Can an air leak cause high temps?

[mattf]

The other day I was driving my Rustler with a cv-x .15 with a hardcore head on it. Temps would not go over 230 no matter what. Yesterday I took it out, everything the same(including weather), and it ran extremely hot. Just slowly driving around my street temps were 325. Nothing I did cooled it down except shutting it off. I consulted a friend about the problem and he said it was an air leak. Is he right?

 

[SilentHunterKellen]

An air leak will cause EXTREMELY high operating temps. There are other probable causes, but you need to include more info, like what nitro %, condition of engine, ect. ect.
Mostlikely an air leak from what I can hear.

 

[SkyMaxx]

An air leak could cause this by creating a lean condition for the engine. When the engine runs lean, temps go up. If the engine did not die of its own volition, I would tend to rule out an airleak. Why? Most of the time an air leak leads to fuel starvation because the fuel system becomes under pressured.

Another possible cause for the leaning of the engine, might be a gunked up hi-speed needle (HSN) or gunked up fuel filter. Do you have a fuel filter on this engine? If so, check it for being partially clogged. If it is, time to clean it. If not, time to get a fuel filter, and check the HSN. It might be gunked up.

 

[mattf]

It is a os cv-x .15 running on 20% nitro. It has less than a gallon through it. The air and fuel filter were also clean. It didn't die on its own at all, but it was really hard to start after the first time. I would have to pull and pull before it would go. The glow plug is the stock one and still is fairly new, so I don't think that that is affecting it. I will try sealing it in the next few days to see if that helps.

One more question, is WD40 safe to use on rubber products, like o-rings?

 

[SkyMaxx]

After time, WD-40 will break down some rubber products. The fact that it was hard to restart was more a product of the overheating that was going on. If the filters are not the problem, then the air leak is probably the culprit. You are going to want to check the carb for a good seal (o-rings at the needles, neck and internals). Check to make sure you have a good seal on the exhaust header (gasket). You may think the glo-plug is fine, but check it just to be certain. You will also want to check your fuel and pressure lines. The tank could be a source of the air leak (does it have a primer button?).

 

[mattf]

Sounds good. I'll see if I can get it worked out.

 

[funwheels1]

jeez! and hes on it everytime so when ur flying, fly right, fly sky maxx

 

[SkyMaxx]

I'm afraid to ask...but what the?

 

[mattf]

That's what I was thinking. :shrug:

 

[mattf]

Yesterday I took my fuel filter apart and took a look at it. It was almost full with dirt, leaves, and all kinds of crap. Cleaned it and took ti out today and it ran excellent. It was the fuel filter not an air leak that was causing the problem.

It was a good thing you suggested that or I never would have checked it.

 

[StrechM]

please check it and clean it if required after every run.

 

[SkyMaxx]

Originally posted by mattf
Yesterday I took my fuel filter apart and took a look at it. It was almost full with dirt, leaves, and all kinds of crap. Cleaned it and took ti out today and it ran excellent. It was the fuel filter not an air leak that was causing the problem.

It was a good thing you suggested that or I never would have checked it.

Glad I was able to help. Now get out there and really break something.

 

[mattf]

I'm on it.