Lego 42125 clicking gears

[TechDecker]

Hey all. New here and a bit new to Lego in general. Was helping a family member with a technic set, first set I've done. It was the 42125 Ferrari 488 GTE.

Most of the build has gone well, but after completion, we noticed issues with the engine.

For some reason, when moving forward it constantly makes a "click" sound. It's a very annoying sound and as if something is definitely wrong, but I'm having trouble pinning down exactly what. It seems to be the cogs, but it could be the piece the cogs sit in (not sure what it's called). It's like it's getting stuck on something even though it does keep turning. But the pistons won't move while it clicks. Even more curious is that going in reverse there are no issues at all, it's only when going forward. 

I'm not sure how to  diagnose this or what the issue could be, so I'm really looking for any help, tips or ideas on what I can do here to help fix this please.

Image of the set here

You'll notice in the image I outlined 2 bits. When we initially set up the car, we noticed the black stick sat loose inside the grey piece it was supposed to be in. What would happen is the engine would work for a bit (pistons moving), then suddenly click, and it would stop working entirely until parts were disconnected and reconnected.Sometimes one of the small cogs would fall out too after the click. We added some paper inside the grey piece where the black stick sits in, to make the fit tighter (you can see it sticking out on the right side one lol). Now, this worked in making the engine/pistons move, it doesn't stop anymore, but it also means the wheels move very very stiff, and the clicking is frequent.

I can try post a video if it helps. 

One thing I will say is I am not certain if this is a real or fake lego set, I don't have it in me to ask, think it would seem a bit rude but I think that could explain some of the looseness. But surely there is a way to fix it regardless, what could be at fault here?

 

Thank you

Edited July 12, 2023 by TechDecker

[msk6003]

At first, that is ripoff. Not real.
Second, those black axle and LBG joint is loose in even in original lego so axle can slide in joint piece.

Is engine always stop in same place? Than maybe problem caused by fake parts.

[TechDecker]

1 hour ago, msk6003 said:

At first, that is ripoff. Not real.
Second, those black axle and LBG joint is loose in even in original lego so axle can slide in joint piece.

Is engine always stop in same place? Than maybe problem caused by fake parts.

Oh I see. I think the black axle and LBG joint is too loose, because the engine stops working when I keep it loose. When I make it tighter, the engine keeps going but with the clicking sound.

It doesn't seem like the engine always stops in the same place. Once I tightened the LBG join with paper, the engine does actually work, but it has the frequent clicking sound. Do you know what could possibly cause this, or how I could diagnose and fix this? Maybe I could order real lego parts for whatever parts are causing the problem if this is ripoff. 

 

Thank you for taking the time to help

Edited July 13, 2023 by TechDecker

[msk6003]

1 hour ago, TechDecker said:

 

I don't know exactely what cause it. How about try disassemble engine and chassis and turn both separately?

[Saruzeufel]

The differnetial looks like it is crooked. Is it installed properly and are the gears inside it properly on their axles? Try holding one wheel and turning the other to test it

[TechDecker]

6 hours ago, msk6003 said:

I don't know exactely what cause it. How about try disassemble engine and chassis and turn both separately?

I have taken the differential out, not the pistons. The pistons worked absolutely fine before I put them in, I don't think they're responsible for the clicking. I'm not sure how I'd go about disassembling the engine.

3 hours ago, Saruzeufel said:

The differnetial looks like it is crooked. Is it installed properly and are the gears inside it properly on their axles? Try holding one wheel and turning the other to test it

I think it is installed properly, but I'm no expert unfortunately. If I hold one wheel and twist the other, I get the same thing. When going forward I get the clicks, going backwards it is completely fine. 

I have noticed that if I don't hold one wheel, so if I just twist the back left wheel, it will twist the back right wheel in the opposite direction but won't move the pistons (only slightly). However if I twist the back left wheel, it won't twist the back right wheel, but it will move the pistons. I'm not sure if this is normal. 

Twisting the back left wheel moves the 3 small gears in the differential, twisting the back right wheel moves 2 of the small gears (middle and right) and the big gear. Left and right is relative to when the car is upright, not when the car is upside down for clarity.

I do think the gears are properly on their axles, but how would I check that? Once it goes through the centre shouldn't that just be fine?

Thanks again for the help, I'm just a bit lost with this and apologies if it isn't real lego. Just hoping it can get sorted

Edited July 13, 2023 by TechDecker

[TechDecker]

 

Video in case it helps. You are right in that it looks a bit crooked. I'm not sure if that's because I've been tampering with it a lot. I'll try straightening it out, but if it still has the same issue, I wonder what it could be?

[Saruzeufel]

Diff looks ok on the video, mostly looks weird because of the high stress the pieces are under.
Does the fake engine spin freely if you disconnect it from the diff? It looked like the engine stopped in the same spot (when the crankshaft is horizontal in the engine I think).

[Jundis]

Maybe the cylinders are not correctly oriented, therefor the pistons jam in a certain position? 

[MikeTwo9398]

I think the axle below the differntial (the red part) is blocking the movement. It stops moving and then the clicking/slipping of gears start.

What is attached to that?

[TechDecker]

On 7/17/2023 at 6:01 AM, Saruzeufel said:

Diff looks ok on the video, mostly looks weird because of the high stress the pieces are under.
Does the fake engine spin freely if you disconnect it from the diff? It looked like the engine stopped in the same spot (when the crankshaft is horizontal in the engine I think).

By the engine spinning, do you mean just the pistons moving? As far as I recall, they worked fine before we connected it to the differential and its gears. Sometimes we've also had it so that it appears to be working, but once I connect the grey beams to the wheel assembly, I get the friction and clicking.

On 7/17/2023 at 6:36 AM, Jundis said:

Maybe the cylinders are not correctly oriented, therefor the pistons jam in a certain position? 

I do think they worked before we connected the pistons to the differential. But, this being the first technic set I've done, it's absolutely possible I've done something wrong here. What do you mean by properly oriented? They work absolutely fine in reverse, it's just going forward we have the issue.

Would it be difficult to get the pistons out at this point without disassembling the whole model? Would love to give it a check over but some of these parts really were very tight and hard to get off. 

On 7/17/2023 at 8:19 AM, MikeTwo9398 said:

I think the axle below the differntial (the red part) is blocking the movement. It stops moving and then the clicking/slipping of gears start.

What is attached to that?

This is a good spot thank you. I had a second look at this piece and it doesn't seem like it was pushed all the way in, but I don't think this would cause a major issue like this, right? The attachment is where that connects, then on the end of it is just a t-shaped beam

 

 

Thanks again for all the help, I do appreciate it. I was considering ordering a proper differential and replacement gears hoping that would fix it. Is it worth attempting or unlikely to resolve anything?

[TechDecker]

On 7/17/2023 at 8:19 AM, MikeTwo9398 said:

I think the axle below the differntial (the red part) is blocking the movement. It stops moving and then the clicking/slipping of gears start.

What is attached to that?

Just wanted to say thank you so much for pointing this out. It turns out this piece wasn't pushed in all the way. There was only a slight gap, but having now pushed it in the clicking seems to have stopped. It does resume if I push down on the car and move it forward, which is strange, but if I just push the car normally, it's now click free.

Thanks once again, really do appreciate it and it was a great spot by you! We've had the car here for who knows how long and didn't notice haha!