Need Pico .26 Red Dot Exhaust Manifold

[truggy83]

I recently purchased a revo with a Picco .26 red dot engine installed. When I started it up I noticed it was very loud. I looked and saw the exhaust manifold that is on there wasn't screwed to the engine. It was held in place with a spring which hooked on the manifold on two sides and went around the engines cooling head. It appears like alot of exhaust is leaking at this spot as it is not tight. I want to replace this manifold with something else. I see on the picco engine there is 4 bolt holes in which an exhaust manifold can be screwed in. The way it is set up, there is a rear mounted exhaust pipe in the stock location. I was wonder what manifold I could get that is compatible with this Picco engine. Would a standard traxxas 3.3 manifold work? I want it to be able to bolt up snugly and I want to keep the exhaust in the same spot on the rear.

 

[NitroRC4Life]

It is very common for an engine to have an exhaust that is mounted to it by a spring. One reason it is so loud is because it is a different motor and your just not used to it. But also, did the exhaust come with a small rubber seal that goes around the exhaust manifold right on the motor? If not, you should buy one as that will seal the manifold and most likely tone it down a little.

 

[frickenjoey]

+1. Don't go with the stock header, all it will do is choke out the engine. The spring mount headers are far superior to the Traxxas screw mount. They allow a bit of adjusment room for your exhaust and if it takes a hit it flexes rather than running the risk of cracking the header or even worse the engine case. It sounds to me like your exhaust gasket is shot. It is a $1.50 part, change that out and if you still have problems let us know. I mean if you are still not sold I will trade you a stocker or two for it but you will be getting short changed IMO.

 

[truggy83]

even with the gasket on there is a decent size gap between the exhaust manifold and the outlet pipe on the engine. It is almost like the size exhaust pipe is too big.

 

[truggy83]

This looks like the exhaust pipe that is on it right now. Or it is something very similar. That silver washer type thing with the holes in it pictured is not on my system. http://buy.traxxas.com/product_info.php?products_id=2945&osCsid=a386dfpaggcnu5b9lagpok9ln5 Where can I get replacement gaskets that will work?

 

[truggy83]

from what I understand the pipe that is on there must be for a big block engine. The stub that sticks out of the pico engine is smaller than the hole for the manifold. A lot smaller. Even with the exhaust gasket piece on the manifold can move around. I have heard about people putting a big block muffler on the .26 which is supposed to increase power but this still has the Traxxas Chrome tuned pipe on it. I don't know if there would be any gains from using a BB manifold but SB pipe.

 

[truggy83]

alright here is what I did to test a theory. I cut a piece off an old exhaust diverter and put it around the exhaust outlet nipple. I used this as a makeshift gasket as it was atleast bigger and a little more tighter than the gasket that was originally on it. That took up more slack than the gasket that came on. I cut some links off the spring hoping it would make it hold tighter to the engine. I tested it out and by jesus that thing was just as loud as it was when I got it. I know nitros are noisey and everything, I have 4 nitro powered cars some with 3.3's but this thing was deafening.

Pinching the exhaust diverter on the pipe quickly and you could hear exhaust leaking out the manifold. Even just running it, you could tell almost as much of the noise as was coming out the diverter tip was coming out around the engine.

I took a traxxas 3.3 exhaust manifold off my nitro 4 tec to do a quick test. I used the traxxas orange gasket and mounted the traxxas manifold onto the engine with two screws. I hooked the pipe that was on the truck the whole time a traxxas chrome R pipe and ziptied everything tight at the connections. Started it up and it was now a lot quieter.

The engine was almost as quiet as my 3.3's. One major thing I also noticed. Loss of power. With the other manifold that was leaking the car was popping wheelies all the time. With the non leaking manifold the car was sluggish and lacked power.

Here is my questions, I see that Joey said that a stock pipe and I assume a traxxas style pipe will choke out the engine and not make as much power. Should I just keep that big block pipe that came on it and try to find the right gaskets? and if so what gasket will I need? Do I need a BB to SB conversion gasket or something like that I assume? Would running a manifold that is not leaking cause the car to run a lot richer and loose power? Do you think if I kept the traxxas manifold on and leaned the HSN out it would gain most of it's power back and run like it did with the leaky pipe? My research shows that most people with .26's like to run BB exhaust systems on their revos as they net the most power. I am assuming since traxxas doesn't make a BB exhaust system that the chrome R racing pipe is not a BB pipe. So running a BB manifold into a SB pipe would be hindering it's performance anyways. Should I just get a new BB pipe/manifold combo and if so what is a good kind for the .26 red dot?

Sorry for all the questions I am new to this and definitely new to the Picco engine. I want something that I can rear mount like the stock exhaust is but I want the Picco to have a lot of power like it should. I will post a few videos up with the leaky exhaust and with the traxxas manifold on so you can see the difference.

 

[truggy83]

here I show the pipe that came on it and how I rigged the traxxas manifold up. Ignore what I say about the engine running at 140 with the traxxas manifold on. The temp sensor on the telemetry must have came loose and was not reading right. Actual temps are around 190. I leaned the engine out a little with the traxxas manifold on and it gained some power but was close to running too lean. What should I do? Please help.

 

[NitroRC4Life]

IMO I've seen plenty of people on here with the picco .26 jl red dot and I think the most popular exhaust that is used is the Ofna 086. I'm pretty sure they sell it on amainhobbies if you wanna check it out.

 

[truggy83]

is that a side mount exhaust? I would like to keep the exhaust in the rear so it keeps the nitro off the truck and I like the muffler on the back