iFixit - Answers With Device "Game Joystick"

Microsoft Sidewinder Force Feedback 2 Joystick: Auto Center Weak in One Direction

Sun, 14 Dec 2025 09:23:05 -0700

Recently picked one of these up used (only way to get them today, obviously), and the auto-centering function seems to work very weakly when I pushed the joystick forward, or not at all. I'm assuming there is some mechanism inside that needs to be cleaned/fixed/replaced. Has anyone done a teardown of this base, or repaired the Auto Centering/FFB mechanisms inside? I'm assuming most of the parts inside could be ordered and/or 3D printed, but I don't know where to start.

⟐ Answer edited December 14, 2025 at 9:23 MST

Thrustmaster T Flight Hotas 4: Throttle drifting, How to disassemble?

Sun, 23 Nov 2025 13:55:14 -0700

My throttle is drifting forward and back sometimes an causes me to crash my ship sometimes in Star Citizen. Is there a guide or something on taking it apart and cleaning the throttle?

⟐ Answer edited November 23, 2025 at 13:55 MST

Logitech X52 Pro H.O.T.A.S.: Right joystick has lights but doesn't detect input.

Sun, 10 Aug 2025 18:26:32 -0700

Hiya folks!

Just got an X52 for xmas - happy holidays by the way - and it appears to be failing to detect input from the joystick. Brand new out the box, never before used.

I've reinstalled the drivers already, the throttle works fine, but no input from the joystick and I'm unsure why. Anyone got any answers/fixes?

⟐ Answered August 10, 2025 at 18:26 MST

Thrustmaster TCA Airbus Edition: How to remove the keys to clean them

Tue, 01 Jul 2025 08:51:35 -0700

How does one remove the keys to clean them ? any special tool or?

⟐ Answered July 01, 2025 at 8:51 MST

Thrustmaster T Flight Hotas 4: Sourcing a replacement potentiometer for t flight hotas

Tue, 15 Apr 2025 02:57:21 -0700

Try as I might, I've not managed to source a replacement potentiometer for my hotas. Is anyone aware of a company that might sell these parts? Thrustmaster customer services were no help at all and as far as they're concerned I should chuck my beloved flight stick on the scrap heap

⟐ Answered April 15, 2025 at 2:57 MST

Thrustmaster TCA Boeing Edition: TCA YOKE Capacitor failure causing coupled axis.

Sun, 20 Oct 2024 16:02:27 -0700

Currently, past a certain deflection point on the Y axis, the X axis will go 3/4 to full deflection in one direction and oscillate when moving the Y axis back and forth. The only thing that I could think is causing this would be a capacitor failing on the interface board, however I have no schematics for it. Any ideas how to repair the device?

Game Joystick: My hall effect joystick isn't working.

Wed, 13 Mar 2024 19:16:22 -0700

My hall effect joystick is drifting to the left. I already emailed support, is there a fix or just hope for replacement?

⟐ Commented March 13, 2024 at 19:16 MST

Saitek X52 Pro: Lost Y axis. Any fixes for that?

Thu, 14 Dec 2023 20:20:58 -0700

Suddenly lost my Y axis today. Any way to fix that?

⟐ Answered December 14, 2023 at 20:20 MST

Thrustmaster T Flight Hotas 4: Z, RZ, and Slider not working after repairing a severed USB cable.

Thu, 07 Sep 2023 12:01:30 -0700

My dog had chewed through the primary USB cable for my Controller. I made two attempts at soldering the wires back together and covered each exposed wire individually with heat shrink tubing.

However in both cases, while the general flight control of the joystick, and most buttons are restored to functionality; the Slider for the Throttle and the Twisting Roll actions of the joystick are completely unresponsive. I'm am unclear on what I am missing when repairing the cable. Is it possible the aluminum insulation sleeve found under the first layer of cable covering, is a contributing factor? Any help would be appreciated.

⟐ Commented September 07, 2023 at 12:01 MST

Thrustmaster T Flight Hotas 4: How to move the PCB to the throttle to allow use of the throttle only?

Thu, 29 Jun 2023 04:15:50 -0700

I would like to use the throttle alone but do not know how to move the PCB there to connect the throttle directly to the PC (HOTAS X)

Thrustmaster T Flight Hotas 4: Thrustmaster Hotas 4 (PS4) stuttering yaw controls.

Wed, 22 Mar 2023 18:16:35 -0700

Does anyone have a suggestion to how I might repair a Hotas 4 with stuttering yaw controls? The stick itself seem fine but sometimes the yaw stutters or sticks in game.

⟐ Commented March 22, 2023 at 18:16 MST

Microsoft Sidewinder Force Feedback 2 Joystick: Axis force stopped working at all

Wed, 22 Mar 2023 06:59:41 -0700

One way axis stopped working at all. I took to a repair store and they said that there is no fix and the whole mainboard must be replaced. As there is no such board on the market the repair isn~t possible. Please help if there is any solution for that!

Saitek X52 Pro: Saitek X52 Pro Throttle problem

Mon, 20 Mar 2023 03:25:21 -0700

I just bought an X52 pro and when I pull back on the throttle the speed in the game increases and when I push it forward it slows down. Is this a fault with the throttle control or a software problem?

⟐ Commented March 20, 2023 at 3:25 MST

Saitek X52 Pro: Throttle won't lock on full power

Fri, 23 Sep 2022 16:37:29 -0700

Saitek X52 Pro has always locked on full throttle. Now, suddenly it won't reach full throttle and won't lock. How can I fix this?

⟐ Commented September 23, 2022 at 16:37 MST

Saitek X52 Pro: Joystick Yaw axis jittering wildly when at rest

Sat, 17 Sep 2022 03:07:40 -0700

The yaw axis of my Saitek X52 Pro works fine in both directions whenever an input is applied, but when it is at rest it will "jitter" all over the place, giving commands to the computer without any input on the stick. I tried adjusting the deadzone so that it just wouldn't affect my gameplay, but the phantom inputs are seemingly random and will fluctuate all the way to 100% input and back rapidly from side to side, so unless I disable the Yaw axis, it is constantly causing my game's ship to shake wildly side to side.

How can I get my Yaw axis to operate properly again, perhaps a dirty sensor? If it is, which sensor would it be, and what method would be best for its repair?

Saitek X52 Pro: Stick Jams Attempting to Roll to Port

Fri, 22 Jul 2022 02:54:01 -0700

Pretty much since I have had my X52 Pro, the stick has jammed when attempting to roll to port. It will move a tiny distance.. and then no further unless I either apply far more force than I am comfortable with to drive it the rest of the way or let up, wiggle it a while, and then try again.

This happens very often, so it's not an issue I can simply resolve by wiggling it a bit before use. I can't find any information on similar problems, and it doesn't happen when trying to roll to starboard.

Does anyone have any suggestiongs?

⟐ Edited by author July 22, 2022 at 2:54 MST

Saitek X52 Pro: Twist spring replacement instructions

Thu, 14 Apr 2022 18:23:29 -0700

How difficult is it to replace the twist spring on the x52 pro joystick? Where is it located?

Thrustmaster T Flight Hotas 4: Can I re-grease the joystick without removing the joystick top pieces?

Thu, 16 Dec 2021 18:10:10 -0700

Hello: I want to apply some 767A damping grease to the bottom of the joystick but I've heard that lots of folks have trouble re-assemblying it so I thought it might be done from below by removing the blue ring. Will this work?

Thanks in advance.

Sparky

Thrustmaster T Flight Hotas 4: fake hotas 4 joystick

Tue, 07 Dec 2021 23:22:46 -0700

Amazon sold me a fake HOTAS 4 joystick. I had ordered this model for my PC game Digital Combat Simulator (DCS). I was unable to control aircraft with it. On opening the bottom panel, I found the hardware PCB is marked HOTAS X PS 4 2015.

Que: Can I use this joystick with a HOTAS X PS 4 driver on my PC?

Any other solution? Please help. Thanks

Vishwas Karmarkar

⟐ Answer unaccepted December 07, 2021 at 23:22 MST

Thrustmaster T Flight Hotas 4: What is the best type of grease to use on this if the joystick squeaks

Wed, 01 Sep 2021 14:21:07 -0700

I bought my T Flight 4 HOTAS a little under a year ago and it's been great; however, it has begun to squeak quite a bit during gameplay. Considering that the majority of time spent using it is when the kids and the gf are asleep, this presents a problem. I've looked up other question/answer forums regarding this subject and some suggest lithium grease, others suggest plain old WD-40. I do know how to get to the joint in the joystick to apply the grease but I don't want to kill my device by applying the wrong stuff. Any suggestions? Thank you for your assistance.

⟐ Commented September 01, 2021 at 14:21 MST