Fix cogging in your WL Toys 124017, 124016 or Eachine EAT14 for $27 (or as little as $12)

It was an anticlimax to say the least when WL Toys finally launched their first factory brushless cars. Due to the cheap ESC but moreso the tall gearing they were plagued with issues of cogging - the stuttering of the motor as it struggles to move from pole to pole at low speeds and the loss of torque as a result. You can see this issue in my review of the Eachine EAT14 which has the same problem. WL Toys solved this problem with a hasty update to V2 with a shorter gearing and a higher kv motor. Here is the new 124017 V2 and 124016 V2 (it's hard to find the V1 any more)

I've already written this article to show fixes based on parts available at the time but now I have a new fixed based on newly available parts from the V2 that should solve your problem for just $27 (or as cheap as $15 if you reuse your motor) . Read on and follow me as I "fix" my 124017

As per this article I have fixes for the cogging in the 124016, 124017 and Eachine EAT14 which have the shorter gearing that I prefer however they are not especially cheap fixes though remain my favourite in terms of performance.

If you want to keep the improvement cheap and quick though there are 2 new options for you:

1. Buy the 4300kv motor, mount and 19t pinion all from the V2 spec as a preassembled kit here for just $27. This will give you the V2 powertrain with a top speed of 71km/h and zero cogging
2. Buy just the motor mount and 19t pinion from the V2 and re-use your 3400kv motor. Top speed will be down to around 55km/h but cogging will be gone. I quite like this speed and efficiency if you plan on bashing

Installation guide

The guide below is for option 2 but if you want to do option 1 you'll need to swap the motor mount and pinion from old to new.

You can tell the V1 externally by the brown motor mount (although the 144010 uses this colour). A better indication though is the writing on the motor which shows it as 3400kv for V1 and 4300kv for V2

Remove the 4 screws circled in red. The top 2 can be tight so use a good driver.

Screws are not out - don't lose them!!

Un-plug the wires from the motor to the ESC. 

This is the rear of the car from the underside. You'll need to remove the 2 screws circled above

I should warn you now that these screws are tight as WL Toys chose to you superglue rather than loctite. A little butane torch like this one is great for melting the glue.

You'll need to apply heat on the screws like this for about 20 seconds then use a good drive to unscrew. Don't burn yourself!

Here are the screws after removal. Check out how much glue was used.

lift up the top deck, you'll need to remove the plastic gear shroud and drive shaft guide

Here they are with the plastic parts removed

Next rotate the motor mount about the drive shaft

And remove the old motor and mount. At this point you can move the heatsink to the new motor or if you are keeping the 3400kv motor, move it to the new mount and 19t pinion. 

New motor, mount and pinion ready to go in. It's good that this is how the parts arrived (preassembled)

You'll need to trim the lower shroud a little because the motor now sits closer to centre of the car

This is how mine looked and can confirm it doesn't foul on the motor

New motor mount in the opposite way you removed. Gear mesh is perfect and doesn't need adjusting - one advantage of fixed motor mounts.

Top gear shroud needs trimming similar to the bottom one. I used these side cutters

Trimmed upper gear shroud is back in and fits cleanly. Don't forget the little black plastic drive shaft guide (I usually do!)

Upper deck screws back in - M2.5 buttons screws at the front and smaller machine screws at the back

Screws back in the bottom. I've never bothered with locktite on these but you can use blue if you wish

Motor plugged back in - keep with the same colours bit if you find it going in reverse swap any two of the the three

All hooked up and ready to go. I chose not to use the motor heatsink but you can easily change it over

Time for a drive with no cogging and less stress on the electronics

What performance can you expect?

So you've swapped a low KV motor and large pinion for a high kv motor and smaller pinion. Top speed will be very similar - I measured 71km/h with this combo in my WL Toys 144010 review here. Acceleration will be sharper but most importantly the cogging will be gone. If you want to look at other motor and pinion combos I have written a list of alternative options here but nothing beats the V2 swap for simplicity and top speed for stock electronics. If you have a V1 this is a MUST DO mod.

Parts used

4300kv motor with the 124017 V2 motor mount and 19t pinion. This is all you need if you want the same power train as the V2. Description says ​"Only 2845 4300KV Motor" but I can confirm it includes mount and pinion

124017 V2 motor mount. You'll need this one as it has the preset holes for the 19t pinion. This vendor from aliexpress shipped really quick ONLY NEEDED IF YOU WANT TO REUSE YOUR MOTOR

19t pinion from the 124017 V2 ONLY NEEDED IF YOU WANT TO REUSE YOUR MOTOR

If you are looking for a discount on this car, I will post any coupon codes or flash sales for it over here on my coupons and discounts page. Remember buying from any of these links supports my page without any cost to you and is appreciated especially since I don't ask for money via patreon and the like. If you want to get involved in this discussion, feel free to join the QuadifyRC Facebook Group Here or like my page below