[KensRedZed]

I have a total of 10 AW T-jets. 5 are the older version with no magnet. I examined all the cars for gear tolerance etc. I put 6-volts to test all the cars, and then selected the smoothest running chassis with the least motor vibration and best tolerances.

I recently set up a drag race test track with 12-volts. I oiled up the chassis, etc. The best car from the lot screamed like the gears were going to come flying out of the chassis. So I threw the other cars on to test them. They made even more noise! Ouch.

I tested the stock Micro Scalex cars and they are all bullets! The AFX cars also run great!

Had I bought these T-jet cars from a store. I would be taking them all back for a exchange or refund. What an eye opener.

The plastic idler gear flops around like a dead fish on all 10-cars. These chassis are not very good at all.

I tinkered with one chassis for several hours yesterday. The results of doing back to back tests gave one promising run where the gears didn't make noise and the car was much faster. Then the noise instantly came back and the brakes went on.

Can anyone please suggest how to make a stock AW T-jet run smoothly?

Thank you very kindly in advance,
Ken

[chrisguyw]

Hi Ken, Sounds like the all to common  "T-jet" scream...........but, I am sure you know about this , and have put a drop of oil on the bottom end of the armature shaft.

Cheers
Chris Walker

[KensRedZed]

Hi Chris,

Thank you kindly for the suggestion. I didn't test any of these cars without oil. I was pre-warned about the armature scream. I skipped the thin stuff and started with a medium viscosity grade oil. Then moved up to a light grease for RC boats.

It was suggested to test all the motors without the idler gear to look for armatures with the least vibration. The lubricated armatures all spin up perfectly smooth without the floppy idler in place. Once the idler goes back? The screaming instantly starts up again.

Here are some quality control issues I can easily see with the naked eye.

1) Some of the front axles are binding in the chassis. The front wheels aren't rotating smoothly, or at all.
2) Some of the crown gears can skip a tooth on a new car straight out of the box. As if the crown was made a bit to thin to provide a proper mesh with the pinion.
3) The armature shaft is flopping around a bit loose in the lower chassis on a new car. Like the chassis hole was made a bit too large for the shaft.
4) Every idler gear flops back and forth on the post that holds it in place. It wobbles back and forth very badly between the drive, and driven gears.
5) Most of the stub shafts that hold the gear to the crown, wobble badly too.

I bought more than half the cars new in boxes years ago. But could not test them. What a mistake.

I don't think a lack of oil is the problem here. I got the crap no one else wanted to buy. These new cars were only $10 each many years ago. Come to think of it. These were new in the box. But the hobby shop that sold them to me, cracked them open already. They probably knew the cars were garbage. I simply bought a nice set of dud cars.

It's highly possible that these were run dry at the hobby shop. They may have screamed before I owned them which might have expanded the hole in the chassis. Every car had spark-marks on the shoes.

I'm glad everyone here has more experience than me with these little cars. I could use a few more suggestions please?

Thank you,
Ken

[Mazda]

May I suggest that you take a look on the nitroslots website under tech tips for t-jets. There are many tips there for getting these little chassis to run well.
The car which I used last season in the Brighton races was a new car straight out of the box. Luckily it went well but was noisy. The Autoworld chassis all seem to need a certain amount of work.

[KensRedZed]

Hi Mazda,

Thank you very kindly. I was hoping that with 10-cars, at least one might be good enough with a little tinkering. Clearly not the case. AW = All Wonky?

"Hi, ho, the Derry-O. A blue-printing we will go." I'm certain I heard that song somewhere before?