Rad Wagon 4 Freewheel Cleaning

[ChopChop]

Hi,
I just found this forum from Ryan's youtube posting on replacing the rad wagon 4 motor.

I am finding I need to clean my freewheel.  The pawls are no longer engaging.  I had some trouble early in the winter with the freewheel not spinning freely, but I managed to add enough Phil's tenacious to get it moving again.  Maybe I added too much because the pawls seem to be stuck now.

I avoided cleaning the freewheel earlier because I heard I needed a special tool.  Now I am researching that special tool and the only one I can find is the specialty tool from Bolton that is currently out of stock.
https://area13ebikes.com/products/bafang-750-watt-freewheel-removal-tool-made-in-usa-by-bolton-labs

Is there another option? 

[ChopChop]

My localish bike shop says they drilled through the park tool FR-1.3 to make the back end opening larger and have been able to use that.

I ordered the FR-1.3 and will see if that can work.

[malajo]

How did it go?

Sent from my 2107113SG using Tapatalk

[ChopChop]

I bought the Park tool FR 1.3 and drilled out the back to the appropriate size, but it wasn't large enough to fit over the rubber bolt cover.  I think cutting out a slice of the tool is the way to go.

But I gave up on that and I just bought some WD-40 and tried to clean the fly-wheel in place.  It worked mostly. I took the back wheel off in my basement and I sprayed the cassette and wiped and spun until no more dirt came out.  The pawls started to engage correctly after a little cleaning, but I kept at it for 40 minutes or so. No problems since, but I do think the flywheel makes a noise when I am not pedaling.

[rjp]

ChopChop, that rubber nut cover comes off by pushing the motor plug through it and then pushing the plug through the drilled out tool after removing the rubber boot.   You can also order a tool right from rad, that already has a slice cut out of it already.

[handlebar]

But I gave up on that and I just bought some WD-40 and tried to clean the fly-wheel in place.  It worked mostly. I took the back wheel off in my basement and I sprayed the cassette and wiped and spun until no more dirt came out.  The pawls started to engage correctly after a little cleaning, but I kept at it for 40 minutes or so. No problems since, but I do think the flywheel makes a noise when I am not pedaling.

I hadn't had my Radrunner 1 long when the freewheel wouldn't always engage. I thought I could get it off with impacts from a hammer on a screwdriver, but it needed more torque than I expected, and I didn't want to deform it.

I had the wheel lying on a bench. I realized that a groove around the axle was an opening to the pawls. I'm not sure now if I started with WD-40, but I know I used 5W motor oil. Put a little on the crack, wiggle it, turn it, let it sit, and try some more. With that oil, it was quieter than new. I have reoiled a couple of times when I had the wheel off, and I haven't had any more trouble.

[ChopChop]

Thanks handlebar.

I put in some Phil's Tenacious oil after the WD-40, but it is so sticky that I think I stopped before I had worked enough in there.  I need to put some more in I think.

[Tbery]

I bought the Park tool FR 1.3 and drilled out the back to the appropriate size, but it wasn't large enough to fit over the rubber bolt cover.  I think cutting out a slice of the tool is the way to go.

But I gave up on that and I just bought some WD-40 and tried to clean the fly-wheel in place.  It worked mostly. I took the back wheel off in my basement and I sprayed the cassette and wiped and spun until no more dirt came out.  The pawls started to engage correctly after a little cleaning, but I kept at it for 40 minutes or so. No problems since, but I do think the flywheel makes a noise when I am not pedaling.

I have found the same issue. I'm fairly new to preforming the maintenance on my bike (necessary now that there's no longer a local branch of Rad). I didn't even know what I flywheel was until one morning I set out and noticed it ghost pedaling, thought I was imagining it until I tried to coast and the chain popped off. I cleaned mine in place the way you described and got a lot of gunk out. It now spins like it should and I've eliminated almost all the ghost pedaling. Well I should say I eliminate it but because of the drought here even paved paths and roads have so much dust that even when I only use muc-off dry lube and wipe off all the excess before and after letting it sit the recommended time. I find by the end of a single ride I barely notice ghost pedaling. When I go to clean it after a single ride I get brown muck (same color as the dusty dirt) coming out.
I cleaned until I got it to spin really free and the chain to quit producing gunk as well but I also can't tell if it's louder than it was when I first got the bike.
I don't really want to remove the back wheel if I can avoid it and because my bike is only a little over a year old I haven't looked into how to open the hub motor to clean & re-lubricate. Mostly because I don?t want to risk doing something wrong and damaging my bike when it's my only mode of transportation. Unless any of you have any critical input, my plan is to carefully clean/re-lubricate often and in another year or two then look into possibly taking it apart and giving it a complete overhaul. That way I might have saved enough/talked my wife into a 2nd smaller ebike as a backup.

If there's something huge I'm missing let me know. There is one mechanic in town I've found willing to work on a Rad but he's not easy to get a hold of but I can if it's important enough.