Clicking noise What is it?

[nikg]

So I was kinda stupid. I finally got my used E-savage today, but didn't get a chance to run it until tonight after the kids were asleep and the batteries were charged. Needless to say the only light was from the street lights. Truck seemed to be wroking fine, and then I got a little stupid. This is my first real r/c and I'm not used to the speed even at the stock level. I kinda hit the streetlight post at about 1/2 to 3/4 speed. It was head on right on the bumper. The truck kept going, so i ran it a little more. That is when I noticed a slight clicking sound coming from the drivetrain. More pronounced in forward than reverse and occurs at high speed and low speed. clicking noise rate depends on speed. Can't exactly pinpoint where it is coming from. Does not seem to affect the performance, but I'm curious as to what it is. I'm not sure if the crash did it or if it just got that way after running it for 5-10 min and things heated up a little.
I let it sit for 15-20 min in the garage and the noise seems to be less but still there. It is there whether I run it on batteries or push it with my hands. Sounds like it might be coming from the center of car or the front.
I know this is not a great description, but I am a total noob. Let me know if there is anything else I can test or try to better locate the problem. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
By the way, I noticed that the rear wheels were pointed inward, so I removed the rear turnbuckles (I think) and tightened them before even trying the truck. I am pretty good at taking things apart and putting them back together, I just don't know anything about these trucks yet.

[Kostaktinos_mt]

start by reading this:
http://e-savage.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=1413
it should be relevant...up to a point...

[crazynic]

Hey there the best way to isolate the noise is to remove the center trans(the gearbox the motors are mounted to) then you can turn it over by hand and listen. Its also very easy to take apart and look inside!

Then with the center trans out you can also turn the center drive shafts and "feel" the diffs action for smoothness.

This will help you find where on the truck to look at a bit closer, but my guess would be that its in the diffs as its common for them to be shimmed incorrectly from the factory. If this is the case there are many handy posts regarding this matter.

The e-sav is a great truck but there are a few key areas that require careful set-up eg. Diffs,slipper clutch,pinion mesh once sorted its alot of fun and very tuff:D

[Joey]

Mine clicks ever so slightly also, its most likely the differentials, but Im not going to worry about it.. yet :D

I slammed head on into a tree at about half speed also, but the back wheels kicked up a bit just before the crash and the grill/hood area of the body took the brunt of it and dented all the way in! Looked very cool (I love crashes and the resulting carnage...hehe) and was funny to see the damage, but it popped right back out and didnt hurt anything. These are tough trucks!

[nikg]

Thanks for the help guys. Again, I am new at this so I'm not sure what too loose or too tight is. While pushing the truck back and forth very lightly it is not entirely smooth. It "lurches" very slightly (meets a little resistance then moves then resist-move-res-move) but it is almost like the resistance one would feel from turning an electric motor by hand as it is interacting with the magnets. I'm thinking this is normal because this truck has a lot of driveliine components and probably can't be perfectly smooth. Does this sound relatively normal?

Also, anybody got a thread on lubing the truck and preventative maintenace? I'm a big believer in lube and proper setup for anything. Too many people these days don't maintain their things and then wonder why they break or don't work right. But I have a feeling very few of those people hang here!
Thanks

[Savageman26]

nikg, ur wrong, ur very good descripting the problem, thats my opinion awarded to u :)

Huh?!?!?!?!?!?

anyway mate, it does sound like the front diff maybe damaged, stripped or just catching on the inside of the plastic diff casing. Coming from nitro Sav's i was well prepared to kill a few of these things, but so far, in stock form they've been fine for almost a year now!!!!!

[nikg]

OK I've run it several more times and each time the same. Gets worse towards the end of the 15min. runs. I think it is the diffs. I will probably wind up pulling them apart. Thanks