nitrospeed33

I was running my car today to try and tune it, and I had no luck.[:@] so I messed with the high speed needle first. i did some high speed runs the adjusted it by small little turns clockwise to lean it out. i did some more highspeed runs and brought it in again and did the same thing, i though i had got the highspeed needle set right so i went to the low speed. i adjusted it alittle, and kept on doeing that till i felt a difference and it changed nothing at all.[] when i floor it it still stays at the same rpm for like a few seconds then goes. it takes off really fast but still sounds bad. so anyways i floored it and it did what it usally does then it started cutting out![X(] the wierd thing is that it changed nothing and plenty of blue exhaust is comeing from the pipe and i tried the spit test to see if it was too hot and it barely sizzled away at all! so i thought i was running rich but the stupid thing was still cutting out.[sm=tired.gif]. so i richened it and it still cut out![:@] then if thats not bad enough, the gears wouldn't change. i did a highspeed run getting the rpms pretty high and it never changed gears. i did hear a wierd sound comeing from the trans but thought it was nothing. so then i was still messing with the stupid needles and the car stoped moving, and the rpms just got really high. i looked and found that the clutch bell was no longer touching the gears in the trans. so now i have 2 really bad problems. im gonna clean it off tonight and checkit out and set the gears properly. since im haveing a bad time with the stupid needles, i want to know what the stock setting for the needles are, which are the really rich breakin settings right? so i wanna know those so i can start fresh. any help would be great, if you guys know what going on. thanks

ehroof

2 1/2 out on the high needle and flush with the collar on the low needle.

nitrospeed33

whats flush with the collar on the low speed? and when you say 2 1/2 out on the high, you mean from closed, like the leanest? sorry, its been a while since ive tuned a nitro.

ehroof

yes, 2 1/2 counter clockwise from closed snug on the high needle, the low needle setting is where the linkage hooks up to the carb, you will see in the center a flat head grub screw, that screw should be even with the collar around it. this should get you started.

zack221

lsn-ccw richens and cw leans
hsn-cw leans and ccw richens
idle-cw opens and ccw closes



Set air gap of throttle 1.5 mm,(idle screw), HSN Cw til it bottoms out then 3 1/2 turn CCW. LSN Flush with the throttle housing + 1 turn cw. Try to start, will be runnin really rich, if it starts. Turn down idle speed, then adjust HSN cw til you have good acceleration to idle. if your idle speed rises, turn it down. May have to do a couple times. Last adjustment LSN, turn cw slowly til idle speed starts to rise. when it rises you're running lean, turn it CCW till idle speed just drops. Blip the throttle you should be acceleration ok with some smoke coming from the muffler.Lean the HSN 1/8 turn CW till your satisfied.

here is a great tip to tell if your rich or lean it wont work if you have a air leak

Make ur engine run at idle then pinch fuel cable (engine will stall), but before it stalls it should rise rpm a bit. If it doesnt rise at all - u run too lean. If it raises hundreds of rpm - u run too rich. It took me 5 minutes (it is almost week that i have my first nitro) and my engine now works great. Then u adjust idle speed (gap on throttle). Set idle speed so that clutch doesnt engage. As for high rpm needle u have to try your car at high speed.

nitrospeed33

oh, so you mean the screw you acctually turn to tune the car for the lowspeed? that should be even with the things around it?

nitrospeed33

oh yeah, when i clean of my car last night, i found a pebble had got jammed into the black gears in the transmission, but luckily it didn't ruin anything! i took my enigne off and cleaned out the clutch bell and it was filled with tones of dirt and grime. so i cleaned everything off on the engine and then i took of the cooling head off to see what was goin on and it was flooded in tones of thick nasty fuel and then i tuned the engine over and it started pooring out the haeder (cause the pipe wasn't on). i cleaned it all off and used the after run oil so now the eninges all clean. but is it possible for the engine to cut out cuase it was too rich and it started flooding with fuel? thanks for the help!

zack221

yea it can cutout when it is rich

Connormon

You dont want your engine running rich, and yes the engine can just die when its being run too rich. Yes, you want blue smoke, but you dont want a huge ploom of it, you just want it to be enough to be coming out of a steady stream, not too thick. (Not quite sure how to explain it, sorry.)

ehroof

you can tell by the sound, you want to hear the high pitch, little gurgle and blue smoke, all at the same time. LOL

nitrospeed33

so that cutting out could have meant that it was too rich? but it didn't cut out before i started tuning it. i need to know what went wrong. its wierd. before i tuned it it ran fine execpt for the wierd accelertion thing i told you guys about, abviously it was runnig rich, then i go to tune it and it starts cutting out after about maybe 1-4 a turn clockwise to lean it. and nothing changed in the engines performance exept for the cutting out. ahhh, this is bugging me. now i cant run the car cause we got our 3rd snowstorm in like a few weeks and i dont know what to do besides reset the needles. if you guys have any idea what went wrong please help.[][&o] thanks

mozzzy_2000

if the leaning the HSN made it start cutting out, did you back it off again to see if went back to not cutting out? I presume that is the HSN you are adjusting. I wonder if its the LSN thats out of tune?

Have you tried the pinch test to see if the LSN is in tune? As Zack describes above Try this. Its very simple and very accurate.

The trouble with tuning is that the engine will konk out when its rich as well as if its too lean so differentiating between the 2 is the key. I reckon it can be quite hard to tell to be honest. Throw in air leaks and problematic clutch issues to name a few and it becomes a continuous learning process.

I was thinking if you have set the HSN at 2.5 turns and the LSN flush, the HSN could possibly be about right whereas the LSN could be a touch too rich? But I'd try the pinch test first. You can also do it by ear using the same theory as the pinch test. Lift the car off the ground and give the engine a quick rev to about 80% throttle and listen to how the engine settles. If the RPMs settle down immediately and the engine begins to bog and stalls, then its too rich. If the RPM stays high or remains high before eventually settling indicates that it is too lean. You want a compromise in between where you want it to settle into a steady idle before bogging down after 20-30secs.

nitrospeed33

well my tuning job was kinda wack. i cant remember totally clearly but i tuned the highspeed first to the point where i thought that it was right. so then i went to the lowspeed and turned it slighly leaner each time and did both the pinch test and the idle test. it ideled way way over 20 seconds and the pinch seemed to rev to high, to the piont where the car would acctually start moving then shut off. so i kept leaning it out slowly and then suddenly i gased it and it started cutting out. i got worried so i richened the highspeed thinking that would help, but it didnt and then i tried to richen it more but still not helping, then around that piont thats when the gears went wack so i never finished. it was a little chilly, like 35-45 degrees, with the temp dropping fast and i did hit some slushy snow piles a couple times but i didnt think that would make a difference. it just didnt make sence, and richening it seemed like the best thing to do. i have the needles set back to the break in settings agian and when the temps get up to the 50's ill try again doing a better tuning job. earlier in the day so the temps wont drop so fast. but what would cause it to cut out when the highspeed needle was still rich and i was slowly leaning out the lowspeed? could it have been the low temps and droping temps or do i have a bad engine? it just really bothers me on why it would cut out during the leaning of the lowspeed after tuning the highspeed, and i dint lean it much at all. ill guess ill just have to start fresh when the temps get back up. thanks

zack221

You might have an air leak and it is causing it to run really lean i would take the motor out and pull the fuel line off the gas tank then leave the other end attached to the carb nipple and blow through the line if you hear air than you have a air leak try to find where its coming out and seal it up with high temp silicone

nitrospeed33

i allready checked.[&o] its not that. now that i think about it, it could just be the really cold temps and slushy snow and my wierd tunning. but i still want to know why it would cut out 5 minutes after finishing tuning the highspeed? it just sounds wierd. unless you guys think it could have just been the cold and rapidly getting colder temps. ill go check the fuel line once more to see.

zack221

watch this it will help

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oSmMzpZM_As

nitrospeed33

okay, so my engine could have cut out because the lowspeed needle was too lean? thats good to know. but the pinch test was still idleing high and the accleration was still leveling out for the first couple seconds, and it would idel for more than 20 seconds. im stumped.[sm=disappointed.gif] also on the video he said that leaving the engine rich was not bad for the engine but it would go slower, but then someone on here, cant remember who, said that running too rich was bad. this is really makin me crazy. i need answers.[] but i wanna thank everyone who has hleped me so far. i really appreciate it. thanks.

zack221

Hey nitrospeed33 i just went out side to start my volcano after about 2weeks of not driving it or even starting it and mine was doing the same thing.The first thing i did after it died was turn the flywheel to check for compression and it didnt have much and then i saw the glow plug was loose so i tightened it up and i had compression.It fired up but was still doing the same thing so i screwed the hsn all the way in and backed it out 2 1/2 turns.Then it was still hesitating so i leaned it out a little more about 1/4 a turn and it went away.Then i did the pinch test and it raised a little before it shut off so i left it that way because it is supposed to be a little colder tom. and it should be pretty close on tuning tom. now i just gotta fix the idle on it.It idles fine but soon as i tap the brakes it dies but i will fix that tom.

nitrospeed33

ill have to try that. i have it set to the flush with the collar and 2 1/2 turns out, so back to the stock settings, so ill try that. thanks alot! but theres no way to know if that'll work until i try it. but hopefully it'll work! i'm just gonna start totally fresh. and try to get the best possible performance. im gonna do it as close to how the guy in the video did it. but i have to wait till the stupid snow melts.[:@] but thanks alot zack.

ehroof

its very hard to tune in cold temps and a cold engine, the engine needs to be up to temprature, too rich and it will die, too lean and it will die out too, especially under power. i am sure its cold in colorado.

nitrospeed33

thats what everyone thinks. "you must be freezing in colorado" my whole extended family lives in new york and they like colorado more. you guys have humidity that makes cold colder, we dont. this is very unlike colorado to get this much snow. most of the snow is up in the mountians not down here. we can get 60-80 degree days in the middle of the winter when new york is frezzing. colorado has very strange weather. but this snow is unlike colorado. we get maybe like an inch and it will melt wihtin 12 hours. but this is just crazy, every once in a while this happens and i hate it. i wont be able to drive my car for like at least a week or 2. man i hate this.[:@] but thanks for the help.

zack221

im not sure it will fix your problem you will probably have to mess with the settings a little bit because your elevation is different but it will give you a starting point

mozzzy_2000

yeah I was going to say that if its really super cold where you are, nitro engines will naturally run leaner than normal. This is because the cold is more dense than warm air. So there's a chance that further leaning is just making it far too lean. But get the tuning right and nitro engines should run sweet in the cold.

Also another suggestion & I can't stress this enough. Always make small adjustments on the needles and ony adust one needle at a time. First set the HSN, then the LSN, then idle speed if necessary. Also its very important to allow the engine to operate for a few minutes after EVERY needle adjustment. If you adjust the needle and then after 30 secs think its not doing anything, you'll get it way out tune if you adjust it further or worse if you go back the other way. You have to let the engine settle in to the new setting. Yes it can be a lengthy process and if it takes a tank to tune, then so be it. Patience is the key.

nitrospeed33

thats how i tune my car. i always do highspeed runs and give it some time and then i lean it a little more. but i guess it could have been the cold weather. i brought it out at like 4 so it started getting darker and colder pretty fast. but when the snow melts ill have to go back out and retune. thanks for the help.

hexwalt

I have a good question to ask if anyone can. I have a losi xxx-t and i just got the car NOT new. Put a 1500 battery on it and it ran great. So i borow a buddys 3300 and it ran slow at first with a good charge, then it died so i through another 3300 and nothing, i can steer no forwards or reverse, I think it is the speed controler. But i am retarded.



Please help