Fat Freddy

@Iain.R Can’t take credit for the vids that @Tintinposted. Honestly though, you are welcome. About 18months ago, bought an ftx Vantage on impulse after a 30 yr gap from RC. Foolishly thought RTR meant ready to run when in truth it means ready to repair. Honestly you are welcome. I’m reasonably ok with mechanics, have rebuilt motorbikes and all sorts but when I started having issues I’d have been lost without some of the helpful souls on here. 6 moths down the line you’ll be on here helping someone else 👍

Don’t mean to patronise you but be careful not to over tighten screws into plastic when you reassemble. Also, When checking the gear mesh, I usually make my best guess and nip up the motor mount screws then place one end of a strip of paper on top of the gears where they meet and turn one wheel to drag the paper between the teeth. Find that easier than trying to put the paper in while reassembling.

I know you’ll all be on tenterhooks wondering what happened next.... So it seems Santa decided to leave the airbrush for the time being, but got a bit carried away with the Dremel and left this lot. Mrs insists they DO have to be wrapped and put beneath the tree, despite knowing how useful these will be for my current project...... harsh.

@Iain .R Not sure where to point you for a good vid on this but I’m sure someone will be able to help with that. Removing the spur is fairly straightforward, although it can feel a bit alarming because you are basically removing the rear end of the car. Before you do, make a note of how tight the slipper (a nylon nut and a spring on one side of the spur) is tightened... then you’ll have a rough idea how tight to do it up when you are replacing everything. As you go, make a note of where each screw or bolt came from and once you’ve swapped it over, just reverse the process. Feels like a big job but really not that bad. Slightly more fiddly putting it back because the main drive shaft and the small plastic bearing guide always seem to have other ideas. Then, once it’s all back together...... Meshing the pinion gear (the small one on the motor) to the spur correctly is a bit of a black art. Too tight and it will overheat your motor, too loose and you’ll strip teeth off your new spur. Loosen off the two motor mount screws. Put a strip of paper between the two cogs and push the motor toward the spur. Then tighten the motor mount screws back up. If you’ve got it right, the paper should be held firmly in place, but not so tight that it rips when you pull it out. There should be a tiny bit of play between the spur and pinion, if not, it’s too tight. Bloody hell, I do waffle don’t I? good luck.

Welcome to the forum 👍

Welcome to the forum 👍

Welcome to the forum 👍

Good advice 👍

Although it is possible to spend too much time polishing your tool (or so the other half says anyway) 😆

Chrome pens?!? What is this witchcraft? Why have I never heard of these? looks great btw 👍

Yes, just plug your lighting harness straight into your receiver. That means the lights will be on the whole time the car is on. You can get remote controllers, but ifthey’re a bit rich for your budget, you could add a manual on/off switch instead. I just have the lights on all the time 😁 I find it easier to use a receiver plug extension lead. Or a splitter. That way, when you remove the shell, it’s easier to unplug your light from an extension than it is from the receiver, which I find a bit fiddly to do. (I also have a bad habit of forgetting about the wire to the lights and ripping the plug out of the receiver every time I take the shell off, in my haste to change the battery 🤣).

What did they say?

Impressive

Decided to take a chance. Replaced the two mystery connectors with a receiver plug. Seems to be working fine. Left it on for about 10-15 mins and the bar was just barely warm but certainly not hot..... presume that’s ok? So problem solved 👍

Sometimes solving these puzzles is almost as satisfying as driving the things.😊👍 Enjoy. (Just google esc fan, there will be one there to suit your budget. Usually super easy to fit as well).

Not a stupid question, answer is yes. 😁👍

I’m not great on the technical side of all this myself, but from what I understand, if the motor is struggling, it will draw a bigger load through the ESC, that in turn will overheat. It’s the ESC overheating that’s actually stopping your car, not the motor. The hot motor is a symptom rather than a cause. I think the hot battery also indicates that it’s been drained quickly. I’d bet that if you took out a bearing and gave it a spin, it’ll feel gritty. If it does, for the price, I’d get some new ones.

Looks great👍

Sometimes I feel really thick. Next level stuff. Following this thread despite understanding one word in ten. 😆

Aaah, this is probably significant, turns out there are only two wires actually coming from the back of the light bar. The twin connectors were a red herring. That simplifies things...... crap photo, sorry.

@Stormbringer @Ninetiesbeard I recently purchased a multimeter. Think it’s time I worked out how to use it 😆

Haha 😂 I was just about to take the plunge and read that...... lost my nerve now. Think I’ll do a little more research. Or hopefully someone versed in the arts of electrical wizardry will put me out my misery?

At high revs, even the smallest resistance is multiplied, are you sure there isn’t something binding somewhere? I had a similar problem with my Vantage and it was just the central drive shaft rubbing against the back of a new servo that was 2mm bigger than stock. Almost imperceptible when stationary, car seemed to move quite freely but like you, after 15 mins the motor was stupidly hot and the ESC would cut out. Did you say your car was an old one? Could be in need of some new bearings? (Not expensive or hard to fit). Although to be honest, from memory, using NiMhs I only got about 20 mins from a battery anyways. Really depends how trigger happy you are. If you rag it about on full throttle then you can expect a short run time and a hot motor. Did you try a second battery?

Thanks @Stormbringer👍

Most White LEDs are so bright these days, I think you’ll find an opaque paint will do the trick. Recently did some white to red and had to use two coats as the light just looked pink with a single coat.