Thrustmaster t 500 r issues

Associate
Joined
10 Oct 2009
Posts
131
Hi,
My first wheel that was about 10 days old burned out, replacement wheel has 3 notchy parts where the wheel gets stuck in the notch, the 3 notches are in the same part of the turning circle throughout the 1080 degrees.
Wheel does'nt center all the time either as the bottonm right notch likes to trap the wheel.
With power off these issues are massive, with power on i'm not sure if i can feel the notches in the 3 spots or not, one thing i do know is that from the 2 other t500's i've had was nothing like the wheel i have infront of me.

Spose i'll contact thrustmaster and see if they will replace the unit or i'll have togo for a refund next week sadly :( as ocuk wont have any probly by then and would'nt replace me on the 4th time ( first wheel was returned due to mixup with version that i was told i'd get )

Anybody have any idea's on this,

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xDd1Qd6x_U8&feature=youtu.be


Wobbly wheel after around 6 hours racing, needs tightening up at least once a session.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=URjyz...ature=youtu.be

No wobble after removing wheel and tightening 4 screws, pain in the neck and such a crazy thing to happen.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MBTCe...ature=youtu.be
 
Last edited:
Associate
OP
Joined
10 Oct 2009
Posts
131
Hey,
Has anybody that brought this wheel lately had any issues, i've had 2 now, the wheels come loose and need taking apart every few hours and 4 screws tightening.

Allso this wheel looses around 40% of its power after racing for around an hour, turn it off let it cool down for an hour or so and power is back to normal.
its 17 degrees where i play my games as proved by a thermometer

Am i really unlucky or are these wheel rubbish?
 
Permabanned
Joined
3 Oct 2009
Posts
14,035
Location
North Wales
Did you read the video description?

"After around 10 hours this has cleared up 50%, maybe after another 20+ hours on the wheel these 3 notches/grooves will dissapear, i can no longer feel the notches/grooves ingame so this wheel is'nt falty and just needs a run in as advised by thrustmaster.
There are new wheels out there though without this issue, if you have the issue in the video then calm down and know that there is a very good chance that your wheel needs running in for 20+ hours, maybe more maybe less"

Looks like the notches will go away when you use it, it just needs "breaking in" as it were.
 
Associate
OP
Joined
10 Oct 2009
Posts
131
Hi,
Thats my video and my description :)
And for the issue i showed wearing in helped, i did notice though today the 3 notches/grooves while powered off are in a different spot but there still not anywhere near as bad as they was at the start.
Wheel is still coming loose aswell and i'm waiting for confirmation on what can be done about this from thrustmaster that does'nt involve vioding the warrenty.

Sadly i'm still stuck with losing around 40% force after around an hours of racing.
Thrustmaster wont replace and want it rma'd and ocuk have generously offered a refund so looks like i'll have to grab the refund and grab a wheel from amazon as they allso have great returns on faulty items.

I think i'll try again and hopefully get a wheel without any issues, if i do i'll try again, if i still do that will be it for me, hopefully fingers crossed a wheel from a different batch will be better.

Changed my mid, getting a fanatec csr elite now.
 
Last edited:
Associate
OP
Joined
10 Oct 2009
Posts
131
Just going to update this for info.

After much debating i decided to buy another t500 mainly because the t500rs is in stock in the uk and sold from brick and morter stores.
Allso because i found the customer support person i dealt with through the 2 faulty wheels was exellent, no swapout was offered but repair or replacement was offered.
If teh wheel goes faulty in the first few weeks there is a very good chance we can get a brand new replacement from store of purchase, and if it goes faulty after, Thrustmaster pay for shipping + repair or replacement.

I did'nt like the idea of ordering from overseas and the 2 emails i have sent to Fanatec have took around 7 days to reply, i get a faulty fanatec from the box it could be a few weeks before i get a repair or replacement, a shop has to replace so Thrustmaster wins imho.

Shame i've had to fork out £700 as i'm still waiting on refund from ocuk but i'll be damned if i can sit here and use a dfgt now i've had a taste of life at the top.

I myself know sometimes we get faulty things, sometimes a few times in a row if we are unlucky so i'm not scared to buy into thrustmaster again.
 
Man of Honour
Joined
20 Dec 2004
Posts
7,016
Location
Tamworth
I've got a T500 also and there does seem to be an issue with build quality or build design. Mine has a noisey cooling fan at the best of times, other times it sounds like its dieing. This seems to be a common problem with the T500 if you Google it, as well as a few other issues. The fan has been ok for the past few weeks, so I hope it stays that way from now on. Especially as it's out of Warranty in a few months.

The Logitech wheels I've owned (Momo, G25 & G27) have all been faultless.
 
Associate
OP
Joined
10 Oct 2009
Posts
131
Hi barmyllama,
Is that the best you can do? :rolleyes:
Is the noisy fan the only thing that has been iffy ?
Has the wheel come loose?

And i see you have nearly had your wheel for 2 years, how has it faired in those 2 years?

Questions questions questions, sorry :(

I just watched a t500 go on fleebay second hand for a very high price, looks like at the mo they hold some of there price at resale?
 
Last edited:
Man of Honour
Joined
20 Dec 2004
Posts
7,016
Location
Tamworth
Didn't realise they had two year warranty. I've only had mine for about 9 months. The steering wheel came loose from the hub after a few days but that only needed the Allen head screws tightening up to cure it. I've also had the wheel take ages to calibrate on power up. It continuously turned from one side to the other for ages before stopping at centre. The desk clamp is rubbish really and frequently gets locked in place and it feels like I'm going to break it when I unscrew it.

They are great wheels, but I feel the build quality let's them down enough to put me off buying another one. Although I do own the TH8 shifter as well and that is a quality piece of kit.
 
Last edited:
Associate
OP
Joined
10 Oct 2009
Posts
131
The 2 i had both wheels came loose, did'nt get a chance to test the first one after the wheel came loose as it burned out after a few hours.

The second wheel came lose every few hours and a big session would have the wheel very loose.

I was scared to tighten the screws as over tightening can kill the thread holes or snap the screw.

Did you just tighten yours or tighten and some type of glue/threadlocker ?

9 month is a long time togo without teh wheel coming loose :)


Bonus, you just gained another years warrenty :)

Just noticed you said allen heads, so its not the 4 screws as in this video?
As they are 4 phiilips screws

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wNVQej0LYCI
 
Last edited:
Man of Honour
Joined
20 Dec 2004
Posts
7,016
Location
Tamworth
The 2 i had both wheels came loose, did'nt get a chance to test the first one after the wheel came loose as it burned out after a few hours.

The second wheel came lose every few hours and a big session would have the wheel very loose.

I was scared to tighten the screws as over tightening can kill the thread holes or snap the screw.

Did you just tighten yours or tighten and some type of glue/threadlocker ?

9 month is a long time togo without teh wheel coming loose :)


Bonus, you just gained another years warrenty :)

Just noticed you said allen heads, so its not the 4 screws as in this video?
As they are 4 phiilips screws

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wNVQej0LYCI

I'm talking about the six allen head screws/bolts that surround the GT logo in the centre of the wheel.
 
Associate
Joined
8 Jun 2006
Posts
1,062
Location
leicester
Just going to update this for info.

After much debating i decided to buy another t500 mainly because the t500rs is in stock in the uk and sold from brick and morter stores.
Allso because i found the customer support person i dealt with through the 2 faulty wheels was exellent, no swapout was offered but repair or replacement was offered.
If teh wheel goes faulty in the first few weeks there is a very good chance we can get a brand new replacement from store of purchase, and if it goes faulty after, Thrustmaster pay for shipping + repair or replacement.

I did'nt like the idea of ordering from overseas and the 2 emails i have sent to Fanatec have took around 7 days to reply, i get a faulty fanatec from the box it could be a few weeks before i get a repair or replacement, a shop has to replace so Thrustmaster wins imho.

Shame i've had to fork out £700 as i'm still waiting on refund from ocuk but i'll be damned if i can sit here and use a dfgt now i've had a taste of life at the top.

I myself know sometimes we get faulty things, sometimes a few times in a row if we are unlucky so i'm not scared to buy into thrustmaster again.

As a fellow t500rs user i appreciate the update,and info,thanks.
 
Associate
OP
Joined
10 Oct 2009
Posts
131
I'm talking about the six allen head screws/bolts that surround the GT logo in the centre of the wheel.

Ah, we loooked everywhere for a allen key for these on the first wheel as we thought something inside that plate was loose, while mate went to get a allen i found the vid on utube about the 4 screws and that was my fault.

As a fellow t500rs user i appreciate the update,and info,thanks.

That's ok, no piont in leaving a thread with half the info or unrelevent info :)
 
Associate
OP
Joined
10 Oct 2009
Posts
131
Wonder why the good places are selling out, did places get stock in all at the same time or something?

Wonder why i have a v2 again and 3 notches/grooves at least twice as bad as the wheel before !

Pedals are v1.

Abit wack really trying to get a v4 or above, if this wheel fails that will be it most likely as i'm fed up of old stock that has kinks in its drive system and keeps failing but alas i have not used this wheel so it may not fail but it 100% has 3 terrible notches/grooves thoughout its 1080 degrees.

Off to Race room beta for some new tracks, i expect tobe able to feel the 3 iffys parts while racing untill they hopefully wear out.

I've never moaned about a product so much.
 
Man of Honour
Joined
20 Dec 2004
Posts
7,016
Location
Tamworth
I was ready to sell mine yesterday. The Race 07 profile from the Thrustmaster website decided to stop working properly so my pedals didnt detect any movement until they were almost depressed by 50%. In the end I had to delete the profile and start again, took some figuring out.
 
Last edited:
Associate
OP
Joined
10 Oct 2009
Posts
131
Wel dont try and upgrade the firmware when on a usb3 port?
Firmware died, wheel died, few reboots later i'm flapping in my own wind.

Changed usb to usb 2 port and firmware updated itself and now the wheel works, flapping i tell ya flapping lol

Raceroom beta is down so i'm off to sleep for a few hours ;)
 
Associate
OP
Joined
10 Oct 2009
Posts
131
After a nights racing shift 2 the wheel has'nt come loose one bit so thats good news.
The bad news is RRBeta was down so we had to play shift 2 allnight as its the only game i have'nt played, i've owned it for years ;)

Edit.

A few more hours later and again this wheel is starting to come loose, there's only about 1mm of play at the moment but i can allready see it's the same type of play as before, looks like i'm going to have to put some thread locker on the 4 bolts.
 
Last edited:
Man of Honour
Joined
20 Dec 2004
Posts
7,016
Location
Tamworth
After a nights racing shift 2 the wheel has'nt come loose one bit so thats good news.
The bad news is RRBeta was down so we had to play shift 2 allnight as its the only game i have'nt played, i've owned it for years ;)

Edit.

A few more hours later and again this wheel is starting to come loose, there's only about 1mm of play at the moment but i can allready see it's the same type of play as before, looks like i'm going to have to put some thread locker on the 4 bolts.

The "f" is silent when you say the name of that particular NFS game. Well at least if you play with a wheel there is.
 
Associate
OP
Joined
10 Oct 2009
Posts
131
One of the reason i never played, the other was it did'nt work with 3dvision or tridef properly.

We had some fun, it does look ok but physics of game suck aswell as the feeling of input lag.

The frifting killed the game for the night as it was pathetic, nearly impossible with a wheel so we went to xbox controller ;)
 
Associate
Joined
17 Mar 2011
Posts
2,119
Location
Snowdonia
I often think about upgrading my G27 but seems a lot of people have issues with these high end wheels, more so Fanatec though. The G27 lacks refinement but it's just too damn no-nonsense and reliable to part with.
 
Back
Top Bottom