dead glow plugs???

[cuz]

hey all, I'm not to sure which may be related to my problem but here we go, Last weekend I landed on my roof fairly hard, (not enough to damage anything exterior wise) on landing my glow plug died. Didn't think anything of it replaced it and only got 10sec out of my next one before toasted. Took me till today to go get 2 more, first new plug lasted 30 seconds then done. (took it out and tried lighting it and nothing) Next new plug lasted a little longer maybe 5 min before dying. Why??

Also I resealed my engine while being without plugs but I realy don't know if this would cause my problem as the first 2 plugs died before i sealed it.
The plug weren't really used long enough to color, neither of todays are wet they just look "new". ( the truck has very good smoke all thru a run and usually runs at 260) One of the plugs does look disfigured. Should I pull my head to look for debri that could be killing my plugs or is there any other ideas out there?

 

[olds97_lss]

WHat fuel (nitro/oil percentage) are you running? What plugs are these?

It appears that your running too high of compression for the fuel/plug type. I can't tell for sure, but it appears that the coils are somewhat compressed up into the plug, which is usually indicative of too high of compression.

 

[cuz]

I'm running traxass topfuel power plus %20
The plugs are Mcoy 1.5 volt MC-59

Could the high compression be a result of me sealing the engine? I sealed the backplate and carb neck only.
The first 2 plugs did burn out pre-reseal tho and prior to land hard upside down the xl flew like stinl without a glitch.

 

[olds97_lss]

Hmmmm... seems a bit odd. Sealing an engine doesn't cause high compression... unless the "sealing" is the user putting in head shims in an engine that has none to make a seal.

Is the MC-59 a hot plug? I've had issues running hot plugs in big blocks before. Regardless of nitro percentage. Maybe try an MC-8 and retune the engine to factory settings to start it up, then tune it for performance.

Or, by sealing it, you caused a nasty leak somewhere.

 

[cuz]

I took the head off with the hunch of metal debris but couldn't see anything wrong.

I did notice when priming the engine for cold starting i usually take the fuel line off the pipe and blow fuel to the carb. With the engine sealed I did notice a small amount of fuel coming out the mid-range needle which never used to be.

 

[Rolex]

I'm guessing 2 things here. One, you're running too lean. It just looks bone dry in there. Two, the pitting all over the top of the piston was probably caused by a piece of the filament getting shot around in there. That's probably what took out your other plugs.
A well tuned engine should look like the pic below. That's my Traxxas 2.5 after about 2 gallons. Most fuels will leave a transparent 'signature' when the tune is good.

 

[cuz]

there was a film on the head prior to the picture, I wiped it off looking for pitting in the surface. I was always under the impression i wasn't running lean, my xl runs around 260 with blue smoke always.

 

[Rolex]

If you wiped it off, that's different, then, but why does it look pitted? Remember, a tiny bit of a filament will only leave tiny marks and will be almost impossible to pin down since it will be blown out the exhaust.

 

[cuz]

I see, so it does look a little pitted and very dark, would my next step be to return to factory settings and re-tune??

 

[Rolex]

If I were you, the first thing I'd do is pull the piston and flush everything thoroughly, just to make sure you don't have even the tiniest bit of a filament in there to knock out another plug.

After that, go for a re-tune.

 

[cuz]

sounds like the thing to do, I'm just leary because I've never pulled a piston out before so I'm a little paranoid of doing something wrong and costing myself a motor.

 

[flandersander]

I'm guessing 2 things here. One, you're running too lean. It just looks bone dry in there. Two, the pitting all over the top of the piston was probably caused by a piece of the filament getting shot around in there. That's probably what took out your other plugs.
A well tuned engine should look like the pic below. That's my Traxxas 2.5 after about 2 gallons. Most fuels will leave a transparent 'signature' when the tune is good.

Thats not yours. Its DIRTY!

 

[Rolex]

LMAO...
That's a Maxx, it's not my Savvy.

 

[olds97_lss]

LMAO...
That's a Maxx, it's not my Savvy.

Looks like you have a bit of a leak near the HSN.