Help with HPI Firestorm

[Roughshod]

We bought an HPI Firestorm back in October and it's been nothing but a pain since then. The first problem we encountered was a biggie. We read through the manual, (we're new to the nitro scene), following directions we proceeded to follow the directions to initate the break in. Third or fourth pull on the starter it started, ran for no more than 20 seconds and stopped. Tried to pull again and it wouldn't budge, called LHS and they told me about hydro lock, I removed the glow plug and still it would not pull over. Took it to the LHS which is a half hour drive from me, they had the truck for a week called me back and said that the connecting rod snapped and continued to rotate a few more times and drove itself into piston wall and also twisting the rod. They said they'd order an engine. Week later there was still no engine, they had the truck still and they called and said that they'd make things right and to come down. We got there and they replaced the entire truck with a new one.

Get home, start the break in procedure again and get it to go through one whole tank. On the second tank the directions say to have it on the ground doing circles. As I was lowering the truck down to the ground the engine quit once again. I tried to restart it and again it would not pull over. Fearing the worst I pulled the plug to clear it of nitro and it still wouldn't pull over. Back to the shop! The owner was pretty pissed at me it seems. I told him I followed the directions, he asked if it was free-wheeling at the time (the wheels not making contact with the ground), I told him they weren't, he was really pissed then and told me that I had to put the nose of the truck into the wall in order to do the break in. I thought he was nuts. He said he'd have the tech go over the truck.

Turns out the connecting rod snapped again, this time they replaced the piston, sleeve and rod. They put 2 tanks of fuel through it and said it was good to go. We took it home and it fired right up, the tech said to run as much fuel as possible through it, so I put it nose first into the wall where it proceeded to strip the spur gear out of it.

So in it's stock form it runs a 50T spur and a 19T bell. I've phoned both LHS's for parts and ordered them only to have waited 2 weeks and be told that they're on back order. I've phoned the big city as well and they don't have the 50T in stock. Is there any other combo that would work guys? Even something from another brand?

My dad is in the beginning stages of alzheimers and he used to be into cars and engines in any form, we bought the truck for something for him to tinker around with and actually run. He's pretty dissapointed and so am I. ANY help would be appreciated. He bought a Savage like mine and is running it almost daily which is great but I'd like to see the Firestorm get going because I know he would too.:bow:

 

[hvymetalalchmst]

sad to here that.

however, i think youve got more bad luck than the most of us will ever experience.

but the "nose of the truck into the wall" bit??? maybe he was telling you off that the only way to cause that much problems is to ram the nose of the truck into a wall (causing sudden impact in the engine). i see no reason at all which person in their right mind breaks in a car running at a wall. I've always been taught to do it on a nice flat even surface, away from walls.

 

[hudler]

Two connecting rods broke kind of tell me you were running the truck with the wheels off the ground and reving it up pretty good. Free wheeling is the worst thing to do to a new engine, the rod is already under stress from the breakin procedure. Sorry to hear about all your troubles, after the hobby shop ran a couple of tanks through it you should have been able to run it around and take it easy for another couple of tanks in the front yard and then treat it like it is broken in. No more running with the nose in the wall...you were revving it up and stressing out the driveline, just take it easy for another tank or two and then have some fun.

 

[olds97_lss]

Some guys do the old style break-in's which is to idle first tank or two, generally conceived as a bad idea these days. To get the truck to not move, you put the nose of the truck against an inanimate object (a wall) and let it idle away while blipping the throttle periodically to keep it from stalling.

This practice has been determined by many to not be all that great of a way to break in a new engine. Even though manuals suggest it... The purpose of break-in is to get the moving parts inside the engine to "wear" into each other properly before ripping on the gas and damaging things.

You can do a search on this forum and search for "heat cycle break in" and it should return some results that may be more useful. Actually, found a sticky, Click here for heat cycle info.

Considering you've run some fuel through your engine, it means your getting it running. Which, in Canada at this time of the year is a large task in itself. Nitro engines aren't fun to run when the outside temp is much below 40F. So much so that some won't even start unless you heat the engine with a hair drier or heat gun before trying to start it.

As for getting a spur gear, I think you should be able to find one online somewhere and get it shipped to you. I've bought and sold things to guys in Canada. Shipping takes a few extra days and costs a little more, but it's definitely doable.

Tower Hobbies ships to Canada, here's a link to a spur gear: http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LXPYZ4&P=7
Tower says it's "In Stock".

I'd suggest buying a few as spur gears tend to go out from time to time. You may also want to get a spare set of clutch bell bearings and a few glow plugs, they are a wear item as well. At least then, it will make an order to tower and shipping not a total waste.

I'm sure there are some online shops in Canada so you don't have to deal with special shipping fees and whatnot... I just don't know any.

 

[95 civic B16A]

srry to hear that.

hope everything does well for you. maybe u should have the shop break in the motor see how they do lol.

 

[Roughshod]

Thanks for the sticky, advice and link guys.

 

[Rolex]

To get the truck to not move, you put the nose of the truck against an inanimate object (a wall) and let it idle away while blipping the throttle periodically to keep it from stalling.

Exactly. A wall, a stair, a cinder block. I also use this process to tune a stubborn engine. Just blips on the throttle, without the car getting away from you. It also has the advantage of putting an extra load on the engine to bring it up to temp.

 

[miketroll357]

A stiff bungie cord works pretty well also, just wrap it around a stationary object then thru the bumper. And you won't scratch or ding anything while bliping the throttle. Hope this helps.