Is my clutch burnt out?

[Chevy-SS]

Here's a picture of the clutch bell on my two-week old Thunder Tiger EK4. Unlike many here, I am not an RC expert. However, even to a newbie like me, the clutch bell looks burnt. Is this normal discoloration or do you think it's fried?

Interestingly, the truck wheelied like crazy when brand new (just taking it easy), but then it pretty much stopped doing the wheelie thing.

 

[StrechM]

Hard to say. Pull the clutch bell first and then inspect.

 

[olds97_lss]

Well, the discoloration is due to the heat the clutch creates, but the clutch shoes are inside.

In nitro, clutch bell and shoes tend to get a glaze on them after some use. If you want a clutch to perfrom top notch all the time, you need to disasemble it after every day you run it. Take the clutch bell off (that's whats in the pic), take the shoes off (they are inside the bell) and polish both the inside of the bell and the edges of the shoes with a fine sand paper. Just enough to get the glaze out.

Here's an image of what's inside my t-maxx stock bell and shoes on the left and aftermarket aluminum shoes on the right:

Here's a close up of shoes and clutchbell that need cleaned. You can see the shine on the shoes. This shine should be buffed off with sandpaper or wirewheel before i re-use it. And obviously, the rust should be buffed out of the clutchbell.

 

[Chevy-SS]

Thanks for the tips. Here's a pic of all the pieces. They look like they need some cleaning, but otherwise OK.

This is a slider style clutch, I think? Is this the best type of clutch to use for an EK4?

Thanks again.

 

[Waste Land]

Not sure man but this gives u a good chance to buy a performance clutch!,, ahahaha

 

[StrechM]

I'd clean it up and give it another chance.

 

[drkspid4]

MY T-Maxx Post #1

My t-maxx the other day stopped putting out alot of power
i mean i was runnin it and like when i was doin a turn i got the idea to try and pop the wheels right after the back spun out but it didnt pop the wheels at first it had a really hard time trying to accelerate good kinda sluggish did i f*** up the clutch????

 

[Diver6127]

If it's not giving you any slipping probs, keep using it. Fix it when you need it.

 

[spanko123]

oh thanks man for asking that question the outer part no my clutch looks exactly like that and i noticed it after it was smoking, so i guess that makes sense cuz someone said it make heat cuz all the friction ok thanks

 

[soc123_au]

I dont think your clutch is the problem. EK4s have a tendancy to drop the grub screws from the outdrives on the gearbox, when this happens you only get drive to one end & no more wheelies.
Even when you get drive to the rear only it wont wheelie which is friggin strange. So clean your clutch while its apart & put it back in & make sure you have drive to all 4 wheels. Physicaly hold the truck down when you gas it & make sure the wheels spin, if you hold it in the air with no pressure on the wheels they will spin even with a screw out. When you tighten/replace the grub screws make sure you loctite them & check them after every day
of running. Hope this fixes the problem.

 

[Chevy-SS]

soc123, thanks for the tip about the grub screws coming loose. That's a good thing to check. I cleaned the clutch and ordered a 2-speed tranny, so we'll see what happens then. onder:

 

[Reptile]

its probably not burnt up on my tc3 my whole CB turned bright red then blue your shoes are fine urs is just barely burned so its probably alright