Electrical burning smell

[scotthons]

I have a '94 Marathon and over the weekend noticed a burning smell after riding in it for about 10 minutes with some hills and another passenger. I am not very mechanical so bare with me. The wires near the motor were pretty hot so I am assuming it is coming from that.

I spoke with the local golf cart shop/mechanic and he suggested that since I did not use the cart for about 3 weeks the batteries may not have had a full charge and because of amperage and what not that could be the problem?? I made sure it had a full charge and drove it around by myself for about 15 minutes yesterday and it seemed fine.

I use the cart for golf and my concern is if I will be able to get in 18 holes before the batteries start dying a little and I get the burning smell again.

The batteries are 1 years old and have been load tested. I have good connection and no corrosion. Any other suggestions or do you think as long as I make sure to charge them the night before use I should hopefully be ok?

Thanks!

[yamahaguy97]

hmmm..you said the wires were hot....but you also said the connections were not covered in rust, which is good. Usually when you have really corroded stuff it creates that resistance and starts to get hot. I think you should be ok but just check again which cable is getting hot and follow it to wherever it is connected to on both ends

[Gregorio]

Loose connections increase resistance which leads to heat. Repeated heat/cold cycles can loosen connections. Make sure every connection is not only clean, but well torqued.