Is my Flex near death?

[Sparkle007]

Ok I've got a Flex 3401 that I've had for a year and use it almost daily. So pretty much it has lived a hard life! Anyway a couple days ago I was polishing an 09 ferarri, I noticed every once in a while small blobs of grease hitting the paint. I assumed it was maybe due to a truck getting pressure washed in the bay beside the car. Well I kept going and more and more grease appeared. I got through the job and polished up a dodge charger the next day. Everything was good until 2/3 the way through, the flex just started throwing grease all over the place. There is black grease all over the backing plate. I was using a white pad that is now trashed because of the mess! The backing plate is tight, I checked it out but the machine really feels out of balance now and is noticably noisier.
So long story, I've got a bunch of polish jobs lined up for next week but I was wondering if I could get some insight on what the problem might be. I really don't feel comfortable using it until its either fixed or replaced because its making a heck of a mess and I don't want to damage it further. Any help would be much appreciated!

[Steven C]

Have you removed the Backing Plate and if remove it check the felt ring and the gear i might have over heated and melt the gearing inside . Unfornately I don't have My flex with me but some rotary have a bottom plate wear the gears are and they do come loose and they'll drip grease when they heat up . I just can't remember if there's a plate like that you might have to take handle and under front housing to see .

LOL Steven

[Fly bye]

Have you removed the Backing Plate and if remove it check the felt ring and the gear i might have over heated and melt the gearing inside . Unfornately I don't have My flex with me but some rotary have a bottom plate wear the gears are and they do come loose and they'll drip grease when they heat up . I just can't remember if there's a plate like that you might have to take handle and under front housing to see .

LOL Steven

x2

[RTexasF]

Send it for warranty or repair, it's done for.

[Sparkle007]

I still haven't sent the machine in to find out exactly how much damage there is, but I have had to retire it. I tried to get the backing plate off but the bolt is stripped so thats one more issue to add to the list! So i'm back to using my dewalt, and my employer picked up a 7424xp. I'm still going to buy another flex because I just love them. Since i've been using the dewalt and porter cable almost daily, I'm missing the flex more and more! I'm still going to get my machine checked out because I am very curious to find out how much damage occured, it went through a lot of torture.

[ScottB]

My first backing plate came in contact with felt ring and melted. I got a quick repair thru AG and oiled the new felt ring. Never had an issue since, but sounds like this might be more than just ring/pad contact.