Update on Power wheels Jeep.

It became a battle I was determined to win. LMAO Too Stubborn/stupid to quit.

The wiring diagrams I had and those I could find did not match the model they have. So I drew out my own and soon figured out that I did not have the correct Hi/Lo switch. They had the same switch as the forward and reverse in the Hi/Lo side. Maybe on some models they are wired that way but not this one. Then to just add to the fun the Forward/reverse switch actually had one pair that was dead under load. With a volt/ohm meter it would show good but under load it would not carry current.

The grandsons will be out side in the yard with it all of the time. So they would not be using low anyway. So I changed the wiring harness around so the motors run on 12 volts all of the time. This had several advantages for their use. 1) Getting the correct part was going to be an issue as the model number is not readable. 2) The charger that came with it charged each battery separately. You had to unplug both batteries from the harness and then charge them one at a time. I put pair of charging studs under the hood close to the batteries. I have several of the charger/maintainer chargers. They can have one and charge both batteries at one time now. My DIL can hook it up now. 3) I was able to use the incorrect switch to replace the defective Forward/reverse switch.

The Grandsons where checking every few minutes to see If I had it going. I had the wiring harness just about completely out of it and had jumper wires completeing circuits. I had it running on saw horses. They came running when they heard it running and wanted to take it like that. They told me to just tape it up. LOL

So the Grandsons can ride tomorrow and my son did not have to spend anymore money on their toy. Just an afternoon of Grandpa time invested.

The real trouble will be the fighting the two of them will do over who gets to drive. I am glad their mother gets to handle that one. LOL

No need for fighting, just time to find a second one. Hopefully it won't have as many gremlins. I bet the little ones will remember for a long time that grandpa fixed it.

So no recall on the jeeps ?

Just keep in mind there are electric motorcycles for kids now that go about 20 MPH and are perfect gifts from grandpa to grandsons.

Congrats! That's the fun part of being Grandpa. But I have a question for you - do the batteries have to be completely worn down before charging so they don't develop the "memory" issue?

Thanks for the followup! Always wonder what the outcome is.
Andy

Sounds to me like "Grandpa" is standing back grinning from ear to ear...buttons busting on his shirt................cause he knows the grandsons now think he's 12 ft. tall!! It's a wonderful feeling.

I remember fixing a few of those for my kids too !!! Now 18 & 21
I had at least one that I bought that wasps nests had the motor locked up. Was able to wash it out and get it going.

I've re-wired a Power Wheels Jeep & a Fire Truck(make unknown) for my grandsons. They are working fine, except for the fire hose part of the fire truck. Siren, bell, lights, all fine--but somehow grandpa knew what his grandsons would do with a fire hose that actually worked--so it became unrepairable fast.

Here is a funny about "Their" Jeep. It started out as a Barbie Pink Jeep. The last owner painted it Camo green. I had the grandsons convinced that I had to make it pink again to run. LOL

The youngest threw a fit and then told me to get it running. THEY would paint it with Grandpa' spray paint. I asked him how he knew to use spray paint. He let the cat out of the bag. He said he had "fixed" his Mom's car when she scratched it.

He told on himself. LOL She was hit in the parking lot at Walmart last fall. It put a big scratch down the passengers side. Then several days later the passenger side was spray painted BLACK. She has a light blue car. They thought someone was messing with her. Turns out it was a home grown "fix". I think I will keep that fact away from her for a while longer. She was PO about the paint. The younger grandson was only 4 at that time. He never showed up with any paint on himself. I asked him about that. He told me he had watched his Dad paint something. He had cleaned up with brake clean. The grandson said he did the same thing. LOL

Shows you they "watch" what you do closer than you think.

I think I will move my spray paint into that cabinet that has a lock on the door.

Good plan on locking up the spray paint! When my son(who's 18 now but still makes messes) was about 5, he decided one day that the little blue plastic trays his hotwheels cars went in would look better if they were black.

He found a can of my black spray paint and proceeded to do a good job painting those trays...on the floor of our enclosed back porch, naturally with no paper underneath.

That done, he then practiced his writing skills by painting his name in large black letters on the white door that went into the kitchen...spelled it right too, and it's still on the door.....

Oh, and also, our big yellow dog, who was in the porch with him "helping", wound up with a nice covering of black "leopard spots"....those took awhile to wear off.

JD, you're a pill! I can just see you tormenting those little guys telling them "the only way this will run is if I paint it pink like it was". 'And then the little one throws a fit...........just what you wanted!! That's some funny stuff!

On the grandson thing. I needed to spray several acres of crp small spots of brush. put 15 gal tank in old 4x4 had 13 year old grand son drive me around while I spot sprayed. one of the best days I have had for a long time>

Kids are incredible, one thing I admire the most is their resilience, in this case he certainly took some initiative, probably wanted to help and fix the car, was confident because the experience with his dad, learning unintentionally how a spray can works, how to clean up, I have to wonder, were there any runs LOL ! Thats almost priceless, I cannot imagine either of your reactions had you seen him do it, I'd want to be angry, but something like that, I'd have wanted to ask him about it nicely, and listen to what he says, then figure a good way to tell him his intentions were good, has heart of gold, but there probably is a better way to repair LOL !

It reminds me of being not much older, 5 or 6, and I was home ill, not in school, no one home either. I wanted some chocolate chip cookies, well I wanted to surprise mom more than I wanted the cookies, I had watched or helped bake them before, but had recently just learned to read. Don't you know I made the darned things, followed the recipe, knew how to set the stove, and they came out pretty good 'cept one minor problem, I missed one thing on the recipe, amount of salt I misread or mis-understood, just a tad too much, I was close but just enough that you could taste it a littlem they were still good, soft and all that. To this day, I cannot grasp how I was able to do it, never got punished, I mean how do you punish a kid for having a good heart, LOL ! Most of my life followed suit, the parental units were really not around that much for me, if you wanted something, you did it yourself. I would have been a lot smarter then if they were around, and though a late bloomer, having to figure things out on my own, I still look back and realize how seemingly unintelligent(dummy) I was with some things, things my parents never participated in or things I did not do with them mostly. I drove a tractor at a young age but was clueless on other things kids learned throughout their youth.

What you are doing with your dedication to family and especially the younger members, like the children, teens, is priceless, which I am positive you don't need to be told, I say it to reiterate and in admiration of those who go the extra mile for their kids and help them along the path that leads to success regardless of what they do. I learned a lot from my parents, mostly about what NOT to do LOL !! I laugh now after all these years, thankful for how ever I made it so far without too much trouble, could have been a lot worse LOL !

A mother, sent her husband into the bathroom to check on their young boy. The boy had found a hole in the wall, and was making it bigger so that he could see what was on the inside of the wall. So Dad helped him make it big enough to satisfy his curiosity and then they both got to fix it together.
That is a good Dad, don't you think ?
SDE