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WOT Over/Through a Wall and Into a Lake

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C

cpercival

RC Newbie
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Location
Sturbridge, MA
RC Driving Style
  1. Bashing
  2. Racing
Had my first real moment of terror yesterday. I was running around in my yard when when suddenly I lost all throttle control. I figured out later that the throttle return spring either popped off or broke, but it is nowhere to be found. So I then had my truck speeding at WOT, which seemed like a hopeless slow-motion crawl at the time, toward the lake. It disapeared behind a tree, I heard a thump, a splash, and finally the last few beats of its heart before it died. I ran over to find it right side up in about 4 to 5 inches of water. It must have hit a low (4" - 5") retaining wall, launched a good 30 feet over the beach as there were no tracks in the sand and landed in the water. No, I did not catch it on video before anyone asks.

Initial damage report:
- Water-logged engine obviously -The primary filter was very clean looking so I don't believe any dirt entered the engine
- Rear skid plate missing
- Rear bulkhead cracked

I didn't have much time to go over it last night, but I pulled the glow plug and filter, shot a hefty dose of WD-40 into the carb and into the combustion chamber, flipped the truck upside down and turned over the engine for a good 15-20 seconds. I did this four or five times. I plan to break down the engine tonight.
My questions are:
What should I be looking for with regard to the engine? I understand the con rod can snap if the engine was hydro-locked, but I don't believe this happened as I was able to turn it over.
What about other parts of the truck? It's the new Revo so waterproof electronics, but what about water/muck in transmission or differential? Anything else?
I don't know about physical damage to the rear end yet, but anything there I should check?
Help from those who have also had less than fortunate encounters with large bodies ofwater would be greatly appreciated.
 
You've done the right thing with the engine by pulling the filter and plug and getting the water out of the engine. I would make sure that you make sure that you dry out the electronic before you use them again. The Traxxas electronics are water resistant they are not water proof. The rear portion should be inspected for cracks and breaks as well as missing parts.
 
No video, so I don't believe it happened. Do it again, this time with video! :D
 
I know! I didn't even get to see it. :( It must have been spectacular. Like I said, there weren't any tracks in the sand, so the truck had to have cleared the whole beach, which just doesn't seem possible. From the lawn, the drop down to the beach is only 2 feet or so. I just saw the splash which was pretty impressive. It had to be at least 30 feet to where it landed. Maybe I'll try to get a picture of the accident scene. Could be hard though considering it's now practically pitch dark by 5:00. Stupid daylight savings.
Back on subject, do I have to remove the front bearing to flush it with denatured alcohol or can I leave it in? Do I have to do this at all? I imagine it's pretty easy to tell if dirt or grit got into the bearing?
BTW it's a picco max .26 red dot with boca bearings. Sadly, it's only 5 or 6 tanks post break-in.
Thanks for the help everyone.
 
If the engine rotates smoothly, you most likely lucked out. This is why failsafes where invented.:) Pop the top off of the rx box and make sure it's dry inside. If your servos have blue cases, they should be fine.
 
You should shoot WD-40 on all moving parts, A-arm suspension pins and bearings included.
Not only will it clear out any moisture, but will add a protective lube.

WD stands for "Water Displacement". 40 was the # of the recipe that worked.
 
I launched mine over a high banked corner into a pond. The corner itself is like 10-12 feet and the pond was dug to make the corner so naturally it's much lower. The revo launched approximately 10 feet off the top of the corner and splashed into the pond upside down. It floated there almost 1-3 minutes as I tried to reach it with a stick. Rushed it to the trailer, pulled filter and glow plug, put nozzle of fuel bottle into glow plug hole with truck upside down and squeezed to help clean out the water. Put fresh fuel in and clean air filter on and fired it up. Tires needed to be drained but no lasting problems.
 
A failsafe won't help a broken return spring, but changing the throttle linkage will. You should still have a failsafe though, if it works on the 2.4ghz.
 

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