• Welcome to RCTalk! 🚀

    Join the #1 RC community where hobbyists connect, share, and get expert advice on RC cars, trucks, boats, drones, and more!

    • ✓ Friendly & passionate RC enthusiasts
    • ✓ RC tips & troubleshooting
    • ✓ Buy, sell & trade RC gear
    • ✓ Share builds & upgrades

Can't get my new savage started! Help please

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate
links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
C

coveredinants

RCTalk Rookie
Messages
19
Reaction score
0
Points
0
RC Driving Style
Hi everyone,
Well, lucky me. Got my birthday present, a shiny new savage 25.

But, never mind breaking in, I can't get it to start.

I have read the manual, and the engine manual twice, I am watching the dvd on repeat and following all steps.
De-flooding, testing glow plug, priming engine etc.
It just "locks up" and won't even turn over.

Can anyone possibly tell me what I am doing wrong.

I just wanna get this monster rolling so I can show my friends what they are missing out on!
 
are both of the starters fully charged? try de-flooding the engine and see if it turns over with out priming the engine first.
 
Rot start is fully charged, glo-plug lighter is fully charged, glo-plug tested- working perfectly.
Tried de-flooding engine.
Now she is fully "locked up" and won't even turn when the glow plug is removed!!!
 
Sounds like your experiencing a common problem,tight piston and sleeve. Try loosening the glow plug just a bit and try starting it that way. once the engine comes to life tighten it back up.


whoa reread your post. It won't turn even with the plug out? Check your gear mesh that is proper. If all is well go ahead and try looking at the clutch assembly.

Another thing to look at is try spinning the spur gear, does it spin? Let us know

Jon
 
Sounds to me like the engine is stuck at top-dead-center which isn't entirely unusual for a new, not broken-in big block. What you'll have to do is to get it unstuck. What some people do is use a screwdriver and simply lever it against the side of the flywheel in the little serrated grooves on the side to get it to turn. Remember, you have to turn it counterclockwise (or anticlockwise in UK) when looking from the front. You should be able to get it free without a lot of hassle. Once that's done, you can try again. One thing to remember when you're breaking in the engine. When you have run it and it's hot, return the piston to bottom dead center (it's lowest point) while the engine cools. That way you can be sure it won't get pinched at the top while cooling.
 
Sounds like you are flooded. Remove the plug and clear the flood. As others stated the piston could be locked @ TDC due to the tight clearances of a new motor.

Heat the motor up with a hair dryer before starting it. That should help loosen it up a bit.
 
rossb said:
Sounds like you are flooded. Remove the plug and clear the flood. As others stated the piston could be locked @ TDC due to the tight clearances of a new motor.

Heat the motor up with a hair dryer before starting it. That should help loosen it up a bit.
Click to expand...
Care ful doing this . Don't over heat the Piston and sleeve. Just enough to get the head warm. You don't want it to get to hot and over expand the Piston and Sleeve.
 
I agree that most hair dryers and not powerful enough to overheat the engine. The sleeve and piston are designed to break-in @ about 190 degrees F and they normally operate at well over 200 degrees F. I've measured the temps off my motor's heads after heating them for a few minutes and they are normally in the mid 100s. I doubt the block gets that hot when heating with the hair dryer.

Check your gear mesh that is proper. If all is well go ahead and try looking at the clutch assembly.Another thing to look at is try spinning the spur gear, does it spin?
Click to expand...

A bad mesh should not lock up the motor, unless both the mesh and the clutch are locked up. In this case he would probably feel the truck trying to lurch forward when trying to start it. Put the truck on the floor with the motor off and push it backwards (put the gearbox in forward if you have reverse) If it pushes backwards smoothly then the mesh and the clutch are probably ok. When pushing backwards the transmission should spin the spur and the spur should spin the clutch bell. You can check this by trying to hold the top of the spur when pushing backwards. Be VERY careful and do not catch a finger in there. Do it slowly.

With the motor still off hold the spur steady and push the truck forward. The truck should roll without trying to spin the spur that you are holding. If these two push tests check out then the one-way on your transmission's first gear is ok, your second gear clutch hub is releasing properly, your clutch is releasing properly, and your mesh is probably ok.
 
Last edited:
Thanks for the tips guys
Tried various things after reading all your replies

Candyman, you were right, the piston was jammed. Moved it with a screw driver and spun it a few times by hand, turns over freely now.

Bleedin' thing still won't come to life though. Just keeps flooding
Gonna try re-setting the needles as described in the manual and dvd, see if that works
 
Glad you got it free. That's one less hassle to deal with. As far as the flooding goes, definitely reset the needles to spec in the manual. Don't overprime it. Just a until you see the fuel in the line go into the carb. Make sure the carb opening is set at about 1mm using the throttle stop screw. Get the ignitor on it and give it short bursts to try to start it. Sometimes it takes a little while to get the first few starts in, but once the engine gets a taste of running, it will want to start without a problem.
 
Once again, thanks for all the replies guys.

Reset the needles, as shown in link,... wouldn't start.
De-flooded engine... wouldn't start.

Popped a teeny, tiny, little amount of fuel into the piston, directly under the glowplug...





.....woohoo, started!!!!!!!!!
After the first start, it seems to start everytime.
Idles quite nicely, but as it is dark / late here now, i'm gonna have to wait for the "breaking in" till tomorrow.
(don't think my neighbours would appreciate me doing it right now!)

Will keep you informed of how it's going once i've passed the breaking in stage.
 
You are not priming it properly. It should start without having to inject fuel into the cylinder.
 
Spent most of my day today "running in"
Has an absolute nightmare of a time getting it to idle.
Kept cutting out.
After much playing with the needles, I finally got it idling and managed two tanks of fuel each taking approx 20-30 mins to run through.
Third tank in and trying to give it a little throttle. Everytime I moved the throttle slightly it would cut out.
After an hour of this I decided to go back to the base settings again and try again.
She wouldn't start!
Much fiddling later and away we go again.
Decided to check out the net for some advice when I stumbled across the "latest news" section of the hpi europe website and noticed a section on "updated savage"

Light dawns!!!!!!

Checked my box, only to find it is the uprated one and therefore the needle settings I was using were totally wrong and this one is so easy (flush with carb to start)
Read my engine manual again, and sure enough there it was!
I was too impatient to read it PROPERLY :shrug: (even though I read it twice) the first time.

Anyways, she is broken in now and I'm going for my first run tomorrow.
I'll post back and let you know how it goes.
 
sounds like u had a little trouble but got it all straightened out your self, thats always good and i hope u have lots of fun runnin tomorow. I'm sure ull have tons of fun.
 
you got a dvd with your savage 25? or was it extra? well did you install that battery thing that isnt installed when you buy it? since the savage is only 98% rtr.
 
Sorry, hav'nt been back with a progress report for a little while. Been busy in work and most of my days off have been spent bashing!
The dvd was in the box with the truck.
What battery thing? The battery box cover?

Anyways, she's running like a dream now.
This savage lark is a bit addictive ain't it?!?!?
I can't seem to stop spending money!!!!!!!!
Got a hot bodies exhaust, busted it up pretty bad after a weekend learning to jump so now got a hpi ribbed pipe, Had to invest in a new cooling head as I damaged four fins on the stocker in the same weekend, new bodyshell, stainless screws, i stripped three spur gears before realising I had lost an engine mount screw!
My dad got me some shiny hudy tools to take it apart and rebuild with (lucky me)
Got a hump pack to improve steering response and to top it all off
I just got a 3 speed tranny which I will be fitting tomorrow!!!!!

Spending money has never been so good.
 
From fleabay.
Fitted it today but it's too late to run now.
I'll give it a blast tomorrow and lrt you know how it goes
 

RC Builds

Back
Top