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Revo problems

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hipluther01

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Paducah KY
RC Driving Style
  1. Bashing
  2. Racing
My friend has got a revo #5309. The one with the optidrive sensor on it. First off the opti sensor wont program. The truck tries to drive, but then it wants to try to strip the spur gear. The mesh is correct we have made sure of that. It will not shift into reverse, which isnt that big a deal. But the truck wont drive further then a couple feet. Does anyone have any ideas cause the traxxas site sure isnt any help. Also with the sensor plugged in it will not open the throttle all the way open. It opens all the way when plugged directly to the reciever. The shifting servo doesn't work plugged through the sensor or directly into the reciever. SO I guess its bad. Or is there a way to bypass the sensor?

we also tried just not plugging in the sensor and just using the reciever and the truck wont move at all

Also how tight should the slipper clutch be?
 
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A 5309 slipper needs to be turned in all of the way and backed out either a half or a quarter of a turn out. I say either because some like it a little looser. I would try the slipper first and see how it goes let us know and we will try something else.
 
I think you can just unplug the sucker and plug the servos dirrectly to the receiver. But if not, I have one of those sitting I you want in.
 
you can unplug the crappy drive and go straight into the reciever. just make sure as you plug everything in it works....such as throttle into throttle reverse into reverse and steering into steering.

with you blowing spurs like that...it is not due to it being too loose...it is too tight...try backing it off about a hair on the mesh. and a rule of thumb for setting the slipper...take one of the traxxas wrenchs and puting it in the shaft that sticks out the front of the tranny. and tighten down on the slipper until you can turn the spur but when you do get it to move it leaves a nice little ripple in your finger and it is rather hard to turn.you don't want to be much tighter then that.
 
A 5309 slipper needs to be turned in all of the way and backed out either a half or a quarter of a turn out. I say either because some like it a little looser. I would try the slipper first and see how it goes let us know and we will try something else.

To my knowledge, there isn't a single revo out there that you adjust that way. They all use compression washers that oppose one another to act as the "spring". If you tighten it all the way, you smash the washers, then they do nothing. You adjust the spur until the nut is snug, then try it, then tighten 1/4 turn as you see fit.

As for the "optidrive" unit, yes, you can wire around it. Just remember not to shift from forward->reverse or reverse-> forward if the vehicle is moving or if the drivetrain is under stress. I removed my optidrive within 15 minutes of owning the revo... was more of a nuisance than I felt like dealing with. I later replaced reverse entirely with a FOC. I busted the forward gear a couple times and I wasn't even shifting. The FOC forward gear is twice as thick, so you get more gear to gear contact and it's much more durable.
 
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I totally agree Olds....both of my Revos are FOC'd and I have had no reliability issues with the transmissions. Scrapping the reverse on them and the T-Maxx was the best thing I did for them for sure.
 
To my knowledge, there isn't a single revo out there that you adjust that way. They all use compression washers that oppose one another to act as the "spring". If you tighten it all the way, you smash the washers, then they do nothing. You adjust the spur until the nut is snug, then try it, then tighten 1/4 turn as you see fit.

As for the "optidrive" unit, yes, you can wire around it. Just remember not to shift from forward->reverse or reverse-> forward if the vehicle is moving or if the drivetrain is under stress. I removed my optidrive within 15 minutes of owning the revo... was more of a nuisance than I felt like dealing with. I later replaced reverse entirely with a FOC. I busted the forward gear a couple times and I wasn't even shifting. The FOC forward gear is twice as thick, so you get more gear to gear contact and it's much more durable.

A few months ago i would have agreed with you, However I was instructed by a few people one being on here. And the other being 2 different hobby shops.
If you torgue it down and leave it there it will leave you with 2 flat washers. You have to use common sense. It does work great and i have had no problems. I have used this way on 4 different Revos all still on the same slipper ;)
Not trying to start anything. Or stir the pot. Just thought i would tell from experience and from what i was told to do.
 
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A few months ago i would have agreed with you, However I was instructed by a few people one being on here. And the other being 2 different hobby shops.
If you torque it down and leave it there it will leave you with 2 flat washers. You have to use common sense. It does work great and i have had no problems. I have used this way on 4 different Revos all still on the same slipper ;)
Not trying to start anything. Or stir the pot. Just thought i would tell from experience and from what i was told to do.

My revo was one of the revos he is talking about and i have had zero issues with it any more, it has awesome bite off the line and it slips when i land under power so what he did works great for me and the other rigs he has done it too, and once again I am not trying to start any thing i am just agreeing with him but also not disagreeing with anyone else:D
 
Well we found out why it stripped the spur gear. It had the wrong CB on it. It was a T maxx CB. We changed it however somehow we lost of the the disks on the slipper and just for a lil knowledge. It wont work real well with only 2 disks on it. The shifting servo on the rig is fried. We did get it to go but only having the two disks didnt work real well.. Gotta go to the LHS and get parts the end of the week. I had to buy a Wii for the step daughter so I'm tapped for now.
 
traxxas said to check the gap for the spur and cb is to spin the spur kinda hard with your thumb and it should only go around 2 1/2 times i think you spin it towards the engine not sure
 
traxxas said to check the gap for the spur and cb is to spin the spur kinda hard with your thumb and it should only go around 2 1/2 times i think you spin it towards the engine not sure

you spin it the way that it won't move the tranny
 
this is the way slayden and mike battile set there slippers....tighten it down and place a rod or a small wrench in the shaft that sticks out of the side of the tranny with the spur. either tightening down or looseing the nut until you can turn the spur with resistance but feeling the pressure. the best way to tell is after getting it to turn and looking at your thumb you have have perfect gear imprint on your thumb. i set mine this way...i don't think 2 team driver's would tell ya something wrong...
 
Well I still have to go get some parts from my lhs. I have a whole list. I need new bearings for the CB, new motor mount (mine broke), and a whole bunch of other piddly crap. I think I have 11 items on my list to buy. After mine stripped a spur gear I noticed the motor was loose. After that I noticed the mount was broke. After that Bearings, after that.... the list goes one. The previous owner obvioulsy didnt take care of any of the rigs we bought a couple weeks ago. I had to completely disassemble the 3.3 on the maxx we bought. It was basically froze. I took it apart and it was gunked up. I cleaned it all up and it moves very well now. I also noticed that SOMEONE had taken a dremel to all the ports in the piston sleeve and tried to do a port and polish I guess. What a horrible job. I dont know if this thing will even fire. I have to get bearings and spacer washers for it as well. Dont you love it when people dont know what the hell they are doing, but keep drudging through as if they are the largest know-it-all on the planet, meanwhile the poor sap who gets stuck with the fail experiment has to put the peices back together again like frigging humpty dumpty??? :angry:
 
The previous owner obvioulsy didnt take care of any of the rigs we bought a couple weeks ago.... meanwhile the poor sap who gets stuck with the fail experiment has to put the peices back together again like frigging humpty dumpty??? :angry:

Usually, when I buy used, I expect the engine to be junk. If it's not, then that's a bonus, but I buy for a price like the engine isn't there and won't pay more unless I know for a fact that it isn't.

Sucks that your having to deal with all this. If it was "ported/polished" by a hack, I wouldn't blow much money on the engine getting it going right. Save yourself the headache and just get a new 3.3.

Just my .02 ;)
 
Yeah when I get the parts I need I'm going to see if it will fire. Maybe Ill get lucky and it run. If not I did have plans to trade it in with Traxxas replacement plan.
 
The joys of getting a SWEET deal on a rig (or rigs) doesn't last long most times ;-) Look at it this way though....you got such a score, that you could part out all the rigs and still probably double your money with it. So while trying to run them as they sit may be a nightmare....you could easily cut your losses ;-)
 
I got offered another sweet deal too. My lhs has 5 boxes of NIP parts that he has marked half off. It ranges from Team Associated, Duratrax, HPI, RRP, and many more. He said I could have all the boxes for $300. These are large boxes full to the top. I just dont have room for the stuff and trying to push all those parts would take FOREVER
 
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