Just got my Savage X 4.6 got a few questions

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate
links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

jimmyvegas29

Member
Messages
15
Finally got it in the mail today, got it used since no one has the new ones in stock. I think its the 2011 model and has a TF-20u

Played with it a little tonight and man thing thing halls a**

Questions:

1. After steering or using the throttle i hear a humming/buzzing sound that i think is coming from the servos. Is this normal? I feel like its the servo trying to go back to center and it cant find it. Is this a servo issue or a receiver issue?

2. When i turn it off i hear a wierd sound, I'm thinking maybe its the roto start gear engaging?

3. The steering seems weak, if i have it on my fake leather ottoman it struggles to steer, if i put it on my tile floor it steers fully but is very sluggish. I know the steering servo is a big upgrade for this, but it cant be this slow out of the box. Is there something i could check to see if it needs adjusting?

I can post some videos if that would help.
 
#1 stock servos don't seem to center well and the buzzing is it trying to center itself

#2 the roto should only be engaging when it is starting, otherwise the one way bearing will keep the starter gears disengaged, at times they stick so checking is not a bad idea, clean it and make sure to reinstall the same way it came out.....

#3 You can tighten the servo saver on the bell cranks to get slightly better steering instead of buying a top dollar servo...
The stock servos on these rigs even when brand new just plain suck, so reading thru some of the threads on what others have done is a GREAT idea....
You do have a manual and basic experience with nitro I am assuming, so just know the learning curve can be a bit STEEP for a bare bones new to nitro driver.
fear not, there are some quite helpful guys here who can help smooth out some of the rough patches if you are willing to learn....
 
Jamracing:
1. So the buzzing is normal just seems odd.

2. Yah i don't think its engaged after start up, it sounds like when i turn it off that it is trying to re-engage that or its something else.

3. Yah i have been reading for about a week now on this forum and others learning all about this thing. As far as new to nitro, i am new, however my brother in law has a nitro, and i got a crash course in troubleshooting almost everything with the Redcat Earthquake 3.5 that i returned, to many issues right out of the box. Returned it and found my savage on ebay for $279.00, So basically the same price as the Redcat.

Here is the video of the steering.

 
is the receiver being powered with aa batteries or are you using a 6 volt hump pack to power it, if using aa's consider going to a hump pack rechargeable pack, and tighten up the servo saver as said earlier....

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Tenergy-5-...075959?hash=item5b2cb4e2b7:g:3PcAAOSw-CpX~S7Q

going with a rechargeable pack will power the servos much more reliably and gives them more voltage so they respond a bit quicker....
 
Yes it normal of a stock weak servo. Second I would pull the motor and check the clutch shoes the one way bearing for any signs of abnormal wear and improper functionality. And as jam stated try tightening the servo saver.
 
Ok like jam also I highly recommend getting a hump pack instead of the aa battery setup up much more durable and dependable.
 
Yah I'm gonna get one, no reason not to if its going to help.

Also, the fuel tank, its just held on by the two posts a pins? its wobbly...
 
ya the tank mounting is wobbly, you can cut a small piece of fuel tube and put it on the posts before remounting the tank and it helps steady it some.....
 
Ok, so i cut some fuel line and put it on the fuel tank posts, it def helped.

I checked the servo saver spring and it was already pretty tight, i think its just the stock servo being the stock servo.

I got to play with it a little more today and when i open it up i cant get it to shift into second gear. Anything thing i should look at for this?

I really appreciate all your help. I tried searching for "not shifting" and "dosnt shift" and could really find anything useful
 
Is the truck bogging at all? The shifting problem has to with several things one is if it's not to running to rich, two if the set point in the tranny is set right, three the internals are all there and ok.
 
I'm confused by your words "if its not to running to rich" I'm assuming you mean it could be running to rich. I have not gotten into fine tuning it yet, but it almost seems to me that its running really lean. it has some blue smoke a the low range, the top range I'm having trouble recalling but i don't think there was much, and the engine was screaming, almost sounded like really lean detonation.

I have no gotten into reading up on adjusting the tranny yet, thank you for the link.

When you mean make sure the internals are all there, do you mean in the engine or the transmission?
 
The buzzing is normal for the most part. Some servos are noisier than others. I have a hitec in my steering servo and it is a little noisy but is good. First thing I did was replace my steering servo to a hitec 7955tg, and the throttle servo to a spektrum s6240. The steering servo was a world of difference, much faster and doesn't struggle at all. Also goes back to center effortlessly. As stated the factory servos are under powered but get the job done.
 
I'm confused by your words "if its not running to rich"

When you mean make sure the internals are all there, do you mean in the engine or the transmission?
(1) sorry typo. Ok I would check your temps and make sure your not to lean being your saying it's screaming concerns me being if you run it to lean to long you could damage your engine it should have blue smoke even at full throttle.
(2) I mean check the internals of the tranny. Another thing to look at is your clutch shoes on the engine they could be glazed over or wore out.
Your welcome for the link too.
 
Ok so i pulled the motor tonight to check the one way bearing and the clutch. The clutch looks to be worn out, so ill get to searching on a good replacement. I'm not sure if that could be causing it not to shift into second gear? This is def hauls but and starts in first, i flipped it 3 times in the street with out even trying its so torquey.

Here are the videos of the one way bearing and the clutch inspection


 
Ok so does the one way bearing spin freely one way then grab in the opposite direction? If so more than likely it's ok.

And as for the clutch shoes they don't lol to bad in the vid but it appears that they might be slipping just a little. One other thing to check is the slipper pad on the spur hearts possible that it's slipping under a full load. And may just needed tightened a tad.
 
One way bearing looks to be grabbing, but since it is out I would give it a good clean with some motor spray or denatured alcohol, then put a bit of grease in the rollers to keep oil from making it slip again

as for that clutch yes it is shot, there are alloy shoes available on e bay and amazon for the XL savage and they fit with no issues at all.....
 
Yah the one way bearing was still in great shape.

Do you have a link to the xl clutch on amazon.

Thanks for all the input you guys.
 
yah its an F4.6, i don't have an XL just an X.

Are they the same clutch shoes?

Also are there any other compatibilies... like i was able to use Traxxas Jato Clutch shoes on my Redcat Earthquake.
 
The clutch shoe doesnt care if it an X XL or any of that, in fact yes there are others out there that probably fit with no problem, but the ones I linked WILL fit exactly on a 3 pin 34 mm flywheel... a small flatblade screwdriver will seat the springs also, no fancy stuff needed just a lil patience and effort required.....
 
Agree with jam they also make tool that suppose to make it easier to change the shoes but I use patience and a small screw driver
 
I'll chime in with the others. I have the clutch shoe tool, used it a couple times and went back to a screw driver. :D
 
Thanks for the info guys, i got a new clutch coming. In the mean time i was think i got it tuned pretty decent, the LSN is still a little lean but it got dark and had to get to the hobby shop because i crashed it into the mail box and cracked one of the front control arms.

But before that, i took the heat sink off the engine and was rotating it. There dosnt seem to be any pinch left, i was under the impression this is a bad thing. here is a video. Also the engine was dead cold at this point i had not started it up yet. The sound in the video is the rotostart, need to pull it back off and put some lube on the gears

 

Latest posts

Members online

Back
Top