so i had a pretty rough landing last tuesday, nothing too crazy but definitely harder than usual. drone seemed fine at first but now motor 3 keeps making this weird clicking noise and feels like its not spinning as smooth as the others. ive checked for obvious damage but cant see anything broken. motors still spinning but something is definitely off

anyone had similar issues after a crash? wondering if i need to replace the whole motor or if theres something else i should check first. its a 2207 motor on my 5 inch quad

yeah that clicking is usually a bearing going bad. had the same thing happen on motor 2 after i clipped a tree branch. you can try taking the motor apart and cleaning everything but honestly once the bearings start making noise theyre pretty much done for

replacement 2207s are pretty cheap these days, probably easier to just swap it out. make sure you get the same kv rating obviously

before you replace it try spinning it by hand with the prop off and see if you can feel where the rough spot is. sometimes its just dirt or a tiny piece of debris stuck in there. ive saved a few motors by just cleaning them really good with some contact cleaner

but if the clicking is happening during flight then yeah its probably toast