is it possible to tune a engine to not overheat when bashing in grass areas?

[Arrmajunk]

hey all, i got a savage x and i believe i am decent in my abilities to tune the engine with my temp gun. when i am tuning on pavement, i can get it at a good temp range that i like and i barely have to move the needle. however whenever i play in a grass field (grass is probably 6 inches high i would say?) the temps easily get in the 300f range or above pretty easily. i have tried richening it but then it ends up getting sluggish and or still stays pretty hot. i couldnt seem to get it a good temp. is this just due to the nature of playing in grass? or does my engine probably have a leak or something?

so my question is, if i strictly wanted to bash in grass and i wanted to tune my engine for that, would it be possible to find a needle setting that would not make my engine get past 260f for example? or is grass just too hard on the motors such that they overheat regardless?

thanks!

Easiest way would be to make the engine run richer .

 

[Greywolf74]

Easiest way would be to make the engine run richer .

Did you miss the part in the OPs post where he said he already tried running rich?

 

[pelicanprentice]

hey all, so after changing my exhaust gasket, making sure everything was sealed and tight, i also did the uniflow tank mod, unscrewing hsn and applying green slime. tried the 48t and 14t combo.

i gave it a run today. this time it wasn't completely overheating, it did get better. temps stayed under 280f. it seems like the uniflow is working and preventing htl.

280 is still a bit hot but i noticed my hsn was barely screwed in.

i remember when i used to bash with my truck 1-2 years ago, the hsn would atleast be turned in 1-2 full turns. however that was on pavement

i also noticed i was like 1/4 of a screw turn between being too rich and groggy and not shifting into second and shifting into second with good amount of power. is this a normal scenario?

still want to get the temps a little lower or is it probably not possible since the grass is a bit too thick?

i attached a video, this wasn't the best tune i had. the video was taken when it was a tad too rich because it didnt seem to go into second and seemed a bit sluggish. the grass is short but its very thick so it does have some resistiance compared to a soccer field or something..

what do u guys think of the engine noise? sound normal? and is that a good amount of smoke? it was a wot run
WOT RUN GRASS (make sure u unmute it to hear the audio)

sorry for all the q I'm a noob

thx!

 

[cbaker65]

hey all, so after changing my exhaust gasket, making sure everything was sealed and tight, i also did the uniflow tank mod, unscrewing hsn and applying green slime. tried the 48t and 14t combo.

i gave it a run today. this time it wasn't completely overheating, it did get better. temps stayed under 280f. it seems like the uniflow is working and preventing htl.

280 is still a bit hot but i noticed my hsn was barely screwed in.

i remember when i used to bash with my truck 1-2 years ago, the hsn would atleast be turned in 1-2 full turns. however that was on pavement

i also noticed i was like 1/4 of a screw turn between being too rich and groggy and not shifting into second and shifting into second with good amount of power. is this a normal scenario?

still want to get the temps a little lower or is it probably not possible since the grass is a bit too thick?

i attached a video, this wasn't the best tune i had. the video was taken when it was a tad too rich because it didnt seem to go into second and seemed a bit sluggish. the grass is short but its very thick so it does have some resistiance compared to a soccer field or something..

what do u guys think of the engine noise? sound normal? and is that a good amount of smoke? it was a wot run
WOT RUN GRASS (make sure u unmute it to hear the audio)

sorry for all the q I'm a noob

thx!

Is the spur gear adjusted right ,an your clutch shoes good?
It sounds to me there is a little slippage going on!

 

[pelicanprentice]

Is the spur gear adjusted right ,an your clutch shoes good?
It sounds to me there is a little slippage going on!

yeah i think i got the mesh pretty good. slipper clutch/spur is tightened fully and backed off 1/4 turn. shoes still have plenty of life. popped in new bearings
do u think maybe the slip your noticing is just from the bumpy train and the truck is jumping a tiny bit?


this could be related or not related but when i shut her down for the day, i noticed that there was a stick in that slipper/clutch bell area, i dont know if it was interfering but i pulled it out from that area, could be a possibility.

 

[cbaker65]

yeah i think i got the mesh pretty good. slipper clutch/spur is tightened fully and backed off 1/4 turn. shoes still have plenty of life. popped in new bearings
do u think maybe the slip your noticing is just from the bumpy train and the truck is jumping a tiny bit?


this could be related or not related but when i shut her down for the day, i noticed that there was a stick in that slipper/clutch bell area, i dont know if it was interfering but i pulled it out from that area, could be a possibility.

On my Mgt ,I usually set my spur differently on different terrains ,if I do street running ,I back the tension
up a little ,then if I went to dirt area ,I tighten it up all the way ,an back off about an 1/8 turn!

But running it rich in high grass may still over heat ,an it not shift ,you could be over loading the engine
an creating heat!
I asked about the clutch ,because if the clutch is slipping ,it will create some heat ,also ,clutches can be good ,
but if the inside of the bell had glazed up can still cause slippage ,therefore ,it is good to scuff up the inside
of the bell with some sandpaper or emery cloth!

If your tune is pretty good ,it shouldnt over heat ,but high grass may be the cause too ,try a couple passes
on the street an see if you notice temp changes!

 

[pelicanprentice]

thanks for the help! i did some videos with the tune at what i felt was good with the temps. it was around 250f on this thick grass. how does it sound in this video?

(theres two videos so clikc the arrow to switch to the 2nd video and make sure to unmute)

https://imgur.com/a/sDFCH2V

thanks!

 

[Greywolf74]

Running through grass is hard on RCs. Takes a lot of extra torque to move the kit that it doesn't have to deal with on virtually any other surface. If you can't make your pinion any smaller or make your spur gear any bigger then you may not be able to find a tune that works without overheating eventually. Also 280F isnt the worst thing. Depending on the engine you are using some of them run just fine at 280F. I wouldnt recommend running over that to much but if it never gets hotter than 280F you may be good, again depending on the engine.

The videos look and sound fine to me with the exception of I'm not hearing it shift into second but that may be because its not able to get going fast enough in the grass to get to the shift point.

 

[cbaker65]

That is some rough grass!
I noticed that the truck emits a lot of smoke At the take off ,appears that
it is loading up off throttle or at idle too much ,I would think that your
LSN needs to be a little more leaner!
If it does ,then your engine struggles to burn the eccessive fuel off from
inside the block!

 

[pelicanprentice]

thanks so much! this seems to be my fav place to bash and i want to upgrade my motor for this exact area. looking at the thick grass now and how my engine reacts. would you still think something like a big red has enough power for this or would i have to go with a 32?

i will for sure look into making my spur gear a 52. currently its a 48 but i guess i need bigger. clutch is 14 so its pretty small.

yeah if i lean it out a bit more it will shift and if i go on some smaller grass it shifts, i think i just have to move my shift point back a bit since the grass is thick.

sounds good! i have my lsn around the flush setting so ill for sure take a look at that. btw does throttle trim even matter? like is it bad to have a high throttle trim? cuz i have mine set high.

 

[cbaker65]

thanks so much! this seems to be my fav place to bash and i want to upgrade my motor for this exact area. looking at the thick grass now and how my engine reacts. would you still think something like a big red has enough power for this or would i have to go with a 32?

i will for sure look into making my spur gear a 52. currently its a 48 but i guess i need bigger. clutch is 14 so its pretty small.

yeah if i lean it out a bit more it will shift and if i go on some smaller grass it shifts, i think i just have to move my shift point back a bit since the grass is thick.

sounds good! i have my lsn around the flush setting so ill for sure take a look at that. btw does throttle trim even matter? like is it bad to have a high throttle trim? cuz i have mine set high.

If you lean the Lsn in a tad ,you might notice a little higher idle rev ,all you do ,is to back off on the
idle set screw to idle it back down ,you would also notice a more snappier take off!...

 

[Greywolf74]

looking at the thick grass now and how my engine reacts. would you still think something like a big red has enough power for this or would i have to go with a 32?

Id look for the engine with the biggest HP I could find that will fit. Generally bigger displacement will have more horses and more torque which will be able to move your kit through that rough grass easier. If you try to run on smooth surfaces you'll probably give up some RPMs with a .32 over a .28 (Big red is a .28 I think?) to make more torque but if thats the terrain you're going to be bashing on most of the time then that is likely to be what I would try.