JAMPROSOUND

I've got a Pro Boat Shockwave 36 that my daughter and I found at a yard sale and can't get running right. I've built and flown planes my whole life and am very familiar with model 2 strokes. The motor was broken down for cleaning and inspection when I got it home. To my eye, everything is in great shape.

One local store suggested running Traxxas Top Fuel Power Plus 20% despite the bottle stating not to use it for boats. I had it running but with little throttle response and even less power on the water. I ended up with two Mc59 plugs most recently that both died within ten or so seconds of run time. These two plugs were clean but the coils were mangled after only ten seconds of use. I've got a bench-top water cooling tank/pump set up with cold water running through the head for bench testing etc.

I found one store in another town locally and was told that the Dynamite .32 wants to run hot and needs a lot more nitro content. That in turn requires the right plug and tuning etc.

I'm looking for someone who knows this motor inside and out and can tell me what fuel, plugs and needle settings (I've tried the factory defaults) will get this thing up and running strong.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Ron Olson

My Feedback: (1)

OK, the employee at the hobby shop is and idiot and you can tell him I said so. He's just trying to sell you what he has on the shelf to make a sale. Traxxas doesn't want you to run it in their nitro boats so that ought to give you a clue as the oil content is way too low. You want something with very close to 20% oil content. Even Heli fuel will work in a pinch.
Try MC-9's, not the 59's.
From the factory the low-speed needle is rich so hopefully the original owner took care of the problem. The problem with factory settings is that they don't know where in the world that the boats are going so they give you a rough guesstimate.
A prop that does wonders on the boat is an Octura M-445 or Zippkits 444. The Zippkits prop is ready to bolt on, the Octura needs to be worked on.
There should be some threads on this boat if you use the search on this site, tons of info and tricks, most at low to no cost to make it better.
Use only one head shim when you put it back together. You can also port match the header as it really chokes off the exhaust.

rcguy1411

I just bought a new .32 for my thundercat same running gear as your boat there great little engines ill double check for you tomorrow what factory carb settings are belive it comes set at 2 1/2 on bolth needles Ron is right I run helli fuel in mine 30%nitro and 20 % oil and my engine loves it right now bolth my needles are set at about two turns from closed I run the mccoy mc 9 plugs and in a pinch the mx 59 tember that on the beach you want the engine to be on the rich side as engine will lean out under load