clutch spring....gas rc

[iron]

Hello All

i have a 1/10 gas powered car i bought off ebay, atomic warhead, anyway
i went to start it 2day and when i did the wheels went out of control,
like it was in gear anf full rpm, it was only my 3rd tank of running in.
Though after ringing some places, most people believe the clutch spring
is gone in it. So a recap the wheels spin, when i hit hte break the car turns
off and if i hold the car off the ground to start it the wheels spin
when i pull the cord...soo is my clutch spring.....f*cked?

Thanks

[An_avatar]

Could be a clutch spring but is more likely that the clutch shoes have melted, the "throw out type" of clutches are easily damaged during the run-in of the engine, to many rpm two tight of a hold or incorrect brake set up the the most likely possiblities

[rredbeak]

The fact the wheels are spinning means the clutch shoes are intact and in good condition.
The spring holds the clutch shoes of the OFF position [freewheeling] .remove the clutch assembly taking note of the dissasembly. if the spring IS extended [allowing shoes to contact the drum] then cut one turn OFF the spring,remake the hook by bending it with pointy nose pliers and try again. It SHOULD freewheel until centrifugal force lengthens the spring and the clutch takes up.

if NOT then keep removing one turn of the spring at a time untill you achieve this.
The other option is buy a new spring.surely they cant be more than a few dollars TOPS...

its very odd to go so soon as they usually last years.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
As the clutch shoes wear out in time,then remove the shoes and drill a 1/8 hole in each shoe on the opposite end of the shoes pivot point,on the side of the shoe ,NOT the face. In the hole apply one drop of white glue and pop in a shotgun pellet or small ball bearing.
this will add extra weight to the clutch at rpm and make the shoes expand with the pellets weight making your clutch shoes last another 6 months .. LOL.

good luck with the car.my son had one and we were always modifying it to make things last longer.crude maybe but VERY efficient.. Rod :)

[anewton]

I'm having exactly the same problem with the same model.
Pardon my ignorance but where is the clutch. I assume it is not together with the black plastic cogs.... (Nephews stripped the big one the first time the car started...revved out of control by itself and scared them to tears!)...that seems to be the auto gear changing cam and seems to be working properly.
So is the clutch just in front of the motor?
By the way, for a first timer this is a sensational RC buggy despite the non disengaging clutch glitch.

UPDATE 3hrs later.
Problem solved. It was a broken clutch spring. Just had to bend out another loop as suggested by rredbeak and refit the spring into the groove.
Photos here http://www.flickr.com/photos/pandasimages/tags/rc/

[rredbeak]

on one end of the motor you should see a bell housing,this houses the clutch slippers and the bell housing is the actual face the clutch slippers take up on.

NO bell housing [cone shape] ??? then its not the design i modifyed sorry.. But theyre built to last quite awhile. Dissambly should reveal what needs to be done...

Good luck with it,hope you get back on the track soon...PJ