Gen 1 Losi Night Crawler. ESC or power problems... Help please.

[DFW Rusty]

I've had this thing since they first came out and have abused it off and on for a long time. About 3 years ago the esc was destroyed in a crash off the side of a hill. I bought a new losi NC esc (oem), about a year later I was using it and started noticing that it would eat up a battery in minutes and that it didn't have the torque it once had. I assumed it was the motor and I was getting into sc trucks anyways so I shelved it. A couple weeks ago I decided to get it going again and put a battery on it. I couldn't get it to move (it kind of moved in reverse), so I cleared the esc and got reverse back, but it was really weak. I assumed the motor was bad so I bought a new 35T 540 motor for it and installed it last night. It seems that I got about 90% power in reverse and about 5% power in forward. It barely creeps in forward and doesn't have enough power to move forward with the tires turned (that's how weak it is), however reverse works ok, doesn't seem to have 100% power, but it's working.

I did some reading this morning and read where a lot of people were having this problem but 180 from mine. They said it was an esc issue. I have a spare cheap esc from my hpi mini trophy truck I am going to put on it tonight to see if that works, but I am still un-certain of the issue.

Any insight as to what y'all think the problem could be?

[snapon boy]

I use a vigor sensor editor brushless motor from brood and a castle micro x

149 r/c worx/scalerfab/team brood.

[huskerfan406]

Have you pulled the axles apart and checked and lubed the worm gears! They may be broken and binding up in the axles! Have you replaced them? If you do you should put the HD gears in them!

[DFW Rusty]

Originally Posted by huskerfan406

Have you pulled the axles apart and checked and lubed the worm gears! They may be broken and binding up in the axles! Have you replaced them? If you do you should put the HD gears in them!

I have not pulled the axles yet. I didn't get around to swapping the esc like I planned to. I'm hoping to get time one evening this week. I want to test a different esc before I pull the axles. However I will add that to the list for stuff to check.

[snapon boy]

I think the stock motor is 55 t but I would pull apart your axles and regrease and oil all the moving parts. Pay close attention to the shims.

149 r/c worx/scalerfab/team brood.

[huskerfan406]

Originally Posted by DFW Rusty

I have not pulled the axles yet. I didn't get around to swapping the esc like I planned to. I'm hoping to get time one evening this week. I want to test a different esc before I pull the axles. However I will add that to the list for stuff to check.

The axles are very high friction compared to others like axial, I had mine wear so thin they broke little pieces off the worms and caused more trouble than anything else I have fixed! When you upgrade your motor and esc, look around, I use brushless and like it a lot! Some people prefer brushed and I know broodracing has a motor called the “axlebuster” I would like to try someday! Most like the castle creations momba max pro, it’s for brushless motors and it works great in mine!

[jgrim]

Like Huskerfan406 said. 90% sure your problem is lack of lubrication on the worm gears. Worms like lots of grease. Put ports in the housing while you have it apart to make lubrication easier. I grease mine every 2 months when I am using it regularly.

[jgrim]

Originally Posted by snapon boy

I think the stock motor is 55 t but I would pull apart your axles and regrease and oil all the moving parts. Pay close attention to the shims.

149 r/c worx/scalerfab/team brood.

Despite what the Losi literature says the stock Losi motor is a 35-turn.

[snapon boy]

Originally Posted by jgrim

Despite what the Losi literature says the stock Losi motor is a 35-turn.

Idk I never ran the stock motor I pulled it first thing

149 r/c worx/scalerfab/team brood.

[DFW Rusty]

I got around to messing with it last night. Turns out the esc I robbed from an old truck was shot, I even put it back on the old truck and it wouldn't power up. So I robbed a relatively new esc off of one of my other trucks and stuck it on there and I had power to the wheels in both directions. I didn't get to drive it around because the wiring was too short and I couldnt put the NC back together with the esc on it. However it had plenty of torque with it on there that I couldn't stop the tire with my bare hand.

I did not get around to pulling the axles apart, but I will. I ordered a new losi NC esc last night. When the esc comes in I'm going to do a full service on the NC, grease the axles and rebuild the shocks.

[DFW Rusty]

Just to give a conclusion to this thread. The new esc came in last yesterday. I installed it and the car runs like it's new.

Now All I have to do is fix the front shocks, and get a new body for this car and it will be good as new!

Thanks, for the input y'all!