Sometimes when you upgrade your power wheels it starts blowing fuses or popping the breaker. It's easy to think the new parts must be the faulty but that's almost never the case. The fuse/breaker in your car is designed to work with the maximum allowable amperage flow for stock motors and batteries. Increasing the voltage or installing faster motors also increases the amp flow. We recommend using a 40 amp fuse or a self-resetting breaker as soon as you upgrade either the battery or motors.
Think of volts and amps as being a highway system. Voltage is the number of cars driving and amperage is the speed they move. Your motors are a sports stadium and your battery is the residents. When you use faster motors (build a bigger arena) or increase the voltage (build more houses) you increase the traffic flow (amp flow). If at any point along your highway (wiring) there is an inefficient area the amperage overflows and the fuse/breaker pops as a safety. Like having a section of road that narrows on a busy highway. This most commonly occurs in places electricity has to make a "turn" such as shifter and foot pedal switches. It can also occur in any connector you've added into the system. In good condition a Power Wheel's wiring can easily handle 24 volts of power and 775 size motors. As the switches age their ability to handle increased loads lessens. Fortunately shifter switches and foot pedal switches are cheap and easy to replace so don't sweat it.
Ride-ons are designed for SLA style batteries. Lithium power tool batteries have a much higher discharge amperage rating and can cause fuses to blow and other problems. It's like the analogy we gave above but the residents all think they're Mario Andretti. Adding a voltage regulator will not change the discharge rate. The only proper way to do this is with a Soft-Start Lithium Module.
Here's some things to try (in no particular order):
To be clear, this section is for the motor not making any sound. If you hear both motors spinning but one of the gears aren't turning please move to the next section. To test a motor, simply apply 12 volts from a battery directly to the motor while the motor is unplugged from the car. If the motor spins normally then the motor is not your issue. If a motor works in one direction then it will work in both directions and at high or low speed. If the motor doesn't work when tested, it needs to be replaced. They can not be repaired.
That is a stripped gear or wheel driver. Easy to diagnose. Take off the tire on the side you hear the noise. Inspect the wheel driver. If that's not it then open the gearcase and take a look, it's obvious. Nothing will spring apart at you when opening a gearcase. (Hint: If one gear case is stripped the other isn't far behind. Replace them both.) Gearboxes normally fail because of an external influence. If you don't fix the cause then you may just strip the next gearbox again. Here's some common ways we see gearboxes get damaged (in no particular order):
This happens when stock Power Wheels batteries get old or have an increased amp draw either from modified motors or a binding drivetrain. The internal 30 amp circuit breaker pops then resets. Make sure the rear axle is perfectly straight and the wheels turn freely. Lighten the vehicle load. Avoid tall grass. Or switch to our batteries which use a 40amp fuse and run 30% longer. Often needed with 24 volt systems or 775 motors.
When all else fails with stock Power Wheels vehicles, you can take it to your local Authorized Power Wheels Service Center too!
For Kid Trax stock parts and support contact them.
For Peg Perego stock parts and support contact them.
If you are having troubles with a car using our modifications please try the suggestions above and then use the Contact Us page to reach our technicians.
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