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ORIGINAL: Kristoffer_E

My volcano's engine was not broken in properly, as it locked up really bad on the first tank, and the I couldn't fix it.  The next day I left on a 2 week camping trip and the engine sat full of fuel.  Its been jumped into a river, ran forever with no fuel filter, lived its first few months with no after run oil, and generally abused.  Inside, the piston and cylinder don't have any visible scratches/blemishes.  It has some orange crap I thought was corrosion from the fuel, but I've since been told its just oil residue and nothing to worry about.  The engine starts up, and seems to have good power, but it will sometimes flame out at idle and be nearly impossible to restart.  When this happens the engine seems to have no compression (pull start just unrolls with little tension, but you can see the flywheel go round), and if I let it cool for 5-10 min and then restart, it fires up and runs nicely.  I've been told this means the engine is worn out (poor compression at operating temp), but the problem is sporadic.  Today I did some nice high speed runs, over 2 tanks worth, and it worked no problem.  Then, I had the dreaded flame-out, cooled the engine, and got going again after blistering my fingers on the pull start.  I'd say its tuning, but as far as I can tell its running on the rich side, so I don't know why it would act like it is overheating.  Any opinions on the motor?  Would putting up a video of the sound be helpful?

Also, I have the HPI A886 clutch shoes: http://www.activepowersports.com/product_images/n/184/hpic3886__37111_zoom.jpg
 with the stock redcat bell, and something is slipping like crazy.  On a 15 degree sand incline I floored the throttle from a standstill, and nothing happened.  The engine revved up pretty high, but the truck failed to move.  The acceleration is also crap, even in loose sand it won't spin the wheels, even though I can hear the engine hit max RPM in seconds.  I have the 44T direct drive tranny in it, so there is no slipper clutch to worry about.  The shoes are pretty new, so I don't know what is going on.  Is it possible for the inside of the clutch bell to be worn too smooth, or is that not an issue?  Would aluminum shoes help with the slipping, or an I better off with a different material?  The plastic redcat shoes seem to suck, but I don't know what to replace them with since the HPI ones seem to be even worse.

For lower gearing, I'm looking at a 13 tooth HPI bell, here: http://www.hpieurope.com/piw.php?lang=en&partNo=77103
If I could get down to 12 or even 11 teeth, I'd be tempted to try, but I don't know what kinds of bells will fit the Volcano.  I'm assuming the Savage bells will fit, but I'm not sure.  Any suggestions?

As to the clutch, I'm hoping aluminum shoes will grab harder than the teflon, and maybe not suck as bad.  I don't know what kinds of aluminum clutches will fit, other than the redcat one here: http://www.urchobby.com/proddetail.php?prod=02048M
Recommendations?

Thanks,

Kristoffer

EDIT:
Would this Integy clutch shoe set perform any better than the redcat, or are they basically the same thing?  http://h1070530.hobbyshopnow.com/products/description.asp?prod=INTT3626
Also, how would I tell which (if any) of these clutch bells would fit my truck?

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As far as the clutch shoes go, the plastic one's will give you great grip, I would stick with those.  I'm not sure about the integy one's, but the HPI clutch shoes are almost identical.  The Savage clutch bells will fit your Volcano .  You have the SH .18 right?  I know it fits the SH engine, not sure about the VX engine.  I run these clutch bells on my Tornado.  I am using an HPI 18t Savage bell right now on it.

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You said it's just reving on an incline.  Does it drive fine on flat ground?  It could be a number of things.  Besides the possibility of the clutch shoes, are your center dog bones slipping at the diffs?  Check your grub screws.  Do you have a stripped diff?  Is it reving under any condition - stripped spur gear?

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ORIGINAL: Kristoffer_E

Hmm, ok.  How many teeth would I want on the clutch bell to compensate for the increased gearing?  Is 12 sufficiently low, or should I try to fit a 49T  or even bigger spur gear into the Shockwave tranny in addition to a smaller clutch bell?  ie. a savage spur or something?

I figured it was geared a little high, but if that's the problem, its CRAZY high.

Thanks for your help,

Kristoffer