is 32f too cold for a nitro engine?

[pelicanprentice]

Ok so my hpi savage x has been parked for like 2.5 years and I believe the last time I used it, I didn’t empty out the fuel however I could be wrong. So I just dug it out of storage and of course the fuel tank was empty so I cleaned it out and still had the 2.5 year old new nitro sitting around and it looked to be the same blue color as when I got it. i put in a new traxxas 3232x plug in which seems to be a medium heat (it was all the lhs had in stock)



So I charged everything up and got it running, however the temp outside is 32f ish. it started up fine with the old nitro. I ran it around for half temp but it wouldn’t even come to temperature. It was just chilling around 140f-180f ish. I tried leaning the HSN and I don’t really know if that helped. I let the fuel empty and I came back inside now.



I wanted to ask, is the low temps because of bad nitro? Or is it more about 32f being too cold?
when i was giving it wot it seemed to have hesitated and had low power



It doesn’t feel cold to me outside like I didn’t even wear gloves and I was fine. Like does maybe bad nitro end up causing low engine temps?



My only reason to get it running now wasn’t to bash. I just wanted to get it running just so maybe it would clean any gum or sludge in the engine because my plan is to store it properly so whenever i want to drive it in the next few years, it actually ends up starting.





Any idea?

 

[monstertruckier15]

Cold weather is not the best to run and leaning out the high needle is bad to. wait until it gets warmer.

 

[pelicanprentice]

Cold weather is not the best to run and leaning out the high needle is bad to. wait until it gets warmer.

thx my friend so i assume 32 was too cold eh

 

[monstertruckier15]

I don't start running outside nitro until 50+ degrees. Right now you can open a window and test run a little.

 

[Losi215]

I agree with the above posts. If it’s freezing out, you’ll never get it up to temp. Also, depending on how cold it was last time you ran it years ago, you will probably need to richen it. Cold weather has higher oxygen levels, therefore you would need to add more fuel and make it richer. It seems counterintuitive but it’s true. Now once the tune is correct and it runs good but probably too cold at the same time, you could wrap the cooling head with the ankle portion of an old sock or two, it will help it get up to temp but again, it can make your tune funny again because it’s artificial heat being held in and you would have to readjust the needles again when the outside temperature warms up. Either way, 32 degrees is super cold and it’s gonna be finicky.

 

[jv024899]

You can.

Wouldn't recommend it, though.

I generally wait until I see it's about 60 degrees out.

 

[monstertruckier15]

Running in cold weather below 32 degree's shortens engine life. The engines doesn't get up to operating temp making engine work harder and wear faster which can cause damage.

 

[olds97_lss]

If you keep it dry, you can wrap the cooling head with tin-foil to keep the heat in, or a baby sock top. However, running in cold usually means snow, and getting snow on the engine drops the temps fast which will be very difficult to tune. When I ran nitro's in the winter, I'd make a head wrap out of a bicycle innertube, then if it got wet, it didn't hold the moisture on the head as bad as a sock.

On some engines, I'd go so far as to cut some of the fins off the head for winter running and have an engine I'd only run in the winter that was already old and tired, and wrap it with a piece of innertube with a ziptie around it:

I also found that small blocks seemed to be less fussy with the cold, guessing it was due to less surface area:

In the early spring/late fall when the temps were below 50F and it was dry out, I'd use a baby sock top. That would block some of the air cooling the head and I could roll it up a bit if it was too much.

Just cut the ankle part off of these then you have a stretchy tube that will fit over the cooling head nicely:
https://www.amazon.com/Unisex-Baby-Toddler-Infants-Cotton-3-12months/dp/B08LPL1RGQ

 

[johnnydmd]

32 is just too cold IMO, I'd say 50 or warmer. You can use the tinfoil/sock tricks, but like some have pointed out it makes tuning tricky. I wouldn't use a good engine either, keep a beater around for days like that

 

[jv024899]

32 is just too cold IMO, I'd say 50 or warmer. You can use the tinfoil/sock tricks, but like some have pointed out it makes tuning tricky. I wouldn't use a good engine either, keep a beater around for days like that

I second the beater engine thing.

It's true.

 

[olds97_lss]

Yeah, I always ran engines I didn't care about in the winter and would switch them back out for the "good" engine in the spring.

 

[mrbones]

I have a Kyosho Nitro Blizzard that I run when we get snow. Put it out there and run it. It will love all the O2 in the air. It's not going to hurt it at all.