Engine trouble

[Nitrodriver15]

Whats happening everyone,

Been having some problems with my Evader lately. I've had it for two years and been just messing around with it every once and a while but as of late its being a sh!thead.... So the symptoms are as follows, (engine is an .18 os)

-Runs great
-Lots of Blue smoke coming out the exhaust but its not bogging (rich) in anyway
-Temperature been staying inbetween 210-230f

Sounds good so far eh...

-gone through two glowplugs in a madder of 10 mins... priceless

and they are totally gone too like no glow at all.. so bad i thought it was my ignitor crappin out but i recharged it and nothing still... Any idea's guys?? like i know it wasn't too lean, it was running great like the fastest its been in a while yet still lots of smoke and temperature staying right where it should be.

A little background too, a couple nights before i gave it a full cleaning, air filter, all the muck out the chassis, re oiled shocks, i cleaned the gas tank too... which may have caused the engine trouble. I through it under the tap water, got all the dirt off the outside and around the cap and just splashed water through the inside. I let it dry for two days and there was a little condensation in the tank but i felt it was nothing to worry about so i fueled it up and it was going fine the first tank, next tank it crapped out a couple times and then wouldnt restart (glowplug gone) so new glow plug, same tank gone again.. can a tiny bit of water in the fuel affect it that much??

And also, I took the head off the engine... first time doing that too and just cleaned that out too, there was a bunch of junk near the glow plug and i didnt want that to go in the compression chamber when i put the glow plug in, so i cleaned it out, put a little after run oil around the seal and then tightented it right down too, could i have done something wrong there?

Sorry for the long post guys but i figured i should tell the whole story so you could pick out what i could have done wrong? thanks

 

[Rolex]

A tiny bit of water getting through to the engine will cause steam, and I'm sure that's what cooked the plugs so fast. You need to clean out the tank with denatured alcohol since it will absorb any moisture and evaporate. Lock the cap wide open till it dries. You might also want to do that with your fuel line and filter if you have one installed.

 

[Nitrodriver15]

hmm ok well that seems like a good plan so in answer to a specific question, water can cause a plug to cook? and by removing the cooling head and installing it back as tight as it was before shouldnt hurt anything either am I correct?

 

[Rolex]

No problems there. It's good to take a look inside now and then just to make sure it's running nice and clean.

 

[Nitrodriver15]

good thing man well ill pick up a couple of plugs tommorrow clean the tank out and just replace the fuel lines, they been needing replacing anyways. Thanks so much for the quick response!

 

[Rolex]

Good luck with it. Let us know how it runs.

 

[Nitrodriver15]

well everything went as planned and then it burnt another glowplug, so I tried leaning it out some more seeing as it was still pretty rich. That did ok for a little while, then since i was gonna put the body on finally I figured since it usually makes the motor run a bit hot ill richen it a bit and then go from there well... worked fine for a bit, it was running a bit rich you could tell by the smoke but i felt it wasn't insanely rich and then it stalled again and i go to restart and nothing... god damn plug again and since i only picked up two at the lhs that ended my day... plus i was just at burning up two $6 glowplugs or however much they charged me....

so to cheer up a bit I spent some money on tower hobbies, got some new proline tires and rims and some graphite suspension towers front and rear and an aluminum rear suspension plate since I've gone through two already Now I'm SURE it wont break. Still have yet to make another trip to the lhs i might just pick up like 10 plugs so i never have to end a day due to shortage of plugs. So i figure ill lean it out a bunch and i rechecked the manual for stock settings and peak settings so it says and ill go from there and keep trucking... just thought id rant and update

 

[Rolex]

No doubt your running 'steenkeeng' rich to waste plugs like that.
Check out the glow plug info in this link...https://www.rcnitrotalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=32563

 

[Nitrodriver15]

yeah no doubt it was rich. I did a little research before all this mess and I remember reading about someone with an evader (i think i can't fully remember) but one thing I did take away from the thread was that their engine ran best with the HSN set at over 2 turns from out. So when out in the driveway and after burning the first plug I decided to give it a go and close the needle fully and open a bit over 2 turns.

I guess my idea of not too bad rich is fairly low key because obviously it was way rich cause I went back to the manual and 2 turns out is the setting for break in so oh boy was I over my poor engine and yes I know its all my fault. This is the learning curve vehicle, i can pretty well take it apart fully and put it all back together so once I get this running of the nitro engine down then time to upgrade to a kit of some sort. The optimal performance setting is around 1-1/4 to 1-3/8 from closed. So thank you very much for your help Rolex I can see why your staff member of the year and I dont mean that in a bad way at all man, good for you.

On another note, when speaking of upgrading, what would you personally reccommend for a reliable basher?(kit form or RTR) At the time of buying the evader I was really looking into getting a losi xxx-nt but the LHS didn't have them in stock at that time and me being young couldn't wait so I picked up the evader. But how would you rate a Adam Drake kit form xxx-nt?

when bashing around would you better recommend a M-T like a savage or T? Instead of a stadium truck? Finally I was looking into the Kyosho DST stadium truck it seemed like something that would work for me, quite a larger scale 1/10 + and still with the .18 motor. Just throwing some makes and names out there to see what an expert would reccomend, I could always go to the LHS but they guys there usually arnt too helpful, so thanks again for your help

 

[Texas_Rebel]

Its all dependent on what type of bashing you do and what type of terrain it encompasses....If you enjoy the 2wd handling Than stick with it, and from what i've heard and seen besides a few "factory" tweaks the evader is close copy of the xxx-nt truck. The Adam Drake xxx-nt is a pro class truck. It has all the graphite and aluminum upgrade A.D. runs on his truck, and as such parts will be more expensive to replace versus the regular xxx-nt. Monster trucks are a completely different sort are in general 4wd and top heavy to say the least compared to the more race orientated stadium trucks. The Savages are tanks and many people have beat the snot out of them and they don't break, but others seem to regularly break them. The savages are also a pain in the neck to work on b/c of their inherent design, the TVP chassis. T-Maxx's are wildly popular and seem to be getting better each update, but my personal favorite and what i drive is a revo.... besides the optidrive usually crapping out the trans is stout suspension is great. You can set it up for anything from racing to rock crawling. The 3.3 motor in it is reliable and has some serious power for its size. The revo isn't the easiest to work on but it doesn't rank as high in he pain in the butt meter as the savage. There are lots of options out there and also lots of mods for the evader available where you could make it almost as good as an AD xxx-nt so pick out what fits you best. Good luck bro-Q

 

[Nitrodriver15]

Thanks man for all the info, I dont feel a monster truck would be my type of thing plus theyre fairly expensive too. Cost isnt a major issue because I would really like something reliable but I do really enjoy the 2wd. But something like a Kyosho DST is 4wd, a bit bigger than a regular 1/10 scale and looks pretty tough, I just need to see if my LHS supports the parts for it. And the revo is also an option too... the lhs definantly carries all Traxxas parts.

But yes i know the Evader can become pretty rugged as it is but this was my first rc and I'm sure the engine isnt running at optimal performance anymore and the suspension is tweaked pretty bad and really I just want to try something new and now that i have lots of experience and lots of knowlegde of what not to do i think its time to step up. So I think I'd like to stay ST and 2wd or 4wd dont matter. Terrain is usually just grass and pavement, the odd trip out to the dirt on the construction site. Just to give you an idea. Thanks again and the trip to pick up some new glow plugs will be tonight too so ill let you guys know how it goes.

 

[CharliesTheMan]

You sort of answered what I was going to say in the post above, but what I would consider when deciding on a truck is where you run. A monster truck has high ground clearance, so for bashing in the grass at my house and in our fields, it works way better. If you're going to be in tall grass, the stadium trucks might not have the ground clearance that you need to keep them from bogging down or the wheels just spinning because the grass is holding the truck up. If you will be mostly on pavement, you don't need the high ground clearance and the stadium truck will handle better (of course this is comparing (stock vs. stock). If I had to pick a truck just based on what you've said so far, I would definitely strongs consider a Revo because it's so versatile and so well engineered, and if you ever wanted to go brushless there's a lot of conversion options. I used to say I would never give up the nitros or go to electric, until I got a brushless setup and saw how they run. Faster than a lot of nitros, way more torque, no maintenance, and you can run them anywhere and travel with them. No fuel to buy, once you pay the initial cost of the batteries (which is often less than one gallon of nitro) you can run for hours with very lil downtime.

 

[Nitrodriver15]

yeah funny you say that i have a mini-t coming in the mail soon and I already have a brushless set up picked out, batteries, a full aluminum conversion kit, I'm really looking forward to it... alot! But regardless of this, nothing beats a nitro powered rc with the loud exhaust smoke fly out and they're all usually pretty fast too so i'd like to stay nitro when it comes to the bigger rc that I'm looking for. And yes the Revo does sound like a good option, it seems a bit complicated with the cantilever suspension, thats the only thing that really deters me and of course them being very popular, and being different is always a good thing in my books. So we'll see... I still have some time before I go all out on a new rc so we'll see what time will tell.

Back on topic, I got 4 new glow plugs at the lhs and ill be outside soon enough to try oun the new needle settings and see where that takes. And WAY back on topic when i leave fuel in the filler bottle(bout half full cause the truck conked out on me last time) it generates a bit of condensation in the bottle, you can see it on the sides... is this anything to worry about?

 

[Rolex]

As said above, it would depend on where you will want to run the most. It's all about preference, and there are SO MANY choices out there.
If you ask here, you'll get recommendations for 10 different MTs or buggies, so your best bet is to go through the forums here and see what some of the guys have to say about the different ones. Narrow down your search, then check the internet for prices and parts availability, then get a final opinion or approval here.

I'm glad to hear you've got the Evader up and running, now go break something on it. That's the only way to know you really enjoyed it.

 

[Nitrodriver15]

haha yeap well I've done some more putting of the pieces together, although my tuning was not the greatest, it was not the total problem. Putting the pieces together involved seeing that the glow plugs that went out on me looked brand new just broke half way down or looked like something squished them into the case more. So that was part one, part two... was noticing a bit less resistance when screwing in the glow plug. Now when I took the glow plug out after everytime it stalled or stopped running to check it, I looked at the threads of the glowplug and there was many pieces of metal in the threads from the cooling head.

So now I figured that everytime I screwed in the glowplug little pieces of metal went into my engine (BAD!) and were coming up and busting my glow plugs. So while it was engine was still hot I went to remove the 4 screws that hold the cooling head on. I wasn't quite sure if this was a good thing or bad to try unscrewing while hot, I understand the metal expands when hot but it might make it easier to get the screws out as some people would use a torch to get rusted in automotive bolts out. But now this left me at a predicament(sp). NONE would even budge and I dont feel I stripped them all that bad because I could still get a good resistance in the head of the screw but after trying and trying I know theyre not in the best shape.

So what do I do? the cooling head wont even hold the glow plug anymore, that hole is stripped all the death, I can unscrew it with the ignitor, thats about how tight it'll go. And the screws holding the head in wont even budge and the heads of the screws arnt looking all that good now either...

 

[Brushlessboy]

I love your attitude man. Never give up, and when all else fails, GO SHOPPING.
Good luck with the bi#ch. Buy a Revo and pull the front diff out.
BUT keep your chin up, you'll go far.

 

[Nitrodriver15]

haha damn straight buddy always cheers me up to buy sh!t but now the effin cooling head glow plug is stripped and the screws to get it off are stripped... f*ck me... get out the drill bit.... and i actually thought for a second since the head is stripped just get out angle grinder and grind the effing thing off so the only thing left are the bitchin screws haha

but anyways what do ya mean by pulling the front diff out, just to lock it up or have it 2wd? no comprenday on that one

 

[Brushlessboy]

Yeah mate. Most blokes will be rolling their eyes and calling me an idiot. The Revo is a 2 speed, with good power, easily and cheaply upgradable, handles great and is strong. Its 4wd so if you want a 2wd pull the front diff out, or easier still pull off the front driveshaft. Just remember to leave the uni joint on the front of the tranny to keep everything in place.

Or even cheaper still, buy a nitro Rustler. It will be cheap over there and it is a great stadium truck type rig.

 

[Scrogg]

I would not bother with that engine any more. GP elements have gone thru it, maybe even some threads from the head too. It's toast. Start fresh, these seem to be going cheap on E-Bay.
http://cgi.ebay.com/DuraTrax-Nitro-...ryZ44028QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

 

[Nitrodriver15]

hmm well that is an option and the only thing thats stopping me, it that is alot of effort to replace engines like the whole drive train has to come out. When I turn the flywheel on the engine now there still is a bit of resistance (meaning some compression is still there) and I already purchased a new cooling head so I really dont know what to do now. I know my engine isnt running optimal but man those engines are cheap on e-bay even though I have a cooling head on the way I might still pick up a new engine so when i get ambitious and tired of the old one, I can just swap out. Thanks for the link man.