This work proposes the zero sequence voltage component (ZSVC) of the stator three-phase voltages as a method for detecting winding inter-turns short circuits in permanent magnet synchronous motors PMSM operating under transient conditions. Additionally it proves the linear relationship between the ZSVC and speed, which is effectively used as a fault severity index. The acquired ZSVC temporal signal is processed by means of the Hilbert-Huang transform (HHT). Experimental results presented in this work show the advantages of the method to provide helpful data for online diagnosis of stator winding inter-turn faults.