Well, short answer is yes, a receiver CAN go bad from time to time, but before assuming it's that, you might also try another receiver that you know is working in that car & see if that changes anything in your car in question. If it still behaves the same with another receiver, then it's likely something else, maybe a problem with the receiver not getting enough power from the rest of the car's electronics. It also might help for us to know what car you're talking about,as well as what kind of motor, ESC, batteries you're using in it, maybe even what servo(some of the more power-hungry servos can put more stress on the system's BEC voltage, maybe cause it to drop enough that could cause glitching or brown outs....