New Kit

[rossb]

I started it today for the first time. It started right up without any problems and it ran great. I heat cycled it at a low idle for about 4 tanks and it did not even stall once. I had no problems restarting it after allowing it to cool while heat cycling.

I drove it at low speeds with very rich setting for another 5 tanks. The glow plug still looks brand new. This motor is much easier to start than my big blocks. It requires much less pull pressure than my big blocks. The pull starter should last a very long time. The motor is much, much quieter than my Savage. I can actually drive it in front of the house without worrying about upsetting the neighbors.

The car obviously handles much differently than my Savage. It turns and brakes very well. The motor was too rich to make any RPM or power so I am not sure how fast it runs yet. It did seem to rip very fast when it got lean for the last few seconds of the fuel tank. The clutch appears to allow a good amount of RPM before engaging, more than the 3-shoe clutch in my Savage. The run time with this small fuel tank is much less than the run time I get with my Savage. Hopefully my run time increases significantly when I lean it out.

 

[Revo Rancher]

rossb:

Let me ask you this;

Like you, I broke mine in last night for 4 tanks while sitting up on a block as recommended in the manual. The whole time it idled high and sputtered, but engine performance at idle was slowly improving. I attributed the sputtering to the extremely rich settings. While it was going through these four tanks all the wheels were spinning. If I hit the brake to stop the wheels it would die after about 2-3 seconds.

Today I did 4 more tanks on top of the block, wheels still spinning. If I tried to reduce the idle or stop the wheels, it died.

Do you think I installed the clutch shoes backward? Any ideas?

I did lean the mixture very slightly as it would not hold an idle it soo rich. Got the idle smoother. You should have seen the crap that flowed out of the pipe when I held it sidewise. BTW, temps on tanks 6-8 were over 200F.

 

[rossb]

>>If I hit the brake to stop the wheels it would
>>die after about 2-3 seconds.

Idle speed screw set too low, or your LSN is too rich.


>>Today I did 4 more tanks on top of the block,
>>wheels still spinning. If I tried to reduce the idle
>>or stop the wheels, it died.

The LSN might be too rich. It is a common mistake to set the LSN too rich and open up the idle speed screw to compensate. To back to the factory settings.


>>Do you think I installed the clutch shoes backward?

I doubt it. If the cluth was installed backwards it would never engage and it would not spin the wheels.

>>temps on tanks 6-8 were over 200F.

My temps are much lower. Go back to the factory settings. You might want to consider sealing the backplate and the carb. I did.

I opened mine up in a large parking lot today and I got it into second gear. This thing is very, very fast. It also has a lot of torque and it pulls hard. I drove the 18ss and my Savage Picco 26 back to back in the lot. The Savage felt slow, sluggish, sloppy, loud, and very heavy compared to the RS4. It is a huge difference between the two vehicles, they are both fun. The Savage spends a lot of time riding wheelies and turning up on two side wheels. The RS4 18ss just rips and it does awesome power slides and donuts.

 

[Revo Rancher]

Well, shortly after I posted my questions I yanked out the engine and took apart the clutch bell assmebly. Turns out that one of the clutch springs had popped off and this was allowing the clutch to engage freely.

That solved the wheels spinning issue.

I then leaned out the LSN to the point it was running smooth. Turns out the factory setting was way off. I then richened it enough to where the temps stabilized at about 136 at idle, and then toyed with the HSN until I could get full power and acceleration, and reacceleration, without stalling.

I still plan to seal the carb and backplate as I see a little weeping coming from the carb so if fuel is getting out at the carb base that means air is getting in.

Once the thing was tuned I could keep it in tune by making small adjustments to the HSN. It hit second gear real easy. Wish I had the 18ss motor!

 

[rossb]

Did you install the HPI 10mm high flow filter (MotorSaver). That would also lean it out to the point where the factory settings might be ok for break-in.

With respect to the motor, the OS 18 CVR-X is only about $99 @ Towerhobbies. That motor should be in the same league as the HPI 18ss. You could probably sell the 12ss motor on eBay. Keep in mind that the 18 motors are not ROAR legal. One thing for sure is the 18ss runs really good. It starts immediately hot or cold and it refuses to stall or flame out. It is a pleasure to deal with. My S-25 and my Picco 26 are a bit more difficult to deal with.

Let me know if you want to get rid of that Firebird.

 

[Revo Rancher]

Rossb:

I went to my local LHS today to look into getting tires (saw your other thread) and the motorsaver filter. They told me it takes an 11mm filter, but they did not have one with the 45 bend. I noticed yours per your link was a 10mm. Any ideas why they suggested 11mm?

 

[rossb]

According to HPI your Motor takes the same filter I am using. See here:

http://www.hpiracing.com/graphics/instr/1626-7_12rss/1626-1_pg2.jpg
http://www.hpiracing.com/kits/nitro3typess/nitro3-op.htm
http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/WTI0095P?FVSEARCH=72175&FVPROFIL=++

 

[Revo Rancher]

OK, went to a different LHS and got the 10mm with 45 degree neck. Looks and fits great. Thanks for the tip. Now to run it and see how much it leans it out. I presume it leans the HSN most?!?

Oh, and it keeps raining here (SoCal) so I got bored last weekend and I painted up the body. Got new rims and tires, too, to make it look more snazzy. Came out pretty good. When I can get to the dig cam I will snap a few photos and post them.