I went to run my F1 car the other day and it started going completely haywire. Full acceleration front and back, random turning and jerking around until it crashed. I tried a new receiver and controller, along with a couple of new locations and same thing. Also tried adjusting the throttle and steering, nothing. I am guessing the ESC is bad.

I bought the car used, so I don't know that much about the components. It has a generic motor and ESC, so I am having a lot of trouble finding out what type of ESC to pair with the motor. The motor says, "Brushless Motor Racing For 1/10 Scale S3650 4 poles". I am also pretty new to the RC game, so trying to find an ESC is really frustrating.

Can someone recommend an ESC that will pair with this motor or what parameters I need to be searching for? I am running a 2-cell 4000 lipo motor as well. Thanks!

Could it be this one?

If so, that motor is far away from what belongs into a Formula 1 RC - no wonder it got out of control all the time.

a) It's a 4-pole motor - something usually not used except for 4WD Short Course Trucks (=big and heavy offroaders - so basically the total opposite of an F1 car), and
b) It has 4370 KV - normally people put 21.5T (~1750KV) or even slower 25.5T into F1s and
c) It is sensorless, which can make driving a 2WD a little harder, due to the lack of smooth power delivery on low RPMs.

Even if it is not exactly that same motor, somehow I believe that at least 2 of these 3 point will remain valid.

For alternatives: the Hobbywing ETS legal combo (XR10 Justock ESC and 21.5T Motor) is a popular choice for F1 around here.

No, it's not that one. It looks similar, except mine is completely black. There is no name on mine, so I think it's just totally generic. I have scoured the internet for pictures of the one that I have and I can't find it.

I have a feeling that the guy before me didn't know what he was doing and just put the biggest of what he could find in there. I am thinking now that I need to replace the motor AND esc, and not just the esc. I will check out what you listed. I was also looking at some of the Associated Reedy motor/ESC combos but not sure what I am looking for. So you recommend the 21.5 turn, and something around 2000kv?

You might be right on that feeling. Moooaaaar power is not always the best idea. And like I said, this combo looks completely wrong to me for an F1 car.

Yes, I think you would indeed do best by getting a new ESC and a new motor. And 21.5T or 25.5T (even slower) is basically what pretty much everyone uses on these cars (on 2S Lipos) - and these should all be way lower than 2000kv.

So, going with the combo you recommended. What else would I need with this combo to hook everything up? Thanks man.

IIRC everything you need is included either with the ESC or motor. All you should need is a soldering iron.

Sounds good. The car as it sits now has a capacitor mounted next to the ESC and soldered in. With this new setup, will I need the capacitor or can I remove the entire capacitor assembly when I remove the old ESC?

The XR10 Justock comes with a small capacitor of its own, which is already attached to the ESC (soldered on like all the rest of the wires, i.e. battery and motor wires - and all you have to do with these 5 wires is shorten them to your demands and solder a connector to them. Done.). So yes, you can remove the one already installed, along with the old ESC.

They typical F1 motor is 21.5 or 25.5 depending on the rules the cars are racing under. Even if not racing in organized competition, either of these will provide good controllable power. Anything faster (fewer turns), especially on and unprepared surface, will be way to fast.

Reedy Blackbox 800Z / Sonic 540-M3 21.5 Combo

Reedy Blackbox 800Z / Sonic 540-M3 25.5 Combo