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Overheating and Poor Performance

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Kurtis916

RCTalk Rookie
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Near San Jose
RC Driving Style
  1. Bashing
metalhead matt already gave me a possible reason why my t-maxx may be overheating from there being an air leak somewhere, but is there any other problem it might be becides that? cause i know its not too lean cause its beyond rich from factory settings and tons of smoke comes out. also i can't wheelie or anything and i thought its supposed to be fairly easy.
 
Its probably an air leak, but check to make sure it rolls smoothly also. Is your brake dragging, bad bearing, etc.....
 
metalhead matt already gave me a possible reason why my t-maxx may be overheating from there being an air leak somewhere, but is there any other problem it might be becides that? cause i know its not too lean cause its beyond rich from factory settings and tons of smoke comes out. also i can't wheelie or anything and i thought its supposed to be fairly easy.

Tons of smoke but overheating? Give us some detailed info like outside temp, glow plug selection, fuel, exhaust setup etc. How are you driving it? Are you racing across tall grass back and forth repeatedly at full throttle? Got a body with no cutouts to let air in? Will it idle when it gets real hot? Did you overtighten one of the needles when you turned them in? My friend blew one of my 3.3's that was tuned perfectly by just working it too hard in tall grass. Don't be suprised if it only wants to wheelie once in a while, mine was a real pain in stock form.
 
Is this a 2.5 maxx or 3.3 maxx?

My 2.5 maxx never wheelied and my 2.5 revo would wheelie once in a while, but required low gearing, removal of excess weight and a heck of a pipe. Then I could get it to wheelie pretty easy on grass, but rarely on pavement.

Regardless, TRX 2.5/3.3 engines are known for leaking quite a bit. Sealing the back plate and carb neck with RTV is pretty much a go-to right when it comes out of the box before firing it up the first time. Saves some headache down the line.

If you have a lot of smoke and it's still overheating, then you either have excess drag, are geared too tall for your environment/tires/engine, too little of air flow to cool it or an air leak.
 
Tons of smoke but overheating? Give us some detailed info like outside temp, glow plug selection, fuel, exhaust setup etc. How are you driving it? Are you racing across tall grass back and forth repeatedly at full throttle? Got a body with no cutouts to let air in? Will it idle when it gets real hot? Did you overtighten one of the needles when you turned them in? My friend blew one of my 3.3's that was tuned perfectly by just working it too hard in tall grass. Don't be suprised if it only wants to wheelie once in a while, mine was a real pain in stock form.

I'm driving it on the road. no offroad cause I'm trying to tune it. its about 60 outside, umm idk what the glow plug is, I'm using 20% traxxas top fuel, reg exhaust with a little blue exhaust deflection tip thing. and I'm even driving it with the body off. it wont idle when it gets hot. i dont think i over titened the needle, i closed it untill it got a bit harder to turn then went to factory settings and even richened it then.

ooh and its a brand new 3.3 (fully broken in)
 
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I'm driving it on the road. no offroad cause I'm trying to tune it. its about 60 outside, umm idk what the glow plug is, I'm using 20% traxxas top fuel, reg exhaust with a little blue exhaust deflection tip thing. and I'm even driving it with the body off. it wont idle when it gets hot. i dont think i over titened the needle, i closed it untill it got a bit harder to turn then went to factory settings and even richened it then.

ooh and its a brand new 3.3 (fully broken in)

Well there is still a chance there's a piece of dirt in the carb but it's probably an air leak. when you put your carb back on make sure you push it down tight with your finger prior to tightening the pinch bolt. If you don't know what a glow plug is then it's time to get one. It's in the top of the motor where the blue wire hooks on. Get a couple of them, they only last a little while plus the break in usually ruins them. I'm fresh out of ideas for now, so good luck, hope you figure it out, and have fun!!
 
Well there is still a chance there's a piece of dirt in the carb but it's probably an air leak. when you put your carb back on make sure you push it down tight with your finger prior to tightening the pinch bolt. If you don't know what a glow plug is then it's time to get one. It's in the top of the motor where the blue wire hooks on. Get a couple of them, they only last a little while plus the break in usually ruins them. I'm fresh out of ideas for now, so good luck, hope you figure it out, and have fun!!

well i know what a glow plug is :P I'm not that new. i just can't remember what brand it is. ok i got up and found it. brand of glow plug is odonnell ss med/high 5-20%
 
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