Glow plug wire

[Jake67]

What would cause a melted glow plug wire on a Traxxas Nitro Slash? Looking at one and he wants $250. He said he couldn't get it dialed in and it has a melted coil wire. Do you think it's worth it?

 

[tudordewolf]

Running it too lean could blow out the plug, or leaving the ignitor on for too long while also leaning it out and revving it.

 

[Jake67]

Do you think the motor is ok?

 

[jojobeans]

I'm assuming it's an easy start system. My guess is he plugged a 7 cell NiMh or 2s LiPo into the easy starter and pushed too much voltage through that wire. No running condition with the easy start wand disconnected will melt that wire as there's no voltage going through it while the engine is running and the wand is disconnected. You also have to press the button down for it to do anything, which eliminates the possibility of having power to the glow plug for too long with the engine not running.

Traxxas easy start is also notoriously finicky. If you pick it up, just forgo the glow plug wire all together and use a standard glow ignitor. You can still use the easy start wand to start the engine however. Once the engine is broken in, the electric start works fine... but the glow plug wires are a very common source of trouble on that system. Engine is probably fine(assuming he broke it in correctly and didn't run it lean for too long), my guess is he hasn't owned a Nitro before and is unfamiliar with tuning, which would explain the troubles he's having. Reset the needles to factory settings and retune...

With that being said... I usually just assume a used nitro RC is going to need a new sleeve and piston. Lots of people don't tune them and/or don't break them in properly. You either get one that lasts a while or you get one that needs to be rebuild right out of the gate... it's a dice roll and unless you are very familiar with Nitro's, I'd avoid buying one used. Just my two cents though!

 

[Jake67]

Good advice. And yes it would be .y first one lol.

 

[CertifiedMike]

Make sure you buy a new, fresh, sealed bottle of nitro fuel while you are trying all this.
If you have bad fuel, its never going to start.