I have had my rustler for about a year now and sometimes when i try to start it, you can hear the gears in the eazy start turning but the engine is not. At first I thought it might be something with the easy start so I put a pull start on it and it did pretty much the same thing. So, I changed the glow plug and checked the brake shoes and all that jazz and everything else seems fine. But what is strange about it is that its not very consistant. Like sometimes with the pull start I can get the engine to turn and the same with the easy start. Then just out of the blue it won't turn again. Although if I do get it running it will work perfect for the next few hours or untill I stop playing with the car. Then once it sits for a day or two its the same thing all over again. What do I do next? Could it be something inside the engine or a leak with one of the gaskets? If anybody has any ideas please let me know.

maybe ur losing compression...or ur not letting ur glow plug get hot enuf yet?...

you might want to check if you can turn the engine over by hand at the flywheel.. Or next time you go to fire it up, loosen the glow plug about a half a turn and try that, if it fires and/or turns over easily then just high compression. If it does start with the plug broke loose keep it running and sniug up the plug and let her rip.

^^ what he said...

Great i'll try that now and see how it works. Thanks for the help.

basically breaking the glow plug loose is just easing a bit of compression by allowing a bit of it to escape through the plug. Hope it works for ya.. Let us know..Good luck, just alot of patients and it will all get better.

Just in case.


http://www.rccaraction.com/rc/articl...as_ezstart.asp

Crash I guess I should have read that post more thorough, I didn't realize he was using the ez start.. Good call as always.

Crash me:
I like the way you work, quick and precise information.


Its probably not needed since that link to that great article was posted but I will go ahead and give my opinion anyway since I have a few minutes to kill.

The short and quick of it is to get rid of the pull start and grab a starter box, Im not really sure the Rustler will fit on the starter box so thats something to check and maybe someone else will jump in and offer that info.

Anyhow, your dilema is probably caused by the one way slipping on the shaft. Its often affected by dirt and debris and by oil leaking out of the engine onto the shaft.

There really is nothing you can do to fix it and never have to fool with it again Except get a starter box.

What you can do in the meantime is to drill a whole in the casing of the pullstart. You would need one in the top of the case and one in the bottom.
You want to make the hole small but large enough for the red straw on a can of WD40 to fit in the hole.
Be sure to just barely cut through the plastic so you dont go into the coil thats in the case.
When you are ready to start the car hit the casing with the WD40 and let it drain out the bottom. Should start no problem. Once the engine heats up its easy to start because it takes less force to push it over since the sleeve is expanded.
After some time you will have to hit it again with WD40.

This Is really not a fix but what I would call a work around. The Fix is the starte box.

Dbow

Thanks Dbow.....and to all of you who also supply the many readers with such good information. I love this place because so many are willing to help and offer such great information. Good job guys!

Dbow....is right. You can start your rigs with the pull starter....but if you ever can afford a starter box....you'll be glad you decided to buy one. I just bought one and love it. I have had an electric stater for my airplane engines for some time and when I decided to buy one....I wondered what took me so long to own one.

Thanks alot I got it running. Dbow you were exactly right about the easy start. It sucks that a starter box is the only way around that. But I really appreciate the help guys.

We all win!

Well Im glad the thread helped out, thats what we are here for to help each other out and talk about the hobby.

While I do think the box is the way to go, there is another option.
ITs called the Yank Eliminator, these came out a couple of years ago and its basically a one way in a shaft that attaches to your electric drill.
You would remove the pull start and I guess leave the shaft exposed (not a good idea in my opinion) and just place the one way over the shaft and pull the button on the drill to start the motor. I have never used one but they are not that bad on price. $30 I think.

To be honest with ya you could probably make one of these things with an old one way bearing.

Anyhow, the Starter box is the best option in my opinion, they will last forever no matter what you do to them. I have had my ofna box for years and its still got the original motors and such still going strong. I did replace the rubber wheel at one point but thats about it.
Tower carries the Ofna boxes from around $60 or $70 (guess) and I would suggest getting a gel cell to go along with it. I think they actually have a package that has the cell, panel and all.

The gel cell is a 12v battery that will hold a charge for about a month. They are very easy to take care of...basically a 12volt is fully charged at around 13 or so volts, when it gets down to 12.5v just put it on the slow charger over night and you are good to go for quite some time.
You can also power a Glow heater off the 12v (need power panel) and your field charger.
I love my 12volt because I can charge my batteries on the way to run my cars or on the way to the field to fly.

The other option is to run 2 7.2volt battery packs which will cost you about $30 for 2 cheap ones. They usually wont last for a full days worth of racing unless your motor is perfectly tuned. If you have issues and end up hanging around on the box trying to start your car, you will drain them quick. Gel cell will fight you all day basically and still have some left.


Good luck

Dbow

I really like my OFNA starter box. It makes a sometimes harder job of starting an RC engine very easy. It all depends on what you can afford. If and when you ever buy one....you'll wonder why it took you so long to get one.

I'm waiting for the day when all we'll have to do "while sitting in a lounge chair" is point a remote starter "like a TV remote" at our engines and push a button and the engine fires right up. May be closer than we think!

This is a common problem with the Traxxas Pro 15 engine. As the engine gets older the starter shaft and the starter shaft bushing in the back plate wear and allow oil and fuel residue from the engine to contaminate the one way bearing causing it to slip. Replacing the shaft, back plate-bushing assy. and the one way bearing is the only way to fix it properly. If your engine has 3-5 gallons of fuel through it I would take advantage of their excellent engine exchange program and get a brand new engine. In a few months the new TRX 2.5 (.15 cubic inch) engine will also be available through the engine exchange program. And yes there is no problem using a starter box to start the Nitro Rustler.

Hey Nitro Flash....Good to hear from you! I thought maybe you were getting some drive time in on your RC's?

As always...good input!

Thanks crash, always like to help out. Spending my time assembling my new RC10GT FT.

Uhhh Ohhh......look out local racers....your gonna get blasted now!

How's it coming? That is a very nice truck! Are you doing any mods to it? Engine? Anything else you care to share with the group? Maybe some pictures when you have the time?

Take care.

My FT after 5 hours of hard work. Long way to go yet.

I'm trying to decide on a OS CV-r12 or TR12 for power and a JR XR3i or Airtronics MX3 for radio gear.

Very....Very nice truck there! You are making good headway.

What will be the influence for choosing either the OS or TR?


Thanks for posting the picture!