Golf cart died!!!!

[caddymankc]

I checked the cart today and it was a broken cable running to the motor terminal, i think the nut is stuck on the terminal do they break off easy?

[phasetim]

sounds like you had a loose terminal then welded the nut to the stud... Which is not a very good scenario. There are two nuts on the terminal stud. Try to hold the bottom one, and twist the other off without the stud spinning.

Honestly it would probably be best to get the motor looked at by someone. Have you considered upgrading the power of the car? Now would be a good time if so.

[caddymankc]

Looked at it more today the lug on the motor was ok but it loosend up, but now its half tight,i was about to put the seat back on and a bunch of smoke comes pouring out. Somewhere theres a short and the wire grounded to the frame melted, and somehow the short caused the brake cable to heat up and break.I hooked the new wire up correct but im thinking the horn wire shorted, but the wires fine and so is the light wiring.Im have no clue why its shorting?The strange thing is the cart still works but im not chancing blowing a battery untill the carts fixed right.Anybody ever have a problem like this before?

[AndyT]

Here are a few ideas for you:
Did you see where the smoke was pouring from? A specific component, or did you just see it coming from under the seat?

You mentioned lights and a horn... do any of your accessories use the frame as a conductor? It's common for auto manufacturers to use the frame as the negative conductor so they only need one wire to turn something on, but this is not good practice on electric golf carts (I'm not sure about gas powered). There are not as many wires and they are not very long in a golf cart, so it's not as economical to use the frame as a conductor.

Are your accessories fused? Fuses are generally less expensive to replace than the components they are meant to protect (i.e., lights, horns, sound equipment).

Look carefully at the posts on the motor (especially the one you were working on previously). There is some insulating material that keeps the terminal stud from contacting the motor casing. If this is deteriorated and/or cracked the electricity will arc from the stud to the motor casing. The motor will run (mine did) but if you are watching the motor terminal you will see it glow around the edges where it goes into the motor when you touch the accelerator. This is a FIRE HAZARD and should be fixed immediately. It will ultimately damage and shorten the life of your motor. The current in this situation is also high enough to melt your brake cable.

By the way, you need to determine where your brake cable was contacting something electrical... It may not be where the cable burned in two, but you should see signs of heat where the cable touched electricity. Was your cable routed too near a battery post or motor terminal?

Finally, make sure all nuts are tight and use washers on pretty much every electrical connection. Visual inspection is not enough here; you gotta try to wiggle it. On the motor posts and solenoid posts, always make sure to hold the bottom nut with a wrench while you tighten or loosen the top nut... If you don't, you may damage the insulating bushing I mentioned above and create the arc situation and fire hazard.

[caddymankc]

The motor stud did come loose(got it tightened down), but that would be the only thing i could see shorting, smoke was actually pouring out behind of the brake pedal and under the seat, i checked the horn wire running undeneath it and it seems ok.

[AndyT]

Do you have brake lights? If so, do they still work? Check the switch on the brake pedal and the wires that lead to it. Does the horn still work? Turn signals? Reverse buzzer? Whatever let that much smoke out probably doesn't work any more, and would most definitely show signs. Once you identify the component that smoked you can check the wires for shorts. Any wires pinched by the brake pedal mechanism?