Hi,
my friend has a smartech winner with a .15 engine. he's trying to get it back working again. he has checked the glo-plug and he says it seems ok. he eventually got the car to run, but it is difficult to keep it alive/open the throttle. he reckons it is out of tune. what do you think? he doesnt know the factory settings for the engine so can anybody ive me (to give him) some basic advice on how to set the carb/engine correctly. any feedback appreiated,
cheers.

Put a new glow plug in it, even if the one already in the engine seems fine. Try turning the high speed needle in 1/8 turns at a time until it stays running when you apply the throttle. If the engine has a hard time running at idle, turn the idle screw counter clockwise (small turns) until the rpms pick up enough to keep it running. Is this a new engine? Has it been broken? Has it been over heated? I couldn't find the factory needle settings for this particular engine. Hope this helps.

These Smartech engines are not of high quality and the most common complaint people have with these cars is the engines. That's one of the main reasons they have a bad reputation. But...anyone who's had one long enough and has worked out the bugs will tell you they are good cars. The engines do leave a LOT to be desired though.

The carbs are simply junk. They don't hold a tune very well and changing them will make a huge difference. An OS 10e is a direct swap and make a very big difference.

If you're running 20% nitro a general starting point is 2 1/2 turns open on the main needle and 1 turn open on the low end. This should get you in the ball park. I can't promise that you'll have any luck past this point though.

Don't hesitate to ask if you need any more help.

Enjoymentboy