Jerobee Comando

gearhead1977 · #1 07-06-2012, 12:05 AM

I have an old( 60's or 70's vintage) Jerobee Comando nitro car that I am trying to get working. It has sat for twenty years or more. It is powered by a Cox .049 engine and is a pull start.

I bought some fuel, 1.5v dry cell battery and clip for the glow plug from a hobby shop that still carries this stuff (actually make their own for control line airplanes). Followed the instructions that came with the car under "if car has sat for awhile" to get it freed up a bit (which involves basically squirting fuel into any opening or part)

Problems I am having:

- I'm pretty sure I fried the transmitter today. The wires for the radio were missing, since 9 volts were much bigger back then, someone tried converting it to a newer 9 volt at some point. Apparently, the wires not being color-coded, I reversed the polarity and one of the transistors started smoking. The crystal I found in the car says 26.54, which I'm sure is the Mhz it's on. Can I get a newer radio to function with this car without replacing servos and such?

- The pull start doesn't engage the flywheel to start the engine as it should. Any way to get it running without it? The instructions say the transmitter is needed for starting, so I'm thinking I need a radio first. I could probably get it to work if I took it apart, but I'm trying to avoid that right now.

The car is complete and seems like it could run, given the proper help. Judging from the other posts here, this Jerobee is ancient history. But I'd like to attempt to get it going and any help would be appreciated.

Thanks. I'll put up some pics when I have time.

andystoybox · #2 07-07-2012, 08:46 PM

If it has sat that long, I would consider taking the motor apart and cleaning out anything that could have gummed up over time. As far as the pull start not engaging the flywheel, you might find some broken parts there. If the flywheel can be reached by a bump wheel, you might have a chance of starting it that way.

The radio would most likely be a 27 mhz by todays standards. However, they start at 26.997 for the lowest frequency readily available. Post some pics of what the receiver looks like (and the car too) and someone might be able to help you out further.

gearhead1977 · #3 07-08-2012, 09:26 PM

Here's some pics of what I have. The owners manual says the brown crystal (ahead of the battery pack) should be 26.995 mhz, but the crystal says 26.540.

gearhead1977 · #4 07-08-2012, 09:29 PM

Some pics of the crystal and owners manual

andystoybox · #5 07-08-2012, 11:49 PM

The pull start is the red handle, correct? It's probaby got a broken tang inside of the housing but hard to tell unless you open it up. When you open it up I would be careful of the spring inside there so that it doesn't get damaged. It would almost be better to have someone work on it who has had one before.

As far as the radio goes, it is 27mhz according to your manual. I would assume that a two stick radio would replace what is there with a smaller receiver and you would have to find a way to attach the servo and battery wires to the new receiver.

gearhead1977 · #6 07-11-2012, 06:11 PM

Thanks for the advice. The red handle is the pull start and for some reason it started working today. I started messing with the car today and as I moved the wheels, I noticed the handle start moving. So I tried it and I got it to spin the flywheel!

I attached the battery, dumped more fuel in every hole in the engine and tried starting it again. After quite a few tries and adding more fuel for about 10 minutes, I got a few sustained pop-pops!

But then the pull start quit working again. It rewinds and but again, won't spin the flywheel. So I tried spinning the flywheel with my thumb. Again, after a few minutes, I got some more pops.

But the best part is that I got it to run for about a second or two on its own! If I can get the radio to function, I might be be able to keep it going. I appreciate the advice on the radio, I'll see what I can find.