Cable going to motor just fried.

[paulvedderjr]

Got a problem. Just bought a cart. 1986 Marathon. Put new batteries in the cart and it ran great for a while. Then all of a sudden I saw a spark at the moter after pressing the gas pedal and checked the motor. One of the cables to the motor fried and broke off. Did I fry the motor? I'm not where to start. Totally new to carts. Any help would be appreciated! Thanks in advance.

[radioman]

Sounds like a loose connection may have caused the cable end to get hot at the motor connection assuming the rest of the cable is ok. Motor may be ok. Give it a little closer inspection. How far back did the cable get hot? Golf carts draw a lot of current when operating and a bad connection can get very hot. Some of the more experienced forum members will help you in the morning.

[scottyb]

That's about it -in a nutshell. If the Marathon has the original 6g cables in it ( most of them do) Then it will benefit from a complete new set of 4g cables. Old cables build resistance over the years. The resistance causes heat.

[paulvedderjr]

Here is the damage. I guess I need to test out the motor now. Any thoughts?

[scottyb]

Tag and remove all 4 cables then check for unwanted continuity between any A and any S terminals

[yurtle]

Assuming the motor checks out OK, It's hard to tell from the pic, but that stud may need replacing. Either you can do it, or probably any motor shop can do it.

[paulvedderjr]

Originally Posted by yurtle

Assuming the motor checks out OK, It's hard to tell from the pic, but that stud may need replacing. Either you can do it, or probably any motor shop can do it.

This motor is so old. You think its worth changing out that stud?

[scottyb]

Send that motor to PQ for a bandit rebuild

[paulvedderjr]

Originally Posted by scottyb

Tag and remove all 4 cables then check for unwanted continuity between any A and any S terminals

How do I check for that? I just removed the motor. That terminal is loose and pretty busted.

[radioman]

Originally Posted by paulvedderjr

Here is the damage. I guess I need to test out the motor now. Any thoughts?

I would bet the motor is ok except for the loose stud which will probably need to be replaced. However if it was mine before I would spend $225 I would clean the stud and see if the bottom and top nuts would turn.
Close inspection of picture indicates the bottom nut was not tightened to the bottom of the stud at the motor and this is why the stud is loose on the motor. It also appears the top nut was not tightened to the cable lug between the two nuts.(two loose nuts). If the stud cleans up and you can turn both nuts it may tighten up if you are lucky. Check the continuity as Scotty suggested. Usually the stud will have spot welds on the threads from the arcing and you will ring the stud off trying to tighten the nuts if too much force is used.