ZZ Se steering fix

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Son_Gokou
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ZZ Se steering fix

Post by Son_Gokou »

Hey guys, look, this may have already been posted, but I'm gonna do this anyways just in case.

Peeps 'round here have been getting probs with their ZipZaps SE propo steering...They've been gettin' around 3-6 steps to the right, but only 1-2 to the left. I talked to MadScott about this, and he gave me the following advice that I'm gonna copy and paste:

"Make sure your car and transmitter are off. You start by removing the receiver/controller. It's two screws. One by the antenna and one towards the front. You can then slide the receiver forward and lift it up out of the way. There are several wires underneath, but I haven't had any problem with them breaking or anything. This exposes the steering box for the servo. There are two screws to remove to lift the top off. The two screws for the steering box are different from the the ones on the receiver. Be sure to keep track of which one is which. Be careful when doing this as the springs for the front suspension are easy to lose. You can remove the front wheel/knuck assemblies and suspension springs. Try to keep the springs on the knuckles. It will help you from losing them.

Now you can see the steering pot. It has three wires soldered to it. The wire colors are green, blue and yellow. I've seen two different configurations. One has the green and blue wires soldered together on the middle pin of the pot and the yellow is on the pin on the drivers side of the car. The other configuration has the green wire on the passenger side pin, the blue wire on the middle pin and the yellow wire on the drivers side, also there is a small jumper wire between the blue and the green wires.

If you have the first configuration, you have to unsolder the blue and green wires to separate them from each other and the middle pin. Then you solder the blue back to the middle and the green to the passenger side pin.

If you have the second configuration, all you have to do is cut the jumper wire. I found using an exacto knife works fine. Once it is cut, bend the jumper wire a little to separate where they connected.

Nothing has to be done to the yellow wire/pin. Look at the position of the pot, it maybe rotated so that the yellow wire is kinda sunk down into the chassis. You can use the steering adjust screw underneath the car to rotate to pot around if you need better access to the pins.

The next step is to remove the steering arm or rack. It's flat white piece under the servo gear. It's kind of difficult to get out. Be careful and take your time with this.

Once it's out, you can then turn on the car and the transmitter. The servo should move a little as it adjusts back to a center positioning. After further testing I found it wasn't necessary to really find an electrical center on the pot. You can adjust the pot so the bluewire is kind of center. Turn the steering wheel left and right and the servo should move. You should also find that there is no stutter in the middle position. Also, try to get the steering trim on the transmitter back to a center position. I found when it is centered, there is a small dead spot when you slowly move the steering wheel left and right from center. You'll see that you can actually turn it just a tiny bit either way before the servo will start to move. Also, you should have an equal number of steps both left and right, usually somewhere betwee 5 or 6 steps. If you have more on one side and less on the other, the steering trim on the transmitter is not centered. When it is, you'll have equal steps to each side.

Once all of this done, you can now put the steering arm or rack back in place. Again do this carefully. You also want to have it as close to center when you install it back in place. If the servo moves when putting it in, then you have to remove it, turn the car and transmitter back on to allow the servo to adjust back and then try again. It takes a few tries to get it all right. Once it's back in and fairly centered when the car and transmitter are on and the steering wheel on the transmitter are centered, you should be able to see the steering arm move 4 to 5 steps in either direction.

Now you can reassemble everything. Install the steering knukle/wheel assemblies. Ensure the springs are on. Place the steering lid back on and reattach with the screws. Then reattach the receiver. Now you make final adjustments to the steering. Do not use the steering trim on the transmitter. Instead use the screw underneath and continue adjusting it until the car is tracking straight when the steering wheel is centered. You should have equal steering on both sides now and it should track fairly straight when you let go of the wheel, a little correction may be required, but you should find it's much smoother to drive now and much more responsive.

I found that the steering rack can be trimmed a little. when it's installed and you turn the wheel, you can see where the rack hits the mounts for the knuckles. This is to allow oversteer. By trimming the rack down just a little on each side, you can allow a little further travel in the steering. This isn't necessary to do, just a preference for me. If you do this, it's best to do it and experiment with it while you are working on reinstalling it and centering the servo. If you do this, be careful not to trim too much off. If you do, then the wheels will hit the chassis when turning and cause the car to almost stop.

I've done 3 cars now, all with the same results and I really like the way they drive. If you feel unconfortable doing any part of this, then I suggest you don't try it. The newer Savanna's and Efini's seem to be much better now than what they were. I think radio shack is starting to solve the problems. The steering is equal and the stuttering is much less noticeable. Anyway, good luck and feel free to ask any questions."

Thanks MadScott.
Son_Gokou
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Post by Son_Gokou »

Umm......guys??? Is anyone in the house?
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Post by CaboWabo »

haven't had a chance to try it yet, too busy - but I trust MadScott's advice, sounds like a pain in the arse, but probably worth it.
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Post by Impreza WR reX »

Do this, takes about 20 minutes when you don't know what you're doing. The only problem I noticed is that sometimes the car doesn't always return dead center after making a turn. I think this is because it doesn't stutter anymore. Anyway, it's not that bad, it rarely happens and it goes back center after I tap the steering. The proportional steering is awesome!
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crazydave
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Post by crazydave »

I tried it, and it did seem much better, but it happened to be on a car that I was running alloys on, and that thing with it not quite returning to center all the time was worse with the heavier rims.

So I put a resistor (don't remeber what value) in place of that jumper, and it just stutters like when stock. The stuttering may not be as bad, but I really can't tell.

I've gotton used to the sound of the stuttering, and it really doesn't seem to effect handling, other than keeping it centered. On the other hand not returning to center all the time doesn't seem right, so I decided, might as well leave it.

Just my 2 cents, YMMV.
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Impreza WR reX
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Post by Impreza WR reX »

Well the reason I think it's worth it is because without I would only get proportional steering turning right, but after I did that, I get it both left and right.
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crazydave
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Post by crazydave »

Impreza WR reX wrote:Well the reason I think it's worth it is because without I would only get proportional steering turning right, but after I did that, I get it both left and right.
Yeah, I hear you there. I don't have that problem with my SE Mustang, but I did with my first RX7. I don't know if it's not as bad now, because I took the front end apart, and re-centered everything, or if I got used to it.
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SPEED
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Post by SPEED »

Did this steering fix to my mustang today which had about 4-5 steps right and 1-2 left and Stutter at center. Now my mustang steers smooth. 4 steps both ways and no more stutter. The steering is a bit touchy, but its fine by me. Its centering seems to be fine, every once and a while it'll get a bit squirrelly but i can get it tracking straight again. I can control my SE so much better now and it seems to drive MUCH smoother (probably because there's no more stuttering) I like ym SE even more now!
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Post by mastercool »

You could use 2 steering springs and it should return everytime as there is more force pushing it to the centre.
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crazydave
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Post by crazydave »

mastercool wrote:You could use 2 steering springs and it should return everytime as there is more force pushing it to the centre.
No springs in the SE, it's a gear and motor driven proportional system.
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Son_Gokou
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Post by Son_Gokou »

Also, you may want to contact cyborgzero for more help, he's an electronics guru and may be able to help....
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pimptothemax
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Post by pimptothemax »

(made me mad) when i first got my se mach1 mustang the steering was stuck to the right. i returned it and the employee checked the one that he was going to swap for me. i got a ford gt and it was fine. bought the origional on 9/27.

*just lettin people know there might have been a big batch of defects*
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chrome
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Post by chrome »

pimptothemax wrote: *just lettin people know there might have been a big batch of defects*
Or there might have been one perfectly working one where you didn't know how to set the tracking.

Later,
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