New to Nitro

[Zannex]

Good morning all.

Bought my first Nitro yesterday after running electric. Purchased a Slayer Pro 4X4. Am in the beginning stages of my break in, trying to do everything by the book. All settings are still at the factory settings.

The problem I'm having is, after the first tank of break in and letting it cool (actually over night because it got dark out), the truck will start up fine, but it will either stall out if no throttle is applied after about 10 seconds, or as soon as the throttle is applied it kills the engine.

If I start the engine with the throttle cracked just a hair, it will start up and keep running. But as soon as I let off the throttle, after about 10 seconds the engine dies again.

Again, I am new to the Nitro world, and am a patient man. I switched to Nitro because I like to work on things, and my other truck was hobbled by a buddy and his Slash 4X4.

I understand that weather can make these engines temperamental, and it's currently 48 degrees out. Is it too cold for the break in process?

Thanks for any advice you guys can give. This site is awesome.

-Zannex

 

[srbecker]

Good morning all.

Bought my first Nitro yesterday after running electric. Purchased a Slayer Pro 4X4. Am in the beginning stages of my break in, trying to do everything by the book. All settings are still at the factory settings.

The problem I'm having is, after the first tank of break in and letting it cool (actually over night because it got dark out), the truck will start up fine, but it will either stall out if no throttle is applied after about 10 seconds, or as soon as the throttle is applied it kills the engine.

If I start the engine with the throttle cracked just a hair, it will start up and keep running. But as soon as I let off the throttle, after about 10 seconds the engine dies again.

Again, I am new to the Nitro world, and am a patient man. I switched to Nitro because I like to work on things, and my other truck was hobbled by a buddy and his Slash 4X4.

I understand that weather can make these engines temperamental, and it's currently 48 degrees out. Is it too cold for the break in process?

Thanks for any advice you guys can give. This site is awesome.

-Zannex

It all depends on who you ask as far as the proper temperature to break in your new Nitro. I honestly broke mine in when it was 35 degrees outside and I just wrapped the head in aluminum foil. What your describing sounds like your low speed or idle screws are not set right, but you dont really want to mess with those too much until your engine is broken in. I am not sure what your factory settings are as all cars are different, but usually you screw the low speed needle in to be flush with the throttle arm and then back it out some, and the high speed needle you screw all the way in and back it out 2 full turns I believe it was. If you start from there and make adjustments after your 5th tank, you should be set. You also want to make sure your idle set screw (side of carb) leaves a 1mm gap when looking down the carb with the air filter off. Its hard to tell what your exact problem is at this point because the first couple tanks of gas are the hardest part of running a nitro. You may also want to check your glow plug as they have been known to foul out rather quickly throughout the break in process. I wish I could have helped you more but there are a lot of factors that could be causing it to stall out at such an early point (more likely glow plug or running too rich) but again, hard to tell.

 

[Greywolf74]

I would make sure your carb gap is about 1mm or close to it. I would take your tuning screw driver and turn both you HSN (high speed needle) and your LSN (low speed needle) all the way in making sure you count each full turn. Once the needle hits the bottom write down in your manual somewhere how many turns it took you to get to the bottom. This will just be for future reference. Check these numbers against what you manual says the needles should be set at. assuming they are close or basically the same reset the needles to the original stock positions. Having done that and checked your glow plug it should run but being thats it fairly cool outside you may need to put a sock ro some tinfoil around the head of the engine to help it hold in heat. Nitro engines dont like to run very well untill they are warmed up. If you have the same problem you may want to turn the throttle trim up just a tad until your engine gets up to around 180-200F or so then return it to normal. Your engine should run fine at that temp with no help.

You might also want to check into the heat cycle break in method if you havent already. Traxxas method is ok but heat cycling is better.
https://www.rcnitrotalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=42716

 

[Zannex]

Thanks for the replies and advice. I knew the first 5 or so tanks were rather difficult for Nitros, but I don't mind. I have all the time in the world.

My wife is setting up for a double lung transplant so I spend most of my time home with her and fiddiling with my toys. So it's nice to have something that I can take my time with and learn the ins and outs of. I'll try all this when I get back up to Durham, and I'll let you know how it all works out.

Oh, and I have already changed the glow plug due to the first one fouling out. I think I'll run her with some foil covering the cooling fins, and get a temp gun just to make sure the temps are where I need them.

Thanks all.

 

[Zannex]

Well, bottomed both the HSN and LSN and backed them out to factory settings, and it's running like a champ.

They were definately not at "factory settings" right out of the box. Not sure if that is common, or mine just got past the QA. Not a big deal, in just the few days I've had the Slayer, I've learned tons about the engine. Got her tuned now and she's awesome.

 

[MudSlinger33]

Yours was probably built on a Friday afternoon.

 

[Chucksolo69]

Glad you got your Slayer Pro up and running. I just broke in my Slayer Pro this past weekend and I can't believe how fast this thing is. I found that if you just keep the starter wand engaged a few seconds after the engine fires, the truck will stay idling on its own. The truck is awesome, although kind of difficult to drive at first if you are used to a nitro MT or buggy/truggy.