New Motor and Grinding

[Madkiki]

I just installed a Holmes Torque Master 540 35T motor into my Wraith with Stock Transmission and differentials.

Did not break-in the motor first, not knowing I was supposed to do this or not.

After installing there was no grinding the first two minutes, but then it started grinding when making turns. That is where most of the grinding is coming from, the turns.

I have no clue as to what is happening or what I should do next. Some people say I should run the motor off-transmission and someone else said I should do water break-in. I have no idea what water break-in means and not sure I should take a chance with this on a brand new motor.

I would appreciate all the detailed information I can get on what I should do next.

Thank you in advance for the help.

[Duxx]

You sure the noise is coming from the motor/trans? Does it make the noise with the tires off the ground?

Scale beer cans, now that's the schlitz!

[JohnRobHolmes]

Don't break in with water!

Is it a sport, expert, or pro motor? Only the sport needs breaking in. 3 minutes at low voltage (3 volts) is typically enough to seat the brushes.

[Madkiki]

It is the TorqueMaster Expert 540 Can 35T. Right now I am heading back to work and won't be back for another 2 hours. I am glad I won't have to do the Water Break-in.

[Madkiki]

Update,

I removed the motor from transmission and it sounds fine. Then I noticed the Spur gear was a tiny bit stripped in one spot and made me think that I did not have the pinion and spur gear tight enough.

The pinion and spur gear are a bit tighter, but not too tight, and there is no more grinding noise like before.

Now I have the Wraith in my lap so I can get a closer hearing and noticed there is a clicking noise coming from the wheels when they are turned. I was wondering if the clicking noise is Normal because this is the first time I have taking the time to really listen to it. Keep in mind I am hearing impaired and had to be really close to it to pick up this sound for the first time. The clicking sounds like a playing card in the spokes of bicycle (hope I am making sense of this sound?).

Am I making sense of this?

[hatefulboy]

Do you have a rtr wraith? If so it is probably the dog bones. Which means you are turning to tightly. You need to limit your steering because you are binding the bones.

[Madkiki]

Just placed an order for new Vanquish Aluminum Axle Housing for the front and Vanquish Wraith VVD Heavy Duty Axle shafts, so hopefully this will improve the quality of my Wraith. Needed to place the stock Axle Housing because the screw connecting the C-Hub can't be tighten because the Plastic Axle Housing screw hole is stripped. Hopefully the new parts arrive ASAP.

[transambill]

Originally Posted by Madkiki

Needed to place the stock Axle Housing because the screw connecting the C-Hub can't be tighten because the Plastic Axle Housing screw hole is stripped. Hopefully the new parts arrive ASAP.

Thats normal when you have a course thred screw going into plastic.
Replace the stock course screws that hold the C hubs on with some fine thred 3mm ones and your good to go. It's pretty common that those screws back out. Swapping out that hardware is one of the first things you should do on a RTR. If your holes are really stripped out and the fine screws don't get tite give them a small drop of CA glue before you install them.

[Madkiki]

Brand new Vanquish Axel Housing and Vanquish VVD heavy duty universal axels.

The grinding noise has gone away but there is some very light sounds still happening. I have no idea if this is normal or not because this is the first time I have taken serious notice of it. Also, I hate the fact that I am hearing impaired and a major challenge for me to determine what is really going on.

One thing I can do is touch areas that might be causing certain sounds and one thing I have discovered is that when I touch the transmission while the Wraith is running I can feel the gears vibrating a little and realized that this is where the very light sound is coming from. Not sure if this is normal or not, but it does not feel in a bad way.

Keep in mind that I have the Wraith upside down on my lap feeling everything with my fingers of one hand while I have the radio in my other hand and rubbing the radio's steering wheel against my mouth.

The bad news is that when I turn the wheels all the way there is a major thump, thump, thump going on. This does not happen when I turn the wheels a little bit, just when I turn it all the way in that direction. This is happening with the new Vanquish VVD Heavy Duty Universal axels.

I have a new metal spur gear on the way, so until then I will know more.

[ZippoMan]

I think all your problems are just normal for the Wraith. When turning my wheels I too get that thump, thump, thump. It is because we are forcing the uni joint to go a little too far is my guess. My transmission also looks like it wants to wobble apart. Mind you I am using a Tekin Redline 13.5 Turn brushless motor and Tekin RS ESC. I have MIP drive shafts and the stock trans housing just seems weak. I will be getting some better screws from Harley's HD kit to see if they help hold it together better. Axial stock screws seem to be junky.