hey guys, i bought a villian ex about a year or 2 ago and after it broke twice from the same problem i put her away (lol). so now i want it to run again. the problem is, i will drive the boat and going into hard turns (slow or fast) i can somtimes hear a grinding noise. eventualy a gear would strip inside and then only one prop will turn according to the motor. i have forgotten what gear it is but i will find out very soon when i open her up again. is this a common problem? if so how do i fix it. thanks for any help guys.

I would suggest to dissconnect the motors from the drive line, the easiest way to do this is to pull the pinions off, and make sure the drive line is very free. Try spinning the props with your fingers and make sure there is no resistance. Then pull the shafts out and make sure they are not bent. If all this is ok, then I think you have a binding out drive where the drive knuckles are. Replace them with the larger ones, I think graupner makes them.

thanks im opening it up right now. have to deal with crappy screws though. if anyone has bought the bigger ones could you post a link?

i have taken the motors off but i cant figure out how to get any deeper into the problem. i can see that the gear that goes against the pinion gear is totaly off its shaft though it is not stripped. i cant seem how to open the front of the black box to get to the gear to see how it came off.

go to traxxas.s web site and download the manual with the blown up pictures of how its put together.

www.traxxas.com

Those two black covers just pop off. Then you will be able to see whats going on with the pinion and spur gear. If one is messed up you will need to replace it before you run it again. Then you will need to set the mesh right. The pinion and spur gear should have just a hair of play between them. too much and it will strip, too tight and it will strip. Some guys use a piece of paper between the two to get it adjusted right. I have personally never used this method. Don't forget to take the spur gear off the shaft and pull the shaft out the rear of the boat and inspect it and re lube it when you put it back in. You will also need to take apart the rear hardware to get it out.

thanks guys that is exactly what i did and i will try to get those shafts out. then i can put it together and figure out what new batteries to buy.

www.cheapbatterypacks.com is a great place to go. They will custom build any arrangement of batteries you want. For the villain EX I would get 7 cell Elite 3600mah Flat hump style with deans connectors 12 awg wire and the battery bar upgrade.