Ok, basically, about a week ago i was playing lfs when I noticed that there was a pretty bad smell coming out of the back of the vents on my MS Sidewinder FFB wheel, i wasn't sure what it was at the time, guessed it might be the motor being quite hot, but it carried on working the rest of the day with no problems. The next day I turn my PC on and for the first time ever my wheel didn't activate itself and move around on boot like it always has...

When my PC was fully booted I noticed that the force light was flashing instead of being just fully on, and when I got into LFS, i noticed that only the pedal axis were working. This worried me, so I tried the wheel in the Sidewinder control panel, and all my other racing games, and the steering just didn't work.

Since then i've tried unplugging the usb and mains, checked for any loose connections around the points where the cables enter the wheel, and nothing seems to be working. I have asked other and though they don't have the wheel, they agree with me when i say that I think the ffb motor might have gone. It's the only thing I can think of.

I was wondering if this has ever happened to anyone else or if anyone knew exactly what the problem was.

[EDIT] I've had it for just over 3 years, and I have refrained from opening it up just yet, even thoguh im sure the warranty has probably expired.

Can't say I've experienced the same problem, but my Sidewinder FFB does get rather hot and smelly after racing for long periods at a time. It doesn't turn as smoothly as it used to either, there's a distinct notchiness from the motor when it's resisting your turning effort. So it seems there could be a weakness/reliability issue with the motor.

My experience is the same as Strobe with the smell and notchiness. You might want to double check the connector at the wheel though. I have had a problem in the past where the cable was getting caught when clamping the wheel to the desk and this put a strain on the connector.