My redcat buggy froze!
 

H<span style="font-size: medium">i, recently bought a red cat buggy and broke it in as instructed about 2 weeks ago and all of a sudden today I was running it and it suddenly shut off. i tried to restart it but the pull cord was frozen locked. i even pulled the plug out thinking it was flooded as ive read on several forums and it still would not pull. I dont want to keep trying to pull the cord since i might snap it. HELPHELPHELP! What is wrong? Help! and thanks John</span></p>

RE: My redcat buggy froze!
 

sounds like you may have run it lean and it over-heated[:o]

you can try to turn the motor by the fly wheel(use a flat head screw driver under the chassis to turn it)
try turning it in either direction.
if it wont turn from the flywheel, then either a bearing has seized or the pistion is stuck in the cylinder.

if it does turn, then the pull starter may be damaged, or the 1-way bearing that it attaches to is seized.

RE: My redcat buggy froze!
 

Thanks ill try it and let you know!

RE: My redcat buggy froze!
 

Also look for a small rock or something jammed in neer the flywheel. I had that happen with my tornado and thought it had locked up. I didn't notice it till I lossened the motor screws to pull it. Either way good luck.

RE: My redcat buggy froze!
 

thats a very good point. look for anything that would prevent the center spur gear from turning.

RE: My redcat buggy froze!
 

Great so I tried spinning the flywhhell as you said and its locked. I just bougt it on ebay brand new and have used it about 10 times. This sucks! Now what? thanks again

RE: My redcat buggy froze!
 

no rocks or anything blocking either. Whats the warranty on these cars and what do i do? Thanks again John

RE: My redcat buggy froze!
 

How much experience do you have with running Nitro engines?

As it has already been mentioned it sounds like it may have been running too lean.

if so, that motor may be done.... without a rebuild.

But, hopefully you will find another problem......sorry for your troubles on this.

Peace

RE: My redcat buggy froze!
 

im afraid that NO rc company warrenties their motors once fuel has been put in them. the electronics are warrentied for 90days by redcat.

RE: My redcat buggy froze!
 

how much are engines? im almost sure the piston is done! im really not happy about this. is it easy to replace the motor? i only paid about 325 for the whole car and reciever so i assume the motor is much less please help. Thanks again guys! really this forum is on point! John

RE: My redcat buggy froze!
 

sh .18 motor is $85 shipped from me. may be less elsewhere. check rufaster.com and urchobby.com
the motor comes out pretty easy. remove the fuel lines from the carb. un-bolt the muffler from the motor. remove the screws from the underside of the chassis(use a good screw driver, using one too small may strip the heads)
then pull the motor out. remove the screws that hold the motor to the motor mount base.
then do the reverse.....motor mount base to new motor, motor to chassis, set gear mesh(pinion to spur gear spacing) and re-attach fuel lines and muffler.
shouldnt take more than 1/2 hour for a 1st timer.

woops, i just re-read. did you buy the tornado s30, or the backdraft 3.5?
the backdraft 3.5 motor is about $115 shipped.

RE: My redcat buggy froze!
 

no i have the hurricane xtr. Ill let you know when im ready to purchase the motor. Thanks John

RE: My redcat buggy froze!
 

hopefully you wont have to buy a new motor. take the old one off the buggy and give it a good looking over.

RE: My redcat buggy froze!
 

yes i will. Do you have a web site with products? any way to see what you sell? Thanks

RE: My redcat buggy froze!
 

also, what does the motor include? in other words does it include the pull cord, carb, air filter, etc? Thanks John

RE: My redcat buggy froze!
 

i dont have a website yet. i do sell many items on ebay.
check www.urchobby.com and www.rufaster.com. both are redcat dealers and their sites are loaded with parts. should be easy to find what you need on those sites.

i can do $145 shipped on the sh.28 motor. but check the other guys as they stock many parts and may have cheaper shipping.

RE: My redcat buggy froze!
 

wait what motor do i need? the sh .18 or .28? again newbie here! Thanks John

RE: My redcat buggy froze!
 

the hurricane xtr has a SH .28 motor.
in your thread title you had just said buggy, and i assumed you had the tornado s30 which has the .18

the motor in you hurricane xtr is the much larger .28

RE: My redcat buggy froze!
 

I got it now! Thanks for the info.

RE: My redcat buggy froze!
 

what was wrong with it?

RE: My redcat buggy froze!
 

Take the engine apart.
Take it out of the buggy, unscrew everything inside the engine, take it all apart, figure out how it works, It's educational and really helps.

RE: My redcat buggy froze!
 

<span style="line-height: 115%; font-size: 9pt">Ihad this same problem. I started my Tornado S30 for the first time and ran a tank with it sitting on a block. After the tank I forgot to drop the piston to Bottom Dead Center (I'm new to Nitro). About 20 min later when I went to continue the break-in process with a second tank it was locked up. I couldn't move the pull start at all. I couldn't move the fly-wheel with my hands either. So, I called a friend who's super into R/C and he told me to find a way to get channel locks on the fly-wheel to break it free. Iremoved the glow plug. Then,I disconnected the screw from the throttle servo to take off the throttle servo control arm. This enabled me to get to the 2 screws to the Exhaust pipe. I removed these two screws that connected the exhaust pipe to the engine. Then I moved the exhaust pipe around and out of the way. I loosened the nut the holds the carb tight and then I removed the carb. I now had pretty good access to the fly-wheel. Icovered the fly-wheel with the sleeve of an old T-shirt to protect the teeth. Then Iused channel-locks to turn the fly-wheel and break the piston free from its frozen position. Once freed, I was able to pull the pull start and the piston would move normally. While I was putting the 3 in 1 oil in the engine Imarked the fly-wheel with a sharpie so that I would know when the piston is at BDC. But, once I put it all back together again... it got stuck again without ever starting! So I followed those same steps again but this time once I got it loose I put about 5 drops of 3 in 1 oil down through the glow plug hole and I kept pulling the pull start. It would still get stuck and the top every once in a while so I put 5 more drops of 3 in 1 oil down the hold while the piston was at the top in this stuck position. Ileft it like that over night. Today I pulled the pull start many times and it felt good. I re-assembled everything and I got it started! I ran another bench tank thru it. Then, I ran a figure 8 tank thru it. Both times I remembered to put engine to BDC. I had to put the break-in process on hold until tomorrow because I didn't want to upset the neighbors. Now you know thata frozen engine is not a dead engine.</span></p>

RE: My redcat buggy froze!
 

if the piston was at TDC when the motor stopped and allowed to cool like that, it could be stuck for that reason.
before applying force, i would use a hair dryer to heat the motor up. that will help the cylinder expand and lessen the pinch on the piston.

RE: My redcat buggy froze!
 

hey buddy thanks for the directions but you forgot to tell me how to remove the bar attached the the throttle. there are several screws and i see that the bar screws itself into the housing of the motor thottle but need help fing how to get it free. BTW thanks to all other posts. John

RE: My redcat buggy froze!
 

This actually happened to me today. I was throttling the engine and doing some fine tuning when allmof a sudden it just stopped. The root starter wouldn't turn it. I thought it was toast. I was running pretty rich and temps were fine. So I was surprised when it froze. Anyway, I did very much the same thing others did. A sigh of relief when it freed up.

It fired right up after this happened. Sounded great, so I don't think there was any damage. But, I was worried there for a minute.