Senton Smoking motor? And can't remove power module

[amca]

I'm posting this to help my son, who bought his Senton Mega 4x4 about 9 months ago. (We're in Australia.) After being unused for the last two or three months, he took it off the shelf yesterday to give it a run. It wouldn't move, and then the motor started smoking, as well as the ESC becoming very hot. He contacted Arrma, who recommended removing the power module, and checking if there's any resistance to spinning the wheels. However, when the car was last used, enough dirt has got around the power module to effectively glue it in place: it simply cannot be moved. So we're not sure what to do, or how to do it... Is the car or any of its components likely to be at fault? My son has done nothing that the car is not designed for: just taking it out driving over some dirt last year. He's pretty frustrated, as he spent (for him) a lot of money on this RC car. Thanks!

 

[cootertwo]

There's an old sayin, "rode it hard and put it up wet" Sounds like it has some rusted together parts. These toys require a bit of attention, especially after running in the dirt or water. Cleaning and lubricating before putting away for a year is a good start.

 

[amca]

Thanks very much - I guess we have been a bit slack in looking after the car. But what do we do now? Write it off and consider it a lesson learned, or is it fixable? I don't think the parts (at least around the power module) are rusted - these are all plastic anyway - but it's the dirt in and around the module which has caked dry. In fact the interior is pretty clean - but clearly not clean enough!

 

[Mongoose]

Can you post a pic?

 

[Mongoose]

Remove the driveshaft real quick and see if it rolls freely.

 

[Jerry-rigged]

Especially when new, the power module can be hard to remove. I had to use a flat blade screwdriver to lever it to move it the first few times. Get a small prybar, go slow, and it will come out.

After you have had it out a few times, it will loosen up can come out easy.

 

[amca]

Thanks, everyone. We'll give it another go tomorrow. We had two of us on it: one of us prying up the bar which holds it in place (which is also really stiff and hard to lever up), and another one with a screwdriver trying to lever out the power module. We'll try tomorrow with maybe something to help hold on to the module.

 

[cootertwo]

You did take the bottom screw out, and slid the red piece out right?

 

[scv484]

Just go slow and keep prying (like Jerry-Rigged said) I had to do the same thing with mine. It eventually came out. I put some grease in the slots to maybe help next time I have to pull the module.