Glow plugs lasting 1 session? Car running fine and then suddenly refuses to idle off igniter.

Welcome to RCTalk

Come join other RC enthusiasts! You'll be able to discuss, share and private message with other members of our community.

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

Yang

RCTalk Basher
Messages
50
Reaction score
8
So I bought a nitro car recently, my first. And it's been a complete pain in the backside to be honest.

First time I tried to drive it, it kept dying at WOT. After about 2 hours of driving it just would not start. No matter how hard I tried I couldn't get it to fire.

The next day I could start it with considerable effort but it would die after removing the igniter. Everyone told me this was a glowplug issue. So I bought 2 new plugs and waited a week for them to arrive.

They arrived today and I put one in the car and the car started after considerable effort. Idled and I could drive. Car wasn't dying at WOT anymore but had hardly any power. Was slow and not hitting second gear.

After about 30 minutes I stopped the engine to refuel. After that the engine would not idle no matter how hard I tried. EVEN THOUGH it was working literally a *** minute ago. Every time I removed the igniter it would die.

I tried the other plug and the car wouldn't even start. I checked the plug with the igniter and it doesn't even glow.

Have you ever heard of glowplugs being this terrible?
 
once the damage is done to a no break in nitro its done.. i agree with tuned 100% betting no breakin was done ...nice paper weight you have now yang.. no ying on that end..lol had 2
 
So I bought a nitro car recently, my first. And it's been a complete pain in the backside to be honest.

First time I tried to drive it, it kept dying at WOT. After about 2 hours of driving it just would not start. No matter how hard I tried I couldn't get it to fire.

The next day I could start it with considerable effort but it would die after removing the igniter. Everyone told me this was a glowplug issue. So I bought 2 new plugs and waited a week for them to arrive.

They arrived today and I put one in the car and the car started after considerable effort. Idled and I could drive. Car wasn't dying at WOT anymore but had hardly any power. Was slow and not hitting second gear.

After about 30 minutes I stopped the engine to refuel. After that the engine would not idle no matter how hard I tried. EVEN THOUGH it was working literally a *** minute ago. Every time I removed the igniter it would die.

I tried the other plug and the car wouldn't even start. I checked the plug with the igniter and it doesn't even glow.

Have you ever heard of glowplugs being this terrible?

If it stayed running while igniter on ,an dies when you pull it off ,then the glow plug is fouled!
If the engine runs sluggish then you are still too rich & fouling your plugs out!

I did a vid showing that a glow plug can still work an be fouled ,it just dont stay hot enough
after removing the igniter ,so if your engine's carb setting is still in the break-in setting ,then you
will foul plugs an engine is being choked out with too much fuel ,the engine will also load up bad
while idling ,an will more than likely die when you hit the throttle!..:cool:
 
Welcome on @Yang , I have a sneaky suspicion you didn't break the engine in?

I would check this out...

https://www.rctalk.com/forum/threads/nitro-rc-beginners-guide.68224/

Nah on the first day I got it I let it idle through 2 tanks. Then drove it around for a tank at half throttle. Then 3/4 then WOT. The manual said they'd already broken it in in factory but I did it again. This is the break in procedure as described in the manual.

It's always had the issue of the engine slowing and then cutting out at WOT though.

I fixed the issue with it not running off the igniter apparently.

My piston got seized in the brass sleeve so I pulled the engine and took it apart. There were some metal shavings on the piston head so I cleaned them off. Reassembled and now the car runs off the igniter but is still a bit of a POS to start.

And I still have the issue at WOT. I've got some OS number 8 plugs coming
 
No power sluggish
Shuts off when igniter removed

Lets not assume the worst right away.
I say its running way too rich.
Try leaning the HSN and see how you go!

Good luck!
 
Ok so contrary to what everyone has been telling me the last few days. I made the engine more rich. The seller told me to do it 4 turns out from closed. The manual said 2 and a half. So I split the difference and did 3.

This was because at WOT I couldn't see a trail of blue smoke coming out the exhaust. So it was actually not too rich, it was too lean all along.

After making it more rich I can now hold WOT and the car will hold a decent speed. It isn't hitting it's second gear potential yet though. And it's still sluggish off the line and is hard to keep it idling sometimes.

I bought a temp gun from the local pharmacy but it's the biggest POS ever just says "hot" when I aim it at the engine...... yes very informative....
 
Ok so contrary to what everyone has been telling me the last few days. I made the engine more rich. The seller told me to do it 4 turns out from closed. The manual said 2 and a half. So I split the difference and did 3.

This was because at WOT I couldn't see a trail of blue smoke coming out the exhaust. So it was actually not too rich, it was too lean all along.

After making it more rich I can now hold WOT and the car will hold a decent speed. It isn't hitting it's second gear potential yet though. And it's still sluggish off the line and is hard to keep it idling sometimes.

I bought a temp gun from the local pharmacy but it's the biggest POS ever just says "hot" when I aim it at the engine...... yes very informative....

Yes ,it can go both ways too rich or too lean ,but always follow the engine manual ,one in doubt ,reset to factory sets from the manual!..:thumbs-up:
That is what happens when people dont get the whole story & back ground of the car & engine ,I for one thought you bought the car new!..🤷‍♂️:hehe:
 
Last edited:
Ok so contrary to what everyone has been telling me the last few days. I made the engine more rich. The seller told me to do it 4 turns out from closed. The manual said 2 and a half. So I split the difference and did 3.

This was because at WOT I couldn't see a trail of blue smoke coming out the exhaust. So it was actually not too rich, it was too lean all along.

After making it more rich I can now hold WOT and the car will hold a decent speed. It isn't hitting it's second gear potential yet though. And it's still sluggish off the line and is hard to keep it idling sometimes.

I bought a temp gun from the local pharmacy but it's the biggest POS ever just says "hot" when I aim it at the engine...... yes very informative....
Try Harbor Freight or Northern Tool for a temp gun if you have those stores locally. Lowes or Home Depot might have them as well.
 
Yes ,it can go both ways too rich or too lean ,but always follow the engine manual ,one in doubt ,reset to factory sets from the manual!..:thumbs-up:
That is what happens when people dont get the whole story & back ground of the car & engine ,I for one thought you bought the car new!..🤷‍♂️:hehe:

Yeah the car is new. The manual says 2 and a half turns from closed. The guy who owns the hobby shop said "4 turns out for break in". When I first got it I set it to 2 and a half turns like the manual says.

The car ran very bad at this setting and I was on a wild goose chase of leaning the engine out and getting no performance increase and having it cut out more. But kept being told "it's bogging down it's too rich".

Not sure where to go from here though. If 2 and a half turns out cuts off from fuel starvation, and 3 turns out doesn't cut out, but doesn't have good performance. Does that mean my ideal setting is so small it;s within a half a turn window?
 
Yeah the car is new. The manual says 2 and a half turns from closed. The guy who owns the hobby shop said "4 turns out for break in". When I first got it I set it to 2 and a half turns like the manual says.

The car ran very bad at this setting and I was on a wild goose chase of leaning the engine out and getting no performance increase and having it cut out more. But kept being told "it's bogging down it's too rich".

Not sure where to go from here though. If 2 and a half turns out cuts off from fuel starvation, and 3 turns out doesn't cut out, but doesn't have good performance. Does that mean my ideal setting is so small it;s within a half a turn window?

May have to tune by sound ,an not by how many turns ,now that you established where the engine is becoming
more happy ,you also have to figure in tuning the Lsn as well!..
 
My own experience is if the engine run too hot, it will not start right away when it cuts out. It is always a bad sign when you see metal shavings inside an engine. You loose compression one way or the other. It may never run well after that.
 
A new engine is $30, so I'll see how I get on with this. Ordered a rotor start to make it easier. If not I'll get a new engine
 
This is how much a HSP VX18 costs in China when you get them at close to factory prices.

The roto start arrived. The engine is now very easy to start but it's still dying. Revving the engine seems to make it die quicker. From watching bubbles in the fuel line I feel the fuel is not advancing using the normal "cover the exhaust" priming technique and I'm having to use the blow technique.
After finding lots of oil I found the culprit is a broken crankcase. I can't be sure if it was like this from yesterday. Or if the rotorstart did it.
IMG_20220509_172914.jpg
 
Last edited:
Good things Aren't always cheap and Cheap Things aren't Always good. Sorry about your find ...at least now you know. Thank you for your path of Discovery. Ideas for future reference.
 
This is how much a HSP VX18 costs in China when you get them at close to factory prices.

The roto start arrived. The engine is now very easy to start but it's still dying. Revving the engine seems to make it die quicker. From watching bubbles in the fuel line I feel the fuel is not advancing using the normal "cover the exhaust" priming technique and I'm having to use the blow technique.
After finding lots of oil I found the culprit is a broken crankcase. I can't be sure if it was like this from yesterday. Or if the rotorstart did it.View attachment 146525

It looks like it got hammered from the inside ,the crack looks funny like something wanted to come out!
I have an engine that is cracked next to the ear where the engine mounts ,it wouldnt tune ,the only way
I found the crack was I spotted the bubbles forming from the side as the engine was running!

I am glad you found your issue ,you can chalk it up as a great learning experience!..:thumbs-up:
 
I'd say this might happen if the engine is being broken in and is not up to break in temps, between 180 and 250.
Piston sleeve too tight, hasnt expanded enough to allow for the piston to go fully up!
Therefore the conrod gets launched into the bottom of casing.
 
We might never know. I've also heard from someone that it could have been a straight manufacturing defect in the casting of the part since that's a seam.

Anyway, the new engine seems to be running great and this thread can be closed I think.
 
Back
Top