I Need HELP!

[J. Whalen]

I really need help, I bought my savage about 3 weeks ago and have had 1 problem after another, I put it together right at the LHS and broke it in with their help, all was well until I got it home and since 1. I cannot get the thing to tune right, tried every setting you could think of, I see everyone talking about wheelies and by tuning the lsn I can get it to pull good but no wheelies! High speed on a radar gun (at work) is 27mph, I adjusted the tranny to engage earlier and that helped a little. 2. the brakes stink so after I fully adjusted them to the end, I added more fuel line and a stiffer compound, that worked but they seem to self adjust and I have to adjust after every run. 3. I broke the top fin of the cooling head on a flip and need advise on a replacement. 4.The steering stinks, it only turns 1 way well and I have to chase the truck down because the turns are so poor. 5.I was jumping some small grass humps yesterday and the RR wheel flew off, lost the nut and the little pin, ( I had just tightened them 2 minutes before and yes I went the right way , ordered more but have to wait for them to come. 6. I read an article somewhere ( can't find it again) about a homemade onboard temp unit that will read max. values, anyone know about this, I think it uses a digital meat thermometer? Anyway any help would be great, I almost want to get rid of it, but I'm just MAD! Thanks.

I forgot, It never, never, NEVER starts well! I have already broken the starter and replaced it, all of the glow plugs, any suggestions here would be great, I ordered the HB starter should be here today, It has to run off of the ground for a good minute with me holding it before it will stay running, I tried the factory settings and everything in between, and I have to litterally adjust the carb on every pass.:sneaky:

 

[Markanthony]

Ok, I'll give some advise. Set the tuning adjustments back to the factory settings! 3 1/2 turns out on both the low end and high end. get a new plug, Low-Med heat. Aslo buy a Temp gun or on board Temp gauge. Put new batteries in reciever and Radio! Basicaly, Start over. As long as you have not Fried the Engine, she is Salvagable!
Start her up, and make sure you have plenty of smoke coming out! oh yea, adjust your Tranny back so it shifts a little later. I have mine at the factory setting still. Let her run, for about 2 minutes with some low to medium speed runs then slowly adjust the TOP end first. If she is puking out gas from the pipe on the low end then adjust it but leave her fat (rich) on the low end and adjust the high end . I am barly getting through the first gallon of gas and I am running her rich , but she is pulling Wheelies! It takes at least a Gallon to a gallon and a half to Properly break in an engine. Nice and slow and she'll last you a while. Your temps should not get over 275 degrees on the cooling head. Make sure you run After run Oil in her after each session of bashing. Give her time and she'll run good. It will shift good when you tune her right. I am still playing with mine and I've had her a week and a half.

 

[CRSMP5]

a stock engine will not pull wheelies with the stock cb..

it also takes a good 20 tanks of fuel to get thru all the little bugs liek broken dogbones and stuff.. take you rtime tuning the truck, only tune it at 1/2 tank after the engine is warm..

glow plugs.. i sugest a mc8 or a os8 for normal bashing, a mc59 for driving in winter..

 

[ysweatme]

Most of all, stay calm. Remember that this is the same as a kit and anything that breaks can be fixed. I got a little frustrated at all the stuff that broke on mine when I first got it, but now, like CRSMP5 said, I've gotten all the bugs out and she runs great. She starts a lot easier now and you also learn what to look for when things don't seem right. Mine is pretty stock so she doesn't do wheelies, but has great jumps!

Bottom line: The more you run it the better it runs.

 

[DLK]

Stock engine will NOT pull wheelies. Now someboby will say it will, ok. I installed OFNA/PICCO .26 last week and it will. If thats what you want the stock engine has to go. Wheelies are a waste of power to the ground. Is it fun, yah I guess so but no big deal to me. All I can say is that the .26 is awesome. Dave

 

[LarryA]

It will take a powerfull engine to pull the front wheels off the ground with 4WD. Like everyone has said, take you time and be patient. Make small adjustments one at a time. If things seem to be all screwed up go back to the factory settings and start the tunning over. As the engine gets fully seated in the starting will get easier and it will run more consistantly. I have not had anything breal yet except for a Roto Start which appeared to have been defective, it was replaced by LHS. The only problem I'm having is dealing with HPI's terrible job of gluing the tires to the wheels. They might as well not have even tried.

 

[DLK]

I re-glued my tires on the Savage, I didn't think they even did. If they tried its the worst tire/glue job ever. The rest of S.21 was perfect. Dave

 

[Markanthony]

Mine Pulls Wheelies in the Grass ( I should have stated) . I fliped it over backwars one time. In the street or dirt, no way. she's snappy but she's no .26. One of these days I will get it on Video.

 

[007kel]

Originally posted by J. Whalen
3. I broke the top fin of the cooling head on a flip and need advise on a replacement. 4.The steering stinks, it only turns 1 way

As far as the guys out here where we bash, we've all broken a fin. The stock 21BB head is made of some composite material, it's bound to break at impact. You could get another aftermarket head. Crazynutracing makes an aluminum head and there is another manufacturer I forgot who it was. I have the CNR head on my 21BB.

Steering, I assumed you checked the settings on your radio. Try resetting the steering. Take the steering servo arm out, adjust the servo in a neutral position with the radio's settings. And set the servo arm back.

And take your time on tuning. Let the Savage warm up. The engine will behave differently on different conditions. Temp readings will help. But you could try the pinch test on the incoming fuel line as well. Run the savage and warm it up. Then pinch the fuel line until it almost cuts out. If it takes a while to cut out (like 5 secs or more), it's running rich. You've got room to lean out. Adjust your needles (I think your HSN on the 21BB). The quicker it comes to cutting out from the time you pinch the line, the leaner the engine. You'll hear the engine go on a high pitch rpm sound before cutting out. Ideally, you want the engine to cut out near to quick.

 

[J. Whalen]

Thanks All, yeah it pulls wheelies in the grass, and the HB elec. start should be here soon, I will order the new head, and keep tweaking the carb. Did anyone read the article on how to make an onboard temp that will read in max. Value? I think that will help. I also added the fuel tank protector, it seems awfully vulnerable out there by itself. Whats the next hop-up? It seems as though alot of people are getting the dog bones and CV's? Any suggestions?

 

[Error401]

speaking about the tank, be sure to turn the LR shock bolt around (so the allen head is towards the tank). If you land on the LR fender, it will send the bolt thru the tank (been there, done that). Also check for bubbles in the lines when you're running. The crappy tank has a tendancy to leak air at random times and will cause your mix to lean out.

Replace your dogbones when you get the engine tweaked, the stock black ones break pretty easy. Also replace the center DBs, I just broke my second last night. The stock HPI rims suck. There's a thread that covers that on here.

Don't get me wrong, I love the savage. It's one of the toughest MTs out there. Best of luck, you'll get it worked out soon.

Whitt