Hi, I was recently in a near fatal accident which left me in a coma for 3 weeks and in hospital for 5 months. I was also left in a wheelchair for the rest of my life. I needed to find a hobby so I picked up a second hand kyosho nitro Subaru impreza. The problem I'm having is, when I start it up it goes to near max revs and will not brake at all. I've also noticed that sometimes it's spitting fuel out of the exhaust which I guess means it's running rich. If anyone can help I would be truly grateful, however please use lamens terms as I won't have a clue about what you're saying. Thank you.

umm one is the receiver in the vehicle on? I don't want to sound demeaning, but I once saw a guy come into the LHS cursing his nephew under for breaking his radio when he disconnected the battery, and the guy didn't check... dude had a $140 spectrum setup in his hand ready to buy when the clerk plugged it in and was like uhh nothings wrong...

Before starting the engine Take the Air filter off the motor, and test to see if the servo that hooks to the motor opens, and closes the carberator properly. It should have a 1mm gap when you aren't touching the throttle trigger.
Should behave like this
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qBZbpPpD4ag Then check the brake linkage I'm not sure on that model but most are similar when you press the brake it should push a plate into a disk that is on a drvieshaft. Make sure that is closing all the way sometimes those loosen up.

If all the above is ok then you probably have an airleak... Those are not fun to fix as it can be a pain to locate it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tZ3WcPoa1DY Personally I'd recommend watching that guys WHOLE series on nitros as its full of excellent info.


One word of advice in the future I'd steer away from used Nitros as pretty much every used nitro I've bought the engine was screwed up, and needed replacing.

receiver on?
check the throttle/brake servo function without the motor going. remove air filter and move the throttle trigger on the radio. when you give it throttle, you should see the carb open up. if it is opening up when you have the throttle in the neutral point, then the throttle servo is reversed of how it should be. look for the throttle reversing switch on the radio.

very often, the 1st mistake those new to nitro make is to start messing with the needles when something isn't right. always check for other causes 1st!
but it is very possible that the idle set screw needs adjustment as well.

as syco mentioned....watch LOTS of youtube videos. seeing it done is easier to understand than typed words. Ive been in the hobby for years and had many nitro models, and I still cant always get a used nitro motor working proper. It takes a light touch, patience and an eye for detail....all skills I lack

I made this nice little graph, explaining the learning curve with nitro rc's

lol that is when dealing with used if new its a bit less sharp

Yup first thing I would do is check all the batteries. Then I would check radio's throttle trim. Take the air filter off and turn on the electronics keep the engine off... Give it throttle a couple of time while observing the carb barrel moving. When let off the throttle the barrel should move back to the closed position with a small 1mm opening.

If the engine still has erratic idle find the manual and reset the carb back to factory settings. Then follow normal procedures to start the engine. Do not touch the needles! Let it warm up.... But either way let us no if you get to this point to help you out tuning the engine.


Since you said it's revving real high and it's spitting fuel out the exhaust either you're trim is off or the idle gap is set too high