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The sleeve has to be worn out badly to run at that low of a temp without snapping a con-rod, or worse. It needs to run hotter to get the sleeve to expand. There's probably shavings in the crankcase, or in the exhaust pipe.
 
alien13 said:
The sleeve has to be worn out badly to run at that low of a temp without snapping a con-rod, or worse. It needs to run hotter to get the sleeve to expand. There's probably shavings in the crankcase, or in the exhaust pipe.
Click to expand...

Yep, that would be just as bad, if not worse than running too hot.
 
My 3.4 snapped the con-rod from running too cold, before I really knew better. Lucky for me, Losi/Horizon Hobbies felt sorry for me.
 
I was told to cover the motor with fabric from another person i was talking to about temps and said the same thing about running to cold but he didnt go into i call bs and stuff like that he just said if it's running that cold i should wrap the motor. and its a new motor no shavings nothing its clean........ all I am saying is some of the aproches some people have to peoples problems are kinda messed up when its suposed to be friendly advise to keap people interested....... I mess up sometimes yes but come on everyone has there moments..... we dont have to treat someone like they have no clue what they are doing because something is different or not to your liking... I have been corrected and have corrected some people and not once can i say i made someone feal dumb because they didn't know something or messed up... all I am sayin is liten up until the time comes someone needs attitude for doingd something stupid on purpose..... and my maxx has never had a problem wheelying yes it might be more of beast if I get the temps up alittle.... But there is really nothing to gain about telling tales instead of facts... right???? Atleast thats what I think..

And I mean no disrespect just honest opinions
 
It was called bs because you insisted it was right. I highly suggest you get that motor up to correct operating temps before you run it hard, or you will do damage to it.

Yes, it will run at low temps, and yes, it will probably even pull wheelies, and high speed runs, but as I can tell from experience, especially with a new engine, it needs a full break-in, and it needs to be brought to correct operating temps, which are above 200* for almost ANY nitro motor.
 
well new about a month ago half galon on it so far.. I always thought it was just because of how cold it was and the air density that was my problem... all three 3.3's run at all different temps and they all seem to go good but the hottest i think is 210 on one and 180 on one of them and the one that runs about 120..... I will have to mess around with here alittle bit i guess and see whats going on then...

And i never insisted I was right about thats perfect temp I insisted I was right about what temp mine runs and i insisted i was right that my rig does still pull the wheels off the ground... and i insisted that i have had good luck with traxxas fuel and i wrote down a couple things i was thinking but nothing to the point of evryone is wrong i am write they should all run traxxas fuel and engines should run about 120-130 to be perfect i just said what my temps were and how it performs and what i use..... like i said i know i am newer to the hobby and havent been right in it forever like some and dont know everything, but if anybody knew everything there wouldn't be a point of this forum.. I was just trying to say instead of everybody calling bs and stuff focus on helpin the question asker out.... and yeah point out if you have tried something someone is suggesting and it didn't work...... thats why the forum is here right?
 
When I was running mine in the winter (I use the term lightly because I'm in florida) the temperature was around 50* and my truck was able to get up to 250 or higher
 
wow no body reads anything i said the wramest day so far has been about 50 not all friggin winter there was alot of times i was all bundled up out in 0-10 degree and wow nevermind aint worth it.
 
Nitromethane burns at ~2400ºF, and methanol burns around ~1900ºF. That must be hot enough to bring that engine over 120º.
 
mtaylortank said:
wow no body reads anything i said the wramest day so far has been about 50 not all friggin winter there was alot of times i was all bundled up out in 0-10 degree and wow nevermind aint worth it.
Click to expand...

IT STILL HAS TO RUN AT OVER 200 DEGREES! And running it in the winter at 0-10 degrees will kill it if you aren't running it consistently at over 200f, and letting it cool indoors. It may work now, but it won't last very long.
 
i know that part as i have said I have not disputed i need to find out what is going on with the motor so.......
 
Traxxas fuel is crap it has so much oil in it. They put so much oil in it because the TRX2.5 and 3.3 run hot and thats there way of keeping them cool. Pick up Byron's Gen 2 race fuel. If thats not available grab some O'Donnell race, not the RTR thats full of oil as well stay with the race blends.
 
alien13 said:
IT STILL HAS TO RUN AT OVER 200 DEGREES! And running it in the winter at 0-10 degrees will kill it if you aren't running it consistently at over 200f, and letting it cool indoors. It may work now, but it won't last very long.
Click to expand...

Well technically it doesn't HAVE to run at over 200. Every engine is different ;-) I have had many tracks days pitting for sponsored drivers (fast ones) and their engine came off a 30 min main at 180-190 and the car/truck was running beautiful. There is no set temp that these little guys like to run at. As long as you are at or above the temp in which all the metals inside expand fully....you will be just fine. Depending on materials and quality....that temp may be 150 degrees....or it may be 210 degrees. Who knows really...

The general rule here is you need heat inside these little guys to make them run optimally. The amount of heat....well who knows really. Just heat it up before you tune it or get ready for a nightmare ;-) :hehe:
 
http://www.geistware.com/rcmodeling/glowpower/fuelfact3.htm




Nitromethane, the Mystery Ingredient?

(The following is the third in a series of articles exploring all facets of model engine fuel. The writer is Don Nix, founder and former owner of POWERMASTER FUEL.

Nitromethane…..everybody knows it’s there, but few, it seems, really know much about it. Although most seem to know - at least vaguely - that’s its primary purpose is to add power, we still get an occasional call or letter asking, "Why do you use it in model fuel?" At best, there is much misinformation regarding this somewhat exotic ingredient. Let’s see what we can do to clear some of it up.

Nitromethane is just one of a family of chemicals called "nitroparaffins." Others are nitroethane and 1-nitropropane and 2-nitropropane. Nitroethane can be used successfully in small quantities. (Top fuel drag racers, which generally run on straight nitromethane, sometimes add a little in hot, humid weather to prevent detonation.) At one time, nitroethane was only about half as expensive as nitromethane, but its cost now is so nearly the same, using it to lower cost is hardly worth the trouble. Neither of the nitropropanes will work in model engine fuel. Incidentally, nitromethane is made of propane, in case you didn’t know (and I’ll bet you didn’t).

Yes, NITRO = POWER! But….there are conditions and contingencies. First of all, it doesn’t add power because it’s such a "hot" chemical. Not at all. This may come as a surprise to most readers, but the methanol (methyl alcohol) in the fuel is by far the most flammable ingredient….nearly twice as flammable as nitromethane. As a matter of fact, if nitro were only 4 degrees less flammable, it wouldn’t even have to carry the red diamond "flammable" label!

In actuality, nitromethane must be heated to 96 degrees F. before it will begin to emit enough vapors that they can be ignited by some sort of spark or flame! (I demonstrated this not long ago to a friend by repeatedly putting a flaming match out in a cap full of nitro. I might add that he insisted on standing about 20 feet away during the demonstration.)

From Moe: I hope this helps. iam NOT a fuels expert.
 
Technically speaking, you need to be at or above 180* for the metal to expand and become malleable enough for a proper fit between the piston and sleeve. That's why you're not doing anything but damaging a nitro engine if you try and break it in and never reach temps of 180* or higher. There's a heat range in which the metal is in a "perfect" operating condition for our use. Too cold and the metal won't form properly, too hot and the metal will deform quickly and far too easily. Running an engine too hot, you can over-expand the metal and when it cools it will not contract back to the same size in which it once was. Because we have pretty tight tolerances on these nitro motors, it doesn't take long running too hot to do irreversible damage to the piston and sleeve.
 
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