Hey!

[alanmy]

Been searching a bit in the forums to see if anyone else is having or has had the the same problem I'm having. Needless to say I couldn't find it =(

Naturally, concidering my newbie rank on nitro cars, I may be missing out on the lingo as well. I have two dirtbikes that I have fixed and tuned and all and I figured a Nitro car wouldn't/shouldn't be much different. But it is! =)

Sorry if I'm posting a common problem that I should have found in the forum search box...

Anyway, I picked up a used nitro car a storm cl 1.
The guy complained about having to tune it all the time, motor overheating, and buying new plugs all the time.
I got this car really cheap, he started it up and it ran just fine it seemed, so I paid him.

I take it home, start it up drive it around a bit and I start coming up with a problem. The steering, breaking, gas stops working.
I turn the engine off, check the wires and turn the on/off switch to the servo reciever box and suddenly it starts to recieve again and works. then stops...
And as of now, I can get it to turn and the likes only when the motor is off...
So when I start it up, the reciever doesn't seem to want to move the servos or give the car gas or break, just totally gone.

This happens inside/outside, close to the car, far away from the car.
I put in new batteries in everything, but perhaps I need a special/better type of batteries? (bought some cheap ones only).


Anyone have any advice? =)

Thanks!!

 

[Grave]

Sound's like the RX equipment has a " glitch " from what your explaining it seem's the RX equipment is an older AM " crystal " setup most guy's in the hobby awile "like myself" went to the newer more reliable 2.4 Gig Rx's...

Depending on your area & outside Air Temps have alot to do with a nitro's tune For example yesterday I was running my HPI bullet & the air Temp was 68 Deg's with a slight breeze So I leaned out my mixture just a smidge.. with that being said if your engine is "Quitting" it could be it's overheating & outta tune most nitro engines like temps between 190 - 270 deg's is in the NORM operating ranges of most engines " You should see White Grayish smoke " NOT BILLOWING OUT LIKE A CHIMNEY " but when your WOT "wide open throttle" you should notice a nice decent smoke trail out of the exaust this is a good visual that your nitro engine is within a decent tune..

Breaking issue's could be tied into a proper tune as well check to see if your nitro engine has an actual brake disk " some models do some dont Another example my HPI bullet has no break disk so when I break my nitro engine does the breaking for my Rig too much break my engine stall's & shuts off. So my breaking is setup within the engine tune.. If you do have a break disk check to make shure it isent binding & has freeplay when engine is off it your break seems hard or stiff back off the adjustment screw's a tad..

Also make shure you are useing fresh batteries I have run into the situation where I was @ the track & couldent figure out why my 2.4 gig RX equipment was glitching & to come to find out I tested my AA batteries & 2 of the 4 batteries REG bad cell's.. Changed out fresh ones problem solved...

I would also suggest " since you wrench on dirt bike's" tear down complete car & check all parts for excessive ware & broken parts & replace if needed.. HOPE THESE TIPS help you out & keep asking questions on RCNT alot of the guys will help you out & remember ' US GUYS THAT HAVE BEEN IN THE HOBBY AWILE" where ONCE in your SHOES so we understand

 

[3_Stroke_Motor]

Check ALL of your metal into metal screws. I'm assuming you have an FM transmitter of some sort, which are notorious for picking up metal vibrations from loose screws and lock collars.

1) Go over ALL metal into metal screws, and loctite those suckers in there, replace any missing ones as well.
2) Turn your radio system on, is it working? If yes, then you most likely have a noise problem, which you attempted to fix in step 1.
3) With the engine off, test your radio system with the servo ports reversed, so that when you steer left and right on your controller, you are moving the throttle servo and moving the trigger steers the rig, is it still working? If yes, your receiver is OK, if not, one of your servos is dead, replace it.
3.5) Return the servos into their correct ports
4) With engine still off, and radio system on and hanging out of the vehicle, take a screw driver and tap on the receiver box (to simulate engine vibrations) while moving throttle and steering servos. Does it work properly? If no, then something in between your controller and your receiver box is malfunctioning, replace your crystals, if that dosent fix it, your controller is NOT the problem, and its your receiver. Replace the receiver or take it to your LHS to have it looked at (if your receiver is new or worth something to attempt to fix, if not, trash it and buy a good one)
5) Now, place your rig on a stool or a bench that keeps the wheels from taking traction to anything, and fire it up. Test your new/fixed/same radio system out, is it working now? If yes, test it out for a while longer to make sure its not a fluke, and if it continues to run through a bash session, good! you fixed it! If not, you may need to buy a new radio system, change crystal frequencies or channels, if you buy a new one, buy a 2.4 ghz! you will not experience these problems with a 2.4 ghz.

All of this is just trouble shooting, if you buy an new radio system, dont buy anything more than a hundred bucks. you dont need an OBD and lap timer like some of those nice 300 dollar plus Futaba systems provide. Again, FM transmitters are very temperamental when it comes to on board metal vibrations, and very finicky and glitchy in the first place. When you do end up buying a new one, go 2.4 ghz, youll never regret it. And oh yea, make sure your running with a rechargeable battery pack, NiMH on board and good quality AA batteries in your controller, no Die Hards or generics, Duracell or energizers only!

How could I have forgotten something as simple as batteries?! duh!

 

[alanmy]

Great! =)

Figured I would wait a bit and test run the little beast before replying to this wonderful information.

You two pretty much summed it up when it.

I ripped the car a part in pieces, cleaned and checked(and replaced some wiring). I haven't upgraded to a 2.4ghz yet, still FM freq trans, but it works =)

I also bought a variaty of spark plugs to test around with, and fuel.

So far, after the clean up mini service check, I've ran the car for atleast 10 hours without any problems at all.

Thanks for the help, it is very much appreciated =)