TMax Cooling Hole??
 

Hey Guys,
I'm an airplane guy (16 years) who just bought a Tmax truck to get my kids hooked onto RC (or, at least that's what I told my wife..)

Anyway, I got the engine running tonight, ran a lap or two around the yard...

Here's my question: The manual shows a cooling hole should be cut in the windshield to allow air to pass thru the body and over the engine for better cooling. In the airplane world this is a MUST...you gotta have cooling air going thru the cowling. How important is this to the Tmax? Is this one of those things that MUST be done...or is it really necessary?

I'm running the engine pretty rich for the first gallon, lots of smoke coming outta the muffler.
-Doug

TMax Cooling Hole??
 

my brother runs the body stock no extra holes cut and has had no problem with cooling but i would cut a rectangular hole in the driver side of the body just to be safe and run more efficient

TMax Cooling Hole??
 

depends on where your going, my friends and i play around in taller grass and mud a lot so all the tmaxxers actually have little 9volt fans pointed at there cooling head :)

T-Maxx cooling hole
 

I'm also an "airplane guy" whose kid has a T-Maxx. Setting the mixture seems to be more critical than cutting a hole in the body for cooling. You can easily get into trouble (too lean) even running WITHOUT the body. I'm also a hobby shop owner and have had many opportunities to set up/tune T-Maxx trucks for my customers. (I think cars more difficult to tune than airplanes!)

Want a foolproof way to set the mixture? Take it out to a wide open space so you can run it a while at full throttle (I use the local school parking lot). Start the engine and run it for a few laps to make sure it's up to operating temperature. RICHEN the mixture gradually until the truck WON'T shift into 2nd gear any more. Then lean slightly until it WILL shift into 2nd after a long straightaway. THIS IS A SAFELY RICH SETTING. It will be too rich for putting around the yard; lean slightly (usually no more than 1/4 turn). Same rule: lean mixture ONLY until it will shift near the end of the longest straightaway. You'll never get into trouble running around like this (unless your kids figure out what the needle valve does.....!) :D

Whenever someone has trouble setting one of these up I'll meet them at the local schoolyard and show them this technique. This seems to get them in the ballpark and I don't usually hear from them again. I'm sure that there are many other methods (probably better) that will work. I thought I'd share mine because it's easy and I've had a fair amount of success with it. I even bought an infared temperature gun to help guide me in setting the mixture. I still find myself reverting back to my original method because it's quicker and easier........