Just got my new buggy, a few questions.

[AC48]

Well I just got my new buggy, XTM X-Terminator, a few nights ago and I got it broken in just fine, but I have a few questions.

1) Tuning-I am not a newb but I am not an expert by no means, so I need some help. During the breakin I leaned it (XTM 24.7) 1/8th of a turn (hsn) after every short run, according to the book. But after a few times it began to shudder but not stall when it was in grass or if I gave it full throttle. So I guess my question is does that mean I am too lean? Because when it shudders if I richen it a little bit it runs good, but I don't know if it is max performance. Oh yeah, I don't have a temp gun but I will be getting one soon.

2)Fuel filter-How often (at all) do I have to clean the fuel filter?

3)Glow plug-I know that breakin is hard on glow plugs and I might be needing a new one soon, and suggestions? (XTM 24.7)

Thanks in advance for your help!!

 

[olds97_lss]

Well, it depends. It does sound like it may be a bit lean yet.

How much fuel have you ran through it? Some engines take a while before they are fully broken in regardless of what the manual says. I personally don't mess with the needles until I have at least a quart through it. Some engines, I go longer. By adjust, I mean leaning. The first thing I do with an engine when I buy it, is set the HSN and LSN to factory defaults myself, just in case they are off.

Get your temp gun, don't wait. I wouldn't run an engine anymore (especially for break in) without a good IR temp gun. It just isn't worth the risk of toasting an engine. Once I'm familiar with the sounds the "new" engine makes, I then normally tune by ear and sight. I use the temp gun for reference periodically. During break in, the temp gun is attached to my hand. I use the crap out of it due to the sensitive nature of a break in. Over heat a new engine a couple times before it's ready, and you may fry the sucker.

 

[Nitro_Freak]

how does the engine sound? if it sounds kinda erratic and doesn't make that much power then it's running rich. if it sounds really high yet smooth, and when you accelerate the truck "chokes" then you need to richen it. kinda hard to explain.

congrats on the buggy!!

btw, the engine manual really sucks on the 24.7. i just ran like 6 tanks through it leaning a bit each time. the manual says you ned to shut it off every 2-3 min, and run 30-45 min in all. mines been running great so far.

last thing, i don't have a temp gun, nor do i need it. if you know how to tune, then you can do it by ear, smoke coming from the pipe, performance, spit test, etc. temp guns are NOT neccessary imo

 

[AC48]

It did sound kind of rough the first time i started it, but the first time I leaned it sounded good, but the mannuel said to keep leaning it and started chocking so I richened a little and it runs fine. I've run about three tanks so far and i'm going to run a few more slowly and see how it goes. So what about the fuel filter and glow plugs? Thanks!

 

[olds97_lss]

To each his own on a temp gun. I just prefer having one. Like I said, once you get a good feel for the engine and how it sounds, a temp gun is just for reference.

As for a plug, I've found that a medium plug like the OS #8 works really well for 21 and larger engines. As for the filter, I really don't know. I guess it depends on where you drive. It's there to keep crap from going into your engine. If you get a lot of dirt in your tank, the check it more often. I honestly don't even look at mine except for when I change fuel lines. I guess that would be about every gallon or so.

 

[AC48]

Ok thanks, this thing is soo much fun, it gets even more air and flys better than my savage, its sweet. It handels great, got plently of power, its sweet!! I love it.

Anyway, I think you get the picture. So I don't even have to worry about it? Thats cool.

 

[Nitro_Freak]

that's awesome!! glad you like your new buggy

i just checked my fuel filter after maybe 3/4 gallon, and there wasn't even a speck of dirt on it, and i drive in dusty conditions. maybe i'm just careful when refueling

 

[olds97_lss]

A lot of these things have a brass filter built into the tanks as well.

 

[Çh®i§tiªñ]

Plugs can last 1 minute, 1 day or 1 month. So the key will be to keep an eye on it and check it before you go too extreme on tuning. So lets say you find yourself going a full quarter turn one way or the other and still no performance help, then look at the plug. Chances are its spent. If so, immediately go back to what the settings were before you started retuning it (that time). Another key element is the glo starter. I use a 1.5v dry cell and it works like a CHAMP! I've seen a handful of times where someone thought they had a plug or tuning issue because it wouldnt start easily and all it was was not enough juice to the plug.

Fuel filter?!? - if its in-line and in addition to the one on the tank then I would say oncea month depending on how often you run. The one in the tank should be doing the job.

Stay with that rich setting that was getting you around and run another 5 tanks or so without leaning it any more. THEN, start leaning it out a bit. You will be surprised. For me, break-in time is about 10-20 tanks before I am happy.

 

[AC48]

Ok thanks guys, I ran about three more tanks through it yesterday without a problem and I think i'll wait till I have a temp gun to be sure i'm not going overboard, but this thing flys already.

 

[vbgagnon]

Wait until you have about 1/2 - 1 gal in it. Most engines don't fully wake up until they have about this much in it and then they really scream! You'll love the buggy and the engine once you have it set up correctly.

 

[AC48]

So far I've put 1 to one and a half quarts trough it and it gets better everytime!!Thanks everyone I'll keep you posted on how it goes

 

[Nitro_Freak]

yep, the motor in this thing screams!! youi'll probably find yourself going through gas much faster since it's so much fun

 

[AC48]

Yeah, i've gone through a LOT more fuel than I usually do. I usually wait till I'm bored and go out and bash but with this thing I go out and run all the time!! Definetely the right one for me.

Heres some pics. Looks great!!(I felt like posting some)

 

[Nitro_Freak]

doesn't look like you've taken it off-road yet. trust me, if you think this thing is fun on road try taking if off-road. you'll be wetting your pants lol. i went to a baseball diamond a couple days ago that was incredibly boring with my rustler and had a blast with the buggy. it makes everything seem way funner than a mt or st

 

[AC48]

I have, but those pics were right when I took it out of the box. its a little dirtyer now

 

[Nitro_Freak]

ok good

 

[AC48]

Yeah, why would I keep it on road? lol. I've already got 10+ feet of air with it...I already said it flew better than my savage

Anyway, I just ordered the XTM cooling head and a Duratrax temp gun. I'm sick and tired of waiting a week for my parts so I got 2 day shipping I wanna test the temps with the old head and then put the new one on without changing tune and see how much it lowers the temps. I'll let you know how it turns out.

 

[cbreaker]

I clean my air filter after every hard day of racing. Depending on what kind of dirt is on the track, they can get dirty really quickly. I have one of those huge three-stage filters on there, and it barely fits under the lid. But it does, and I think it's worth it. My filter is a lot less dirty at the end of the day then some of the other guys with a single filter. (The three stages are: outer foam, dry. The screen. Inner foam, with filter oil on it.) I have four of the inner foams, as they are pretty cheap.

When the filter gets really dirty, the engine doesn't get as much air, and ends up running out of tune.

Without a temp gun on me, I usually tend to run the engine a little rich, just in case. I don't have enough experience with these things yet to wing it.

 

[AC48]

Yeah, I know when to clean my air filter, but I was wondering about fuel filters. The answer i got was about every gallon or two, is that what you do??

And yeah, right now I'm running rich (a lot of smoke puring out is how I tell).

And lastly, i'll let you guys know how much the new heatsink changes things!!