Just recently installed a Protek 160SS servo in my buggy and it’s acting up. Currently it you can move the servo arm when it’s turned off but when the car is turned on you can’t budge the servo arm although it will move when you use the transmitter. Not sure what’s going on.

When turned on, you don't want to force it by hand. That's what the radio is supposed to do. You could ruin servo gears/drive motor by doing this. Sounds like it's working normal.

When I first installed it you can move the tires and now you can’t. That’s not normal

It also gets kinda stuck about half way like a gear is messed up but the gears are all fine. And I noticed it vibrating intermittently too but that’s not very often

I don't know of any good servo that will move by hand when turned on and linked to the transmitter, and I have been doing this for a long time.

Think about it - would you want the servo to go straight under load as you went into a high speed corner?

Yes you are correct on that part. It was stopping half way when going to the right and it feels pretty rough moving the servo arm like it’s a bad gear but like I said the gears all look fine.

Not trying to be mean here...but you really need to be clear on your posts on what you are having problems with your servo. First you asked why the servo wouldnt move when its powered on but moves with the transmitter. Then you said something about your tires not moving in your second post. On your 3rd post you change your story yet again now saying the servo gets stuck half way like you have a stripped gear and the servo vibrates intermittently. SO which is it?

There is several things going on with it which was pointed out to me by the expert at the track last night. He’s been doing this for 30 plus years and wins nearly every race so I am inclined to believe him when he says there is an issue with my servo. I was mistaken about the servo moving while on but the other things I’m simply relaying what was pointed out to me. I’m new to all this so I don’t always know what to ask. There isn’t “Different stories” I’m not changing any story here dude. I’m just saying this servo doesn’t seem right so looking for guidance on what to do.

1) Servo gets stuck half way through its motion to the right
2) It vibrates intermittently

Is that clear enough disaster?

Disconnect the servo from the front suspension and see if it still acts funny.

If it does, it may have a bad pot, and if it is a new servo, contact AMain - chances are they will take care of you.

The 30 year expert at the track, while having the servo and car right there in his hands, could check out everything much better than us people here on an internet forum having nothing to go by than your short texts. Just saying...

It was the end of the night and the place was closing. He was kind enough to take a look at it for a few min before we had to leave but not enough time to diagnose and fix it but thanks for that insightful message. A tremendous help you are.

Thanks belewis01, I’ll try that.

I don't know that you're really creating the perception you want while trying to ask for help. Or maybe you are, but it's not an image that will cause people to want to help you.

If I had to guess, some damage has been done to the servo at some point. Likely a gear based on it grabbing mid way through the stroke. The jitter is sometimes the result of a bad pot and can indicate that there are issues that will only get worse. The good news is that protek has an excellent warranty. If you bought it from your local hobby shop recently, ask them to warranty it for you. Or, contact protek with a copy of your receipt.

You really don't get it, do you? You want help but are not willing to put the effort in to explain exactly what happened and what you have done. Every time someone asks, you drop another (new) part of the story instead of telling it in a structured way yourself from the beginning. Here on rctech people simply depend on what you tell them about your problem (and yes, unfortunately that means writing it down, including as much of the details as possible) because no one here has seen your car or held it on his own hands, so we have to rely on you to give all the possible information. And since nobody here can read your mind, we're stuck with reading what you actually write, and if you'd be honest with yourself, you'd see that what you wrote until now wasn't anywhere near complete enough, but instead of just correcting that, you're now also giving us some attitude. Seems you really know how to ask for help. Good luck.

Remove horn, Make sure steering servo plug 1. Turn on TX and RX. All Trims centered. Reinstall horn with wheel str8. install horn at a 90deg.