Club Car Golf Cart Hot Electrical Smell Under Seat

[just playin]

My wife's grandmother just gave us her old 87 Club Car golf cart to haul our 3 kids back and forth to her house. The cart had sat for awhile as she had become house bound. The cart has a few issues.

#1 After charging and trying it out, I noticed a hot "electrical" smell from underneath the seat. Since I am new to golf carts, I have idea where to start. I saw on some of the other threads that some recommended cleaning the coils. They are dirty. There also is some type of resistor as well. It could also be these. (I have no idea what function these serve so help here would be appreciated.) I am concerned and hesitant to let my 11 year old drive to grandma's with the chance of it catching on fire.

#2 The brakes don't work very well. Is there a way to adjust brakes or should I go ahead and plan on replacing shoes??

#3 Can some of the things be upgraded to make it work better? I have a friend who has a 91 that has the coil but no resistors.

I'd like to fix the cart to make it safe for the kids, but don't want to invest a heap of money.

Thanks for any help.

 

[HotRodCarts]

Welcome to the forum!

Seeeing how the cart has been sitting a while I'd start with cleaning and checking all your cable connections for starters. Look for signs of heat. You could always take a short ride then start feeling cables for a hot one. CAUTION the coils get real hot.
As far as the brakes, yes they can be adjusted. I think their's a post in the resources section here that explains how to adjust them.