Buggy engine turning off...
 

Just had to swap out my chassis as it was bent by a friend driving into a curb, I took it out today for the first time and found the glow plug was shot, so I swapped that out.

Buggy ran great, probably better than it was running before my friend smashed it up. It turned off about half tank through. I couldn't get the pull start to budge.Igave it a few minutes and it pulled w/ some encouragment. Car started up again and ran well, it seemed to be running rich (last time I had it out it was about 20 degrees cooler), so Igave it an 1/8th turn it really ran well. After running it for about 10 minutes it turned off again. This time I was able to restart without any problems w/ the pull start.

Any suggestions/ideas what is going on? I don't have a temp gun, it was running strong, nice trail of blue smoke. Could it have been too rich? It died when I was on throttle, didn't have any issues coming from a dead stop/idling. Could the engine be getting too hot, evven though there was enough smoke and the engine was bogging at all?

RE: Buggy engine turning off...
 

It could have vapor locked. Check the temps, if they hover around 300F or above when it shuts off then it's likely it's boiling the fuel coming in and can't compress the resulting vapor.


If it is overheating, cutting some vent holes in the bodywork should fix it. If it's smoking it's got ample fuel and oil flow, so that's not a concern.

RE: Buggy engine turning off...
 

I'm guessing best spot to cut a hole is in front windshield to get best airflow to engine?

Thanks for the advice.

RE: Buggy engine turning off...
 

Yes, windshield in front of the engine, rear window behind it to vent the air back out, and a side window closest to the engine will help as well.

RE: Buggy engine turning off...
 

Any recommendations on a cheap temp gun?

Can I just cut the body w/ a razor, or do I need something specifically for an RCbody?

RE: Buggy engine turning off...
 

Razor works. My suggestion to get a nice, clean hole with smooth, round edges is to score the shell, then tear it. It will tear at the score line you put in it.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fascLqFVtf4[/youtube]


As far as a temp gun goes...I don't use one at all. Three drops of water on the glow plug, if they boil instantly it's too hot, if they don't boil at all it's too cold, simmer over 2-5 seconds is just right.