Melted cables on motor

[hitechcobra]

Recently purchased 1996 EZ-Go TXT died. We smelled something burning and then it wouldn’t move. After inspection I found the cable to the motor completely melted. What would cause this (My first golf cart)? How to repair? I looked at the F&R switch and although old it looks ok.

[LukeL]

I would definitely do a cable upgrade. Replace all of the cables with 2 or 4 AWG. You can buy them as a set premade or you can make them yourself. Check out the kits at cartsunlimited.net.

[hitechcobra]

LukeL,
What do you think would cause this?

[scottyb]

There are a few causes for what we see here. Cable degrades with age and use. This degradation creates amperage flow resistance which causes heat which hastens the complete failure shown.
This cart has stock possibly original components and cables. The cables and F&R need refreshing if used for golf. If used for other activities like neighborhood cruising, yard or ranch work, off road fun, or somebody added a rear seat, bigger tires, or if you are running the batteries low, or if the motor is very worn, these things will cause the significantly increased battery amperage draw AND HEAT.

[LukeL]

Originally Posted by hitechcobra

LukeL,

What do you think would cause this?

Exactly what Scotty said [emoji1303]

[hitechcobra]

OK! Will replace cables with new/larger. Regarding the F&R switch, what about this one on Amazon or is there a better one?

Performance Plus Carts EZGO Golf Cart Heavy Duty Forward and Reverse Switch Assembly for TXT 1994 - Up

The cart is really slow, like 13 mph top speed. Could it be the bad cables?

[LukeL]

You probably have a regular fleet speed series cart. The cables might make a very small difference since they were in bad shape before but the real speed upgrades would come from a new motor/ controller and a 48V conversion.

[hitechcobra]

I found this 48v motor on Craigslist, would it work? What is a good controller?

[scottyb]

Originally Posted by hitechcobra

I found this 48v motor on Craigslist, would it work? What is a good controller?

Do some research. Read what the guys are doing here. They will happily give their results. The most popular upgrade for this cart is an Alltrax SR48500 controller, 400 solenoid, 2g cable set, and if the cart is used on the flats a high speed motor. Or for the hills a high torque motor. There are some motors out there that will yield a mix of speed and torque but it will be at the cost of both. That's not necessarily a bad thing. Just realize this older series cart makes more torque than speed. Newer sepex carts make more speed than torque.

Figure out what size tires will be on the cart, how many people will ride on it, and where ( hills, flats, street, trails, etc) and then you can research what is needed for your application.

[orangeman6]

A question that will maybe help the OP, and for my own curiosity: The sticker on that motor says 2350 rpm. Is that the max you can spin that motor? If so, that’s going to be awfully slow, correct?