Having trouble getting my T Maxx up and running any suggestions?

[DJM]

I am new to the sport and am having a little trouble getting my T Maxx up and running. I am using the EZ start system and when I place the starter in the connector on the truck I will get about 2-3 short 2 second starting attempts before the motor acts like it bogs and won't turn. It's almost like the battery is going dead but I would hope to be able to get more starting attempts than this? So after reading on the site I determined that the fuel loading the engine is what is causing the engine to bog and not turn over maybe? One thing I have noticed is that on the EZ starter the glow plug light never comes on? I have spent the past 3 days just trying to get her running lol... I thought maybe the battery wasn't any good in the EZ start so I went back to Hobby Town and they sold me this 7.2V 1800 mah battery for the EZ start and after charging it for a couple hours on my ProphetSport2 charger I went back to the garage to no avail. Same results.
I replaced the Glo Plug but still nothing. It's about 45 degrees here in KY if that helps. The wife is loving this and getting a kick out of my toy that won't run grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr Any help would be appreciated. Thanks for such a great site.

 

[theant]

I would start by trying a glow plug ignitor rather than the blue lead wire that is attached to the glow plug through the cooling head. The blue wire might be broken or just not connected properly, especially if te light is not coming on in your wand. I had the same issues with mine before, and I ended up cutting the blue wire from my ezstart harness and using an external glow plug ignitor to ignite it. The glow plug ignitor will have to be charged as well, but delivers more voltage to the glow plug when starting. Also, the engine might be flooded. Remove the glow plug, turn the truck upside down and turn the motor over by using the ezstart wand. You should see a bunch of fuel pour out of the motor if it is indeed flooded.

 

[2revo1maxx]

Those are always a good thing to have.^^

Warm the engine with a hair dryer so it's nice and toasty.
Take out the glow plug.
Hook the fuel line from the carb back to the tank where the exhaust line goes in.
Turn the machine upside down.
Run the ez-start for a good 10-20 seconds.
Flip it back on it's wheels and re-attach the fuel line

Begin trying to start the engine, while it's cranking plug the exhaust a little at a time with your finger and watch for fuel to appear in the line. Once the fuel has reached the carb it should fire up.

If it's 45 out you should cover the head with something so it doesn't run too cool out there. Be sure to read the t-maxx manual and some of the "sticky" threads in this forum.

 

[Andrew11a]

Having same issue can run it one day and the next day it simply will not fire or light the glow plug light indicator. So the Tmaxx doesn't need the glow plug to run just to fire? The blowing in the hose from the pipe works well for getting the fuel up this was the best tip I got off this sight so far. Thanks to all you guys who know your stuff it really helps us newbees.

 

[2revo1maxx]

You may be either burning your plug out or flooding the engine. I would suggest getting a handheld ignitor.

The glow plug glows on startup, but also retains heat from each stroke to fire the next.

 

[Phins Fan]

You will always need the glowplug for running purposes. Think of your car (1:1 car) in which once it is fired up the pressure thats built up in the cylinder from the fuel atomizing ignites when it reaches its cycle in the cylinder. Same concept. No sparkplug, no ignition

 

[theant]

You might also be using the wrong glow plug. I was told to use a hotter plug for a lower nitro content fuel. For example: 30-33% nitro use a medium/cold plug and 20% nitro use a hot plug. I was using a medium/cold plug with the 20% sidewinder and had similar problems as you. Once I switched to the McCoy MC59 hot plug used with the 20% sidewinder, I have not had any issues since.....just a thought.

 

[DJM]

Thanks to all those with the great ideas and suggestions. I am so glad I found this site. I am going to go at it again tomorrow after a quick trip to the Hobby Store for a new glo plug ignitor !!!

 

[cwal1774]

If the glow plug indicator is not lighting up even after you replaced the glow plug then the wand itself may be bad. I had this happen to me and so did a couple of my friends. I agree a good igniter is wise investment. The blue wire that goes to the glow plug usually gets chewed up anyway after a couple good rollovers. Which part of Kentucky do you hail from? I live in Marion which is about 45 miles east of Paducah and about 50 miles west of Henderson.

 

[theant]

If the glow plug indicator is not lighting up even after you replaced the glow plug then the wand itself may be bad. I had this happen to me and so did a couple of my friends. I agree a good igniter is wise investment. The blue wire that goes to the glow plug usually gets chewed up anyway after a couple good rollovers. Which part of Kentucky do you hail from? I live in Marion which is about 45 miles east of Paducah and about 50 miles west of Henderson.

You could be right, but I had the same thing happen to me and once I removed the blue wire and started using the glow plug ignitor, the problem went away. Still to this day, I have not needed a new ezstart wand.....still using the same one as I was when I had those issues.

 

[cwal1774]

It's usually the diode under the start button that controls the heating of the glow plug tha goes bad but you can still use the wand to turn the engine over.

 

[2revo1maxx]

+1 alot of people do that.

 

[vmswimfan21]

+1 on the glow plug igniter. i use the igniter on the frist start up then the blue wire once its warmed up. also i had it happen once that i had my engine in and out and i had my gear mess set to tight and the ez start motor was trying to turn the whole truck over and would not start. add what kind of fuel are you running when i frist got mine i ran traxxas fuel and it started hard switched to byrens 20% and it starts alot easyer. and i run o.s. hot plug.

 

[DJM]

If the glow plug indicator is not lighting up even after you replaced the glow plug then the wand itself may be bad. I had this happen to me and so did a couple of my friends. I agree a good igniter is wise investment. The blue wire that goes to the glow plug usually gets chewed up anyway after a couple good rollovers. Which part of Kentucky do you hail from? I live in Marion which is about 45 miles east of Paducah and about 50 miles west of Henderson.

I live here in Ashland which is about 1.5 hours from Lexington. Nice to see a fellow UK member on the board!!!!

 

[Mn Monster]

i was having the same problem with my maxx, i dumped the blue wire for an igniter, and have never looked back. one thing to check is your ground wire (yellow) when i first had the problems, my ground wire was lose. after getting tired of the yellow/blue wire mess i scraped it! i still use the ex start, with my wand and it works great!

 

[CupraR]

Hello everyone.

Great forum.

I have a Traxxas Tmaxx 3.3 (4907). I keep on burning out glow plugs but my tune seems to me to be spot on. I'm thinking my EZ start wand may be burning them out when trying to start it.

My wand outputs 3.36V. Glow igniters generally are only 1.5v aren't they? Do you think this could be the case?

 

[Mn Monster]

sometime's you can get a bad batch of glow plugs. i order a 6 pack of plugs, and toasted 5 of 6 in two tanks of fuel. than the next 1 ran for over a month. that said if you burning them up that fast, you might have the wrong plug, are you running 20% nitro?. which plug are you using?

 

[2revo1maxx]

You're most likely running too lean Cupra.

 

[CupraR]

sometime's you can get a bad batch of glow plugs. i order a 6 pack of plugs, and toasted 5 of 6 in two tanks of fuel. than the next 1 ran for over a month. that said if you burning them up that fast, you might have the wrong plug, are you running 20% nitro?. which plug are you using?

I'm using the std Traxxas 3232X plugs and Byrons 20% fuel.

You're most likely running too lean Cupra.

Yes. Maybe. I thought this too.

Too lean on HSN or LSN? Or both?

I richened up my HSN but found it then wouldn't shift into second. My temps are quite high though at around 250-260 degrees. Our current outside temps are 32 degrees Fahrenheit.

 

[2revo1maxx]

Cold outside is a problem. Are you covering the head with something? You really need to cover the head so the engine can run rich and warm. Most 3.3 engines need to be set at 5 or more turns out (hsn) to perform well in the cold.