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Chimera Clutch Won't Engage After Gear Change

jacemace

New Member
Messages
3
Hey everyone,

I recently changed the four gears in my Chimera. They were absolutely destroyed. One gear only had a few teeth left. Outside of fighting with the braking system, the reassembly seemed to have gone well.

After reassembly, the engine started without incident, the bell housing spins when I give it gas but it doesn't seem to be engaging with the gears/differential.

Any suggestions?

Best,
jason
 

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designed2survive

Senior Member
Messages
1,005
Location
MA
Hey everyone,

I recently changed the four gears in my Chimera. They were absolutely destroyed. One gear only had a few teeth left. Outside of fighting with the braking system, the reassembly seemed to have gone well.

After reassembly, the engine started without incident, the bell housing spins when I give it gas but it doesn't seem to be engaging with the gears/differential.

Any suggestions?

Best,
jason

If the clutch bell is spinning (engaged when engines revs) is the gear mounted on it spinning too?
 

jacemace

New Member
Messages
3
The bell housing was spinning so the clutch was engaging. I ended up dissembling the differential again and found that the drive pinion set screw was missing causing the pinion not to engage with the differential.

It's now a happy Chimera.
 

designed2survive

Senior Member
Messages
1,005
Location
MA
The bell housing was spinning so the clutch was engaging. I ended up dissembling the differential again and found that the drive pinion set screw was missing causing the pinion not to engage with the differential.

It's now a happy Chimera.

Glad to hear.

Now my question is how and why did the gears strip? Are you using the stock transmission plate? If so you might want to invest into an aluminum one. It could very easily be the cause of the damage.

I still have my stock gears and they are still in very goood working order.
 

jacemace

New Member
Messages
3
I'm using the stock transmission plate (not the aluminum one). I read somewhere that a batch of gears were improperly hardened at the factory leading to the failure. I suspect I received a Chimera that was affected by this problem.

Take a close look at the breakage area. The steel looks almost chalky. I wonder if this is a sign of mishardened steel.
 

Ol' fart

Well-Known Member
Messages
1,238
Location
Saratoga CA
No, that's called "centered metal" It is a metal product that kind of looks like sand but it's metal. It is pressed in a mold under super high pressure and heat. The metal fuses together. The only machining is for the set screw. The only reason they fail is the plastic back plate flex's and the proper gear mesh is lost, crashing the gears. The aluminum back plate is the first thing I would upgrade. We make an aluminum back plate and the Redcat MT one will fit on X cars too.
 

designed2survive

Senior Member
Messages
1,005
Location
MA
I'm using the stock transmission plate (not the aluminum one). I read somewhere that a batch of gears were improperly hardened at the factory leading to the failure. I suspect I received a Chimera that was affected by this problem.

Take a close look at the breakage area. The steel looks almost chalky. I wonder if this is a sign of mishardened steel.

Your gears failed due to the plastic transmission plate. Invest in an aluminum one and you won't have any more issues regarding that.
 

Petrolheadz100

Well-Known Member
Messages
237
What aluminum gear plate fits the v3 chimera, i see one at DDM but it says V2 models and the 70u5rc one says only for on road use since its a hollow design?
 

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