When you are having difficulties getting
your nitro RC car engine to start here are eight things to check and get you up
and driving in no time.
1. Check the obvious. Is there fuel in
the tank? Is the fuel makin its way into the carburetor? When you prime the
tank is fuel making it into the carb? Is your glow plug ignitor maing a firm
connection with the glow plug?
2. Check the plug. Lack of ignition could
be from either a bad plug or a low battery in your ignitor. To test the plug
unscrew the glow plug and place it n the glow ignitor. The coils near the tip
of the plug should be red like the ones inside the plug. If the coils at the
tip are not as bright as the ones farther inside the plug you may have a bad
plug. Toss the bad one and buy a new one. If all the coils appear to be
glowing, but are very dim, then your ignitor batteries might just need a
charge. When you reinstall a new or old plug make sure the copper washer is in
place on the plug. If the old washer is one that you have socked down tight,
replace it to make sure the seal is good. You can use a small amount of grease
o hold the copper washer in place. Tilt the car on its side so the washer stays
on the plug when you are installing it.
3. Check the pressure situation. If you
are running an old engine, remove the glow plug and try turning the engine over
by moving the flywheel with your finger . You should feel resistance to your
movement as the engine's piston reaches the top of the stroke. If the flywheel
spins freely with no resistance, you should replace piston and sleeve. (Break
in the new piston and sleeve slowly at a rich setting to ensure proper
lubrication and seating of the new parts.) On new engines, compression should
not be a factor unless you have torn the engine apart. Just the lack of
compression can keep your engine from starting; to much compression can keep
the engine from starting and also do some damage. To much fuel being introduced
into the engine usually causes to much compression, also known as flooding the
engine. To relieve the pressure, remove the glow plug and turn the vehicle over
to spill the fuel out of the engine. Reinstall the plug and try again. The
cause of flooding is from overpriming the engine. If you have a pump on your
tank, don't over prime it. Once you see fuel traveling through the fuel line
and into the carb, stop. Don't keep pressing the primer. The same goes for
placing your finger over the pipe and turning the engine over. Once fuel makes
it into the carb your priming duty is finished.
4. Check your needle settings. Finding
the perfect needle setting can mean the difference between and engine that
won't start and one that screams along in perfect tune. Most engines have a
high speed and low speed needle. Some RTR kits come with engine's that have a
single high speed needle. These needles determine the ratio of fuel to air
entering the engine. A high amount of fuel than air will cause the engine to
run rich. A high amount of air to fuel will cause the engine to run lean. When
the engine is running to rich it will not keep running and stall, or just not
start at all. If an engine is to lean, it will start, but will begin to
accelerate while idling and eventually overheat. If you are having trouble getting
your engines to start grab your instruction manual and see what the recommneded
needle settings are. You should see a setting like "two and half turns out
on the high end". This means screw the high speed needle in until it stops
(not super tight, just until it stops). Then back it out two and a half turns.
Meaning the line on the needle has come around two and a half times from when
the needle was all the way in. If the needle settings are as prescribed in the
manual and the engine still doesn't wnat to start, try leaning the high speed
needle a quarter turn at a time until the engine fires up, the back the needle
back out to the recommended placement.
5. Check your carb opening. For your
engine to start and run it needs a sufficient flow of air. That means that your
engine's carb should be partially open when set at idle, and open futher when
you go to start it. If this is not the case your engine might flood itself and
not start. The carb opening should be at least at one quarter open if you want
the engine to start quickly. Double check that there are no kinks in the tubing
used to hold the air filter in place or being used as an exhaust diverter.
6. Check your clutch. If the wheels are
spinning when you are pulling the starter or trying to turn it over, you have
got problems. In order for your engine to start it needs to be free of any load
on initial start up. If the clutch shoes are hung up, they wil place drag on
the engine, keeping the engine from coming to life. Your vehicle's clutch bell
should be able to spin independent of the engine's flywheel. If this is not the
case or you notice the wheels beginning to spin when you have the the car on
the starter box, pulling the pull start, or hitting the starter trigger, you
might have a broken clutch spring or problem with your clutch. Break out your
manual and get to wrenching.
7. Check your engine rebuild. If an
engines head is not installed correctly and fastened properly, your engine will
not start. When putting the head back on make sure to cross tighten any bolt
patterns. Check your engine rebuild against the manual. Make sure that you have
the correct length and size screws back in the right holes. Double check that
the carburetor is secured tightly to the engine. If things where left loose, there
will usually be some evidence such as fuel or oil around the leak.
8. Check your fuel freshness. If you
have a tendency to leave you fuel bottle with the cap off, or pour old fuel
back into you fuel jug, you most likely have ruined your fuel. Fuel is alcohol
based and hydrophilic. This means that the ingredients in fuel absorb water; in
fact they absorb water out of thin air. If you leave a large gallon container
open in normal or humid conditions, that gallon of fuel can be ruined in about
an hour. Water absorbed into the fuel rendering it useless. Your engine might
be able to run with contaminated fuel, but you engine will fail to tune
correctly and you could possibly damage your engine.
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