concerns for you to avoid any complications with the overall operation of your cart.
 

Do These Issues Vary in Other Cart Lights?

It is important to discuss the different types of lights that you may have on your cart.

These lights often vary in their design in subtle ways and have many variations that may make their maintenance vary in a myriad of ways.

For example, your warning light is usually illuminated when your cart is getting low on battery power or gasoline and needs any other type of upgrade to keep your cart running smoothly and efficiently.

As you can imagine, this light doesn’t have much to do with the issues that cause your lights to dim when you accelerate.

However, there are instances in which shorts, poor connections, and other types of concerns mentioned above may cause this light to dim or even fail to go on when it should, failing to warn you of an important issue with your cart and its overall operation.

Other lights to consider include your taillights and headlights.

These are the lights that you’re usually going to see dim when you accelerate your cart.

That’s because they require the most power and can drain your battery quickly if you overuse them.

However, your interior lights may also dim because they are usually on when you drive and can easily get less bright as you accelerate.

Make sure, as well, to pay attention to your indicator lights – such as your turn signals – and your brake lights.

Brake lights don’t really connect to your acceleration – for obvious reasons – but battery concerns that may dim your battery as you accelerate could affect these as well.

So make sure that you pay attention to how brightly they turn on when you drive to avoid any concerns with cart operation.