bolt on motor loose

[cbordea]

hi, I was replacing my cables on my 91 Marathon the other day.
I was replacing my cable, I think from the controller to the motor and the bolt on the motor has a little "play" in it.
It was rusty and I sprayed it with liquid wrench and let it soak a little bit before trying to get it off. I know it has the lock nut to put a wrench on to keep it from rotating but in the course of removing the outer nut to replace the cable it did rotate some and is now loose.

I notice now when going down the road sometimes I loose power, almost like a miss in a car engine.
I expect a bump causes enough movement to get a bad connection for a split second.

My first thought is to just try to tighten the lock nut. I was planning to put another nut on top of the other nut and hope that is enough friction to allow me to tighten it.

any other ideas?
How much movement can I have on this connection without breaking something internally?

[DOOmsman]

You may have twisted the stud loose inside the motor.

[cableguy_hd]

I was replacing some very old cable on mine as well and I had one stud with a little play and another now is very loose too. I havent had any problems yet but I haven't riden it much either. I was worried about mine coming loose inside as well. Good luck.

[yurtle]

On my Series motor, the field windings and brushes are cadwelded, to the stud so a slightly loose bolt shouldn't prevent any problem, as long as your lug is firmly tightened between the two nuts.

[cbordea]

sometimes when I hit a bump, the cart dies for a second. All the cables are tight. I expect this bolt is my problem.

[yurtle]

Originally Posted by yurtle

On my Series motor, the field windings and brushes are cadwelded, to the stud so a slightly loose bolt shouldn't prevent any problem, as long as your lug is firmly tightened between the two nuts.

present

[cbordea]

I went out last night and was able to tighten the lock nut and got it good and tight. That went pretty easy.
When I went to tighten the outer nut the whole bolt would spin and eventually the lock nut would be loose again. I tried it several time with the same result. The cart still seems to drive ok but I know the loose cable isn't a good idea. I think I'll try tightening the lock nut again and then maybe try an impact on the outer nut to see if it will tighten it.

[simple man]

Do not use an impact gun on those studs! There are somewhat fragile insulators between the stud and the motor housing. If these get damaged, the motor will short out! Ok, assuming no damage yet, tighten the inner nut down snug ( you said you could do this without the stud turning ). Put on your cable and outer nut and while holding the stud with a pair of vise - grips, tighten the outer nut. Yes, the vise grips will booger the threads on the outside of the stud, but if you ever have to remove the cable again, just gently work the outer nut slowly back and forth to remove it. It will act as a die and rethread the stud! Of course, if you have a tap&die set, use it!

[DOOmsman]

, if you have a tap&die set, use it!

A die will cost a lot less than a rebuild.

[simple man]

Originally Posted by DOOmsman

, if you have a tap&die set, use it!

A die will cost a lot less than a rebuild.

So true!