Having trouble starting a brand new 18SS motor
 

just built my 18SS kit, and i am having a hell of a time trying to start it. does the motor come out of the factory preset or what? it might be my ignitor but i want to see if it could be anything else before i buy a new ignitor

RE: Having trouble starting a brand new 18SS motor
 

put the glow pug on it to see if it glows, reset the needles and heat it up with a blow drier and go

RE: Having trouble starting a brand new 18SS motor
 

try giving it a lil gas when starting it up

RE: Having trouble starting a brand new 18SS motor
 

i've done that...this is my 6th nitro and have done everything to troubleshoot the problem...still lost as to what the real problem is. just wondering if all 18SS motors came out of the factory with preset settings or if i have to find them myself

RE: Having trouble starting a brand new 18SS motor
 

the settings are in the instruction book

RE: Having trouble starting a brand new 18SS motor
 

i checked the ignitor and it heats the plug well. i set the motor to factory settings, and took it outside to start break-in. first 2 pulls, it started, but died, even with the throttle opened a bit. the 3rd pull, the motor seemed to have flooded up. i pulled the plug, and pulled the starter to clean out the compression chamber of the excess fuel. the next couple attempts got me nothing, and flooded up again, without the throttle being open. again, i relieved the pressure, and tried again, with a little throttle. again, nothing and it flooded up again.

what is going on here? i've never experienced anything like this with past nitro cars and it is really starting to bug me to the point where i want to throw the car against a wall. i cant understand why the motor floods so easily. when the plug is out and i pull the starter cord, it spits fuel like a fountain, another thing i havent seen happen in my other cars.

RE: Having trouble starting a brand new 18SS motor
 

bump

RE: Having trouble starting a brand new 18SS motor
 

that happened to me when i was breaking in my epic .18. It would start but then just die. I started to lean it out and it started to stay on. But i just realized i should have leaned it a little more, because i wasted 1/2 a gallon breaking it in because it was so rich. Try leaning it out, but not TOO much, or you might damage the engine. If the car is just eating fuel by starting then dying 5 seconds later, then its too rich.

Think about this: When you clog your exhaust to stop turn off the engine, the exhaust's back pressure causes the engine to flood. When it floods, there is so much fuel in the combustion chamber that the glowplug cant ignite the fuel.

So if the engine is too rich, then the glow plug cant stay hot for long. Also, try blowdrying the engine, and leaving the glow ignitor on the glow plug for like 15 seconds or so.

RE: Having trouble starting a brand new 18SS motor
 

in the manual, it said 3 turns out...which is WAY OFF what it should be. each tank would run for 8 minutes or so, drinking the fuel like nothing. ran 3 tanks that way...so i'd say it broke in with enough lubrication for the motor. i have a good amount of tuning left to do to get the motor running right. so frustrating...

RE: Having trouble starting a brand new 18SS motor
 

hey thump,

I"m having the same problem with my 18SS. How did you get it started and keep it going? I can get mine started with a hotter plug but it dies soon afterwards. I currently have the needle set at factory (3 turns out). I broke my PS trying to start that fricken thing and now i'm shopping for a starter box because that PS is a POS. Thanks.

Ray

RE: Having trouble starting a brand new 18SS motor
 

When I got my 18SS Kit I sealed the backplate and the carb neck with RTV before starting it. I also installed the HPI/Motorsaver performance air filter. I set the carb needles to the factory recommended settings (3 turns HSN, 1.5 turns LSN). When I went to start it for the very first time I primed it and then the motor started on the 3rd or 4th pull. It ran at an idle for a full tank and it ran great. It never stalled. I let it cool and it restarted no problem. I heat cycled for 5 full tanks before I started to drive it. The factory settings for break in were very rich. It would not come close to shifting until I leaned it. My motor never stalled during break in, not even once. I have two big blocks and the 18ss small block and the 18ss is the most reliable one of the bunch. It runs very good. I use the stock HPI 1705 plug and the stock pipe.

RE: Having trouble starting a brand new 18SS motor
 

My 18SS started twice (before that...it took forever to get it started) before I busted my PS. But both times it started, it died on me. I am thinking it died on me because the engine fired up in gear spinning the tires. The tires was on the ground and not elevated so I believe that when the engine started with it in gear, the engine stalled when the tires felt resistance from the ground. I'm not exactly sure if thats the cause but I can't diagnose it until i can get the engine started. From others posts, the idle screw might be off and its causing the wheels to spin when engine is on causing it to stall. Later, we tried getting it started on my buddies starter box but everytime we used it, the starter rubber wheel would stop when it hit my flywheel ( and i could move my flywheel with my fingers so I know it wasn't stuck- even tried the hairdryer method). Since we're both noobs, I think we just didn't let the rubber wheel spin at its fastest or optimum rpms. if its not at its fastest rpm's, the wheel doesn't have enough power to fully spin the flywheel right?. BTW..all batteries were fully charged (ignitor and starter box batts)

RE: Having trouble starting a brand new 18SS motor
 

I hate to state the obvious, but you are doing something wrong. The wheels spinning would not cause it to stall. Check your glow plug, set the needles back to factory specs, pre-heat the motor with a hair dryer, prime it properly, and it should start up and stay running.