Steering Servo Not Turning All The Way? Problems & Fixes

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You take your RC car to show off your skills. There is no better feeling than having the perfect steer to your car. This way you can do so many tricks with your car. But then your steering just stops working.  

So, why is your steering servo not turning all the way? 

There are several reasons why your steering servo isn’t cooperating. The reasons could range from having a faulty steering wheel to changing the rate of your steering or misalignment of the front wheels. As you can see the reasons are endless. But we’ve managed to pull out the common ones for you! 

We’ve just given a brief overview of your situation. Steer into this article and you will be right on track and get your steering fixed in no time!

Causes For Steering Not Turning All The Way

Now let’s look at RC steering servo problems and their solutions down below

Faulty Steering Wheel 

Try swapping the cables from Channel 1 to Channel 2 and see if that helps. For example, try swapping the steering servo plugs in channel 1 for those in channel 2 and see if that helps.

Using this method, if you notice that steering works with the throttle but acceleration does not this indicates that both channels are fine. Further indicating the steering wheel is malfunctioning and it is time to acquire a new controller.

Here are our top picks for tester servo controllers: 

The Rate of Steering 

It’s possible to accidentally turn the rate of steering to zero. This silly mistake is possible to make while driving. 

Failure in Differentials 

Now the problems could very much be internal. The gears and balls of your RC help to steer your car left and right. 

Source: der-schweighofer.com

Now overtightening your gear and ball differentials causes your differential to become faulty. Further causing the rear tire to spin slower. And gradually the tires stop spinning at all. 

To fix this take your RC apart. Lay the differentials down and look to see if there are any missing teeth on the flattened ball bearing and gear differentials. And also look out for the amount of lubricant you are using. 

Front Wheels Not Aligned

The wheels of your RC car can become out of alignment if you experience a sudden shock or a hard hit while driving. Your vehicle will tilt to one side if this occurs.

Consequently, the stability of your vehicle may be compromised. If this goes on for a long time it will cause your steering to stop working. 

As far as I know, the solution is straightforward. Keep your gear in working order to keep your wheel on a straight path. This is a common occurrence with RC owners. Remove the gears and reinstall them in the correct order to fix the problem.

Servo Horn

Steering servo horns are more important than people realize. If the measurement of this servo horn is even slightly off for your car, it won’t steer correctly. 

Some cars have perpendicular servo horns. Then again others have perfectly perpendicular servo horns. And older cars used to have longer servo horns. 

So the length of the servo horn is important as well. Look through your manual to get the appropriate length of servo horn for your RC car. 

Low Power in Battery 

Low power in the battery is another common cause behind the steering servo not turning all the way. When this happens just replace the battery with a new one. 

Here are some batteries you can look into:

  • For non-rechargeable batteries, look into 4 Cell AA Batteries. They are more on the affordable side. 

Radio Signal

Radio signals also known as EPA are a problem if not set correctly. EPA stands for endpoint adjustment on your radio. 

To set correctly first trim the car semi-straight. And then turn the wheel all the way to the right. And turn your EPA up until you reach the full lock. 

Locking is basically the whole point of setting EPA correctly. With this, you will obtain full travel of your wheels. Also, make sure the wheels lock fully in both directions. 

Keep in mind to set the EPA by having the car down on a surface and not in the air. Because then it will not attain a proper lock. Follow these steps if your steering servo only turns one way 

Transmitter 

There are many reasons for the RC transmitter not working. But we’ll briefly get into it. 

An RC vehicle’s transmitter is an important factor. When using a defective transmitter, whether you’re using an RC plane or automobile, you won’t be able to control it.

Your RC car will also crash if it doesn’t reply to your transmitter. Because with a faulty transmitter, you won’t be able to steer. 

Source: eurorc.com

It’s possible that loose wiring in the control board is to blame. You must fix the wiring in order for the control to work. 

Another reason could be the battery not working. If you are using a lipo or NiMH battery they could turn out to be dead. If this happens then just charge the batteries. 

And even after charging it doesn’t work, you should replace it. 

Problem With Servo 

Your RC car’s steering is handled by servo motors. When your RC car’s servo motor has a malfunction, the wheels may not turn.

Regardless of what type of RC car you have, this is a common issue. Your servo motor deteriorates due to foreign dirt and dampness. So be sure to don’t make common mistakes with your RC cars. And steering servo twitching could occur without proper maintenance. 

All the above solutions could also work when the steering servo not responding. 

How to Tell Servo Isn’t Working

To figure out how to fix your steering servo. You need to figure out if your steering servo motor has gone bad in the first place. Let’s look at the giveaways. 

  • The servo tends to jiggle and is unable to find the surface
  • Having to recentre your steering servo every time you turn your RC car and radio on. Even if no other changes have been made to your car. 
  • The steering potentiometer or radio could be going bad or dirty. 
  • If the servo has gotten old. 
  • There could be something wrong with the radio if the new steering servo not working.

Look out for these when you start to wonder if your servo is working properly. Also to prevent these from happening you could get yourself a servo saver.  

FAQs

Given below are some commonly asked questions from car enthusiasts like you-

Why is there twitching in my steering servo?

Due to an insignificant amount of dust or moisture in its potentiometer, it’s quite possible that the shaking or flickering is caused by this. This isn’t a major issue, and fixing it is a piece of cake.

Why is there vibration in a servo motor?

Vibration can be produced by loose or unlubricated bearings, among other mechanical issues. Another common cause of excessive vibration is an imbalance in the weight of one of the rotating components of the servomotor. 

What is the best steering servo?

To acquire a beginning gear ratio, divide the motor speed by the needed speed and round down. then divide the torque by the gear ratio to get the new torque requirement for the gear. As a result, the options will be reduced to only a few motors. Find a motor with a good inertia ratio.

Endnote

We hope there is no more doubt on why the steering servo not turning all the way. After finishing this article your steering servo will turn all the way for sure! 

Get your cars on the track and do those tricks you’ve been meaning to do. 

Until then good luck with driving your cars!