Droewa

Hello all

I just bought a used HPI savage x 4.6 off ebay. It's got a new engine, (im told) big bore shocks, BP Diffs, futaba s3305 servos on the throttle, break and steering. It also has a 2.4ghz radio. (Thanks to this forum I know what all this stuff means)

My plan before first run. (fuel comming via ups any day now) fix the body, clean the truck as best I can without taking it too far apart. Inspect for damaged and missing parts, replace or fix said parts, inspect engine for compression, test the glow plug and finally, blue (Not Red!) Thread locker on all screws that go Into metal. (Thanks to this forum I know how to do these things or that I even should.)

So far I have only gotten to the body and some minor inspection. The body was an utter wreck, cracks from the rear post holes, up the fear cab window, in all the rear facing corners as well. Was so bad when picked up, the body kind of jiggled. It's missing two screws that I noticed, Nothing major. The diffs seem good, the grease is a very bright blue. Electronics work well servos are fast and responsive. The wire on the reciever seems a bit short but the last RC I owned was in 1998. (An RC10T2) So maybe it comes that way. Its missing the antenna tube.

I haven't gotten to the engine yet but have fixed the body. Thanks to this site and YouTube. I have used the drywall fiberglass tape and shoegoo method to restored the body to a rigid protective shell it's supposed to be.

Will be completing the rest of my pre run tasks tomorrow. I just wanted to start a thread to say thanks to everyone for the Info and Invite any who would like to offer advice or ask any questions.

Droewa

OK I'm having a blast. Got some fuel and had a chance to fire this baby up. I've never had a nitro so tuning is all new to me.

I'm using torco 20% nitro 16% oil. The engine was idling a bit rough. After my first tuning attempt I got idle to a nice purr and top speed was nice. Slight hesitation durring acceleration. After a bit of reading I figured out my low speed neddle was set far too rich. I leanded it out 1/8 at a time an entire turn before a notice a dramatic increase in acceleration. I then when back through the high speed need adjustment steps then I tweaked low end once more. Smooth idle, quick responsive acceleration and it has a very loud yet smooth sound at the top end. I don't know if I'm still running too rich but I got a decent amount of smoke when I hit the gas and fuel drips out the exhaust opening. The temp here is about 38 degrees Fahrenheit.

I am having some problems. The big problem is the transmitter/receiver. It started to glitch out on me after I started to get the truck going. The electronics freeze up and will not respond to the remote for a moment, then it returns to normal. That made me pucker the first time it happened. Lucky I had the steering turned on ice so all it did was some crasy 360's till the radio regained control. It only seems to happen after about ten minutes of running in the snow. Could moisture be causing this? I'm thinking of wrapping my electronics in a plastic bag.

The second, is the transmission. Its not shifting I tried to adjust it with quarter turn increments. No change so I thought I would tighten the spring to gauge how far it was, one way or the other. Even after my previous adjusmets I could only tighten it down 3/4 of a turn before it stopped. I backed it out 1 full turn and will continue to try and get the shift point set properly.

-SomeGuy-

Hi and welcome to the forum.

For starters, 16% oil is to high, 12% seems to be the happy medium. Higher oil percentages make it harder to tune and reduces performance.

As for the TX and RX you might have gotten something wet. You're lucky it didn't run off on you, do you have a failsafe? If not get one asap. There a few way to waterproof the electronics, do a search. One of the more interesting ways I remember hearing of was to plasti-dip the servos but balloons would work as well.

As for the tranny if you have a 3 speed then you need to open it up ti change the 2-3 shift (if memory serves) you can only adjust the 1-2 shift from the outside. Sometimes the shift point is set so low that it goes into 2nd right away and thats why you never hear it shifting. You can find a manual on the HPI site if you don't have one, shows how to adjust it, open it and so on. And are you sure you're turning the right screw? There are two of them right next to each other.

Droewa

The closest hobby shop to me is an hour away one way. So I ordered this fuel online. It was 34 bucks for a gallon and free shipping. Its the best deal i could find. The higher oil content will be safer for a noob?

The RX has a built in fail safe. I set it and tested it, works good. If I shut off the TX the car hits the breaks right away.

I got some plastidip and gave the servos a few nice coats. Once dry, I reinstalled and just jammed the servo arms over the PD coating. I also put a tiny bit around the bottom of the screw heads that attach the servo arms. then i hooked everything up and coated the RX in plastiDip, Let dry, removed unwanted PD. Havant tested it yet. I'm working many hours so its too late to run so I have wait for my next break for that.

I haven't messed with the transmission yet. I am almost certain its a two speed. I'll double check the manual. Also I'll make sure I'm turring the right screws LoL

Thanks for the help and the reply.greatly appreciated.

SyCo_VeNoM

if that engine was new I hope you broke it in properly before tuning, and slamming on the accelerator.


Also here is a tip to make engines last longer take the glow plug out and rotate the flywheel till the piston is as low as it can go in the sleeve. Then mark the flywheel on the very bottom with a permanent marker. After every run make sure that mark is on the bottom so the piston is at the bottom of the engine.

Droewa

Still haven't gotten the tranny sorted out, its too dark when I get home, that I'll mess with this weekend.

Took some pics of my waterproofing. I added a balloon, the receiver is coated in plasti dip withe the balloon stretched around it. I don't plan on driving through a lake but I don't want to worry about water either. Post pics when I get home tonight.

Yes I asked the seller about engine break in. He told me it was broke in by his local hobby shop. I have already marked the flywheel and I make sure that it's @ BDC after every run. Just to be on the safe side I did run two tanks through it at about half throttle before I tried tuning or anything. It seems to be good. The seller was spot on about the condition of the truck in every way that I can tell. I don't have a clue how to inspect these engines for proper break in so I guess I will take his word for it.

savage dust bunny

If the seller did not mention it is a 3sp tranny, then I would expect it's the std 2sp. No big deal, the truck will still be a low-flying beast. But yeah, sometimes you can hardly hear the gear switch coz it happens so soon - try and put the truck on a box with the wheels not touching anything, then hold it with one hand while you press the throttle with the other, do it slowly until you hear the gear switch. It may help you adjust the gears, if necessary, easier.

After each drive, do a quick check of the screws, specially those on the TVPs as the vibrations can cause them to come loose, threadlock or not! Also remember to check the motor mount screws.

Personally I used 25% nitro on my 4.6 so it also runs cooler, but with your winter temps it may not be so necessary at the moment.

Enjoy and upload some pics of the monster