dand76

Yeah this thing was just behing my house. I had some downstairs neighboors that moved out 8 months ago it might be theirs. It doesnt look rusted or anything. The glow plug wire is damaged though.

ThunderbirdJunkie

My Feedback: (3)

So, that truck has been sitting in your yard for eight months, and you just now found it?

dand76

Apparently. I'm trying to take pictures but my camera isn't working at all.

378

My Feedback: (4)

Hrm...well it'd help if we had pictures, but going on what you've told me it would be wise to pull the engine apart and spit-polish it. Dirt in there is a good way to ruin it.


What I advise is, before you do anything to try to get it going, you start asking around. Someone in your neighborhood may have had theirs stolen and the thief could have dropped it behind your house, or they jumped it and lost it behind the fence, something like that. But if nobody claims it, here's my suggestion.

First things first get the manual. Traxxas has excellent customer service, so you can obtain a copy directly from their website. That manual contains everything you will need to know about how to operate and maintain that truck. I also suggest you bookmark this page, as if you need to get a new copy of the manual or read any other documentation on it you can easily do so from there.

If you do want to start it, pull the engine out, pull the back plate and clean the inside out. I'm almost 100% positive there's dirt in there, and dirt is not something we want in the engine. You can use this page to aid you in doing this. Then, as you're reassembling, install fresh seals. Not sure if the TRX 3.3 uses an O-ring on the backplate or not, but if it does not, replacing that gasket is an absolute must. There should be no need to further disassemble the engine unless it's absolutely full of mud, but if it is, my suggestion is that you pull the piston and conrod out, put 'em on your key ring and buy a new engine, because if the engine is already absolutely full of dirt and debris it's not savable. Getting any dirt out is simple, isopropyl alcohol and q-tips work wonders. The fuel they use contains alcohol anyways, so you need not worry about seals.

Assuming the engine isn't too dirty and you get it cleaned out, the next step is to oil it. I suggest dropping a few drops down the glow plug hole, and while you have it apart, absolutely soak everything in the bottom end. A good oil to use is Marvel Mystery Oil, which can be found at Walmart most of the time. Mine carries it. You can also get something called After-Run Oil at a hobby shop(You'll need to go here anyways), this works as an assembly lube as well. Get it put back together, remembering to tighten the backplate bolts in an X pattern. Bottom right, top left, top right, bottom left is the order I usually use.

Now, take the entire thing with you to a hobby shop. Finding one is simple enough, just use google. Your zip code and "Hobby shop" should pull up plenty. I vote you avoid Hobbytown USA, however, as they'll try to sell you everything on the rack if they can get away with it. So, now you're at a hobby shop and you have everything with you. Engine, truck, everything else you found. Bring it in, set it on the counter, and talk to the guy there. He should be able to get you a suitable transmitter, glow ignitor, 20% fuel(I suggest Blue Thunder, that's what I run, but Odonnel and Wildcat work too, make sure it has at least 14% oil, oh and do NOT try to use gasoline), a pull-start conversion, and they should be able to show you how to get it started. Assuming there's no broken parts and you didn't overhaul or flat out replace the engine, you should only need to spend about 80-120 bucks. If you want to get a body, which I recommend as the body is a huge part of keeping it in-tact when crashed, they should have one of those as well. Oh and you will most certainly need an air filter. Running one of these things with no air filter is a sure-fire way to ruin it.

Once you've got all the gear and it's ready to go, you'll want to reset the carb to factory defaults. Now, assuming the engine you have now is still useable, you won't need to break it in, so you can skip to the tuning section of the manual. However, if you decided to overhaul or flat out replace the engine, you will need to break it in. We can help with that too.


Good luck and keep us posted!

dand76

Excellent post. I'm disassemble it but honestly I just want to sell it  for a quick buck. I doubt anyone lost it here because I'm way back off the main street.

378

My Feedback: (4)

Oh trust me these things are a blast. Besides as it sits it isn't really worth much of anything. A runner is only worth 175-200 at the most.

dand76

Well I disassembled the engine and cleaned it a bit. I can tell the glowplug wire is damaged because there's a rip in it. Not sure where I get a replacement.

378

My Feedback: (4)

Just get a standalone glow ignitor and a pull start. EZ-start is nice on paper but in practice it's a pain in the ass.

dand76

I really don't feel like buying anything for this, I'll just throw it on Ebay as-is or something.  Maybe I'll get a few bucks who knows.

cooldriver385

You might get 50 bucks if you toss it as is dude. If you get into this hobby you'll have so much fun. But hey, it's what you want.

dand76

Well I got an offer of $25 by a member here. I was expecting a bit more, here is a picture of it. That's dirt not rust.

sloppyG

wow, that thing's hammered

looks like front and rear shock towers are broken/missing among other things

dand76

No I just took them off to get a better picture.

378

My Feedback: (4)

I say you fix it up and get it running. Drive it at least once. If all else fails that will bump it's value up to about 150 bucks or so. As is it's not worth the postage it will cost to ship.

sloppyG

you took the shock towers off to take a picture... that doesn't make any sense

dand76

I was in the process of disassembling it  for the buyer. I sold it for $50 shipped. Glad I posted on this forum, thanks everyone for the info.

electricrc68

you should buy an rc car. not necessarily a nitro, maybe an electric?

The_Shark

this sounds like a run-away. meaning the car lost the reciever and did some ghost driving, you can go over a mile with a tank of gas.

i would try to put a found add or something out first.

cowana

To be honest, I think you've been taken advantage of for $50 shipped. If you had cleaned some of the mud off it and stuck it on ebay. I think that you'd have been able to get $150 for it shipped.

Someone has done really well for $50 shipped - it's worth quite a bit more than that.

dand76

I don't have much interest for vehicles or repairing them at all so it wasn't even interested in doing it at all.

electricrc68

oh okay thats fine. you will find another hobby you like if you don't have one yet.