i am at factory settings on the needles..high speed is 2.5 turns...this is the first time i'm trying to fire up this monsoon...it'll get fired up for about 10 seconds max before dying...only thing i've added is the fuel filter in the exact center of the fuel line from the tank to the engine...and during the 10 seconds it's running, if i put increase the throttle at all, it dies

what's going on? how can i keep this thing running...this is my first nitro and don't know anything about running these engines...i'm trying to break it in right now

also once i remove the glow plug igniter, it dies almost instantly too...i'm in houston, so it's not like the engine's cold or anything...

What fuel are you running? When you take the air filter off how much of a gap do you have on the slide? Once you get it started lightly goos the throttle and give it more and more every time. Keep the glow plug on it to keep the plug hot adn try running it a little. The Low speed needle might bee a little too rich. You can turn it in about 1/16 turn at a time.

running traxxas 20%...when i take the filter off, the gap is about a couple milimeters, not sure exactly how to measure it...i'll try the low speed needle

i changed out the glow plug and it stays on now when i remove the igniter...but now i think the igniter is dead or something cause i can't get the engine to turn anymore

everything was at factory settings, i'm not sure exactly what's going on here...i'm about ready to throw this thing in the trash...how long should an igniter last...i've been workin on this thing for an hour or so

My monsoon did the exact same thing when I tried to break it in and I ran through 3 tanks at 10 seconds at a time like that. My problem was the pipe. I was not getting fuel pressure from the pipe to the tank and into the carb. I would prime the carb by blowing in the fuel line and it would run for 10 seconds and die and run also when I took the ignitor off it would die. What I found out was the nipple in the pipe that the fuel line attaches to is supposed to have a hole in it into the pipe so the pressure can go into the tank and it was never drilled on my monsoon. I drilled it out myself and used a grub scew like the one to tighten down your shock shaft on the bottom and jb welded it so it would not come out and then I had fuel pressure to the tank and it started up and ran fine. Redcat warranteed it for my anyways with a new pipe. So take off you fuel at the fuel tank that connects to your pipe and blow in it into you pipe and see if it is free, if not then it is blocked to and needs to be drilled out or put a new pipe on it.

well i just blew into the line going from the tank to the pipe and it's free...not clogged at all...also once i changed out the glow plug, it was able to stay running when i removed the igniter

The traxxas fuel should be fine. That is what I used in my monsoon until recently because I put a rotostart on it and traxxas fuel has a higher oil content in it and would make my one way bearing slip making hard to start. This will happen to you too even with your pullstart if you keep using that fuel. Nothing wrong with it but it did it to all of my buggies and truggies so I changed and have not had a problem since.

A bad glow plug will do that too when you pull the ignitor off. If it runs now then you should be fine. You will have to lean it out as you break it in because they are set rich from the factory and as you break it in it will seem to run rough and want to stall with alot of white smoke coming out of the pipe which is normal because the richer it is the more it will smoke especially with the traxxas fuel. You really should only have to lean out the high speed to get it running pretty good and fine tune it later after the break in.

what is your high speed needle set at? i tried leaning it out while my igniter was still working, but even the slightest throttle would kill the engine

how long are these igniters supposed to last also?

and i just noticed dents in the pipe that weren't there before...not sure what that's about...some kinda pressure inside the pipe that's causing it?

What kind of igniter do you have?

speed 1.2 V, 1800 mah
part of the starter kit that came with the car

i also noticed that when i pick it up off the ground, the wheels don't turn freely

You should be able to spin the wheels freely. If you turn one rear tire the other should turn the oposite way.

i meant when the monsoon's idle, the wheels don't turn when it's off the ground...i see videos of cars with free turning wheels up on boxes during break in...this doesn't make sense to me, everything's factory and the slightest throttle kills the damn thing...and how long do i need to keep the igniter on the glow plug when first starting it up...this second glow plug i'm on is starting to do the same thing - kill the engine if i take it off

this is really annoying...3 hours of fruitless attempts and a dead igniter

Recharge the gnitor. Notro can be a pain at first expecially if you dont know how to tune it properly. Ignitor should be on for maybe 20-30 sec or until it will idle by itself. Then blip the throttle till you can get full throttle without it dying.. You may also need to turn up your idle a bit to keep it running. Factory settings are not always right.

Check your pipe where it is mounted to the back of the motor and check it at the joint gasket where the pipe and header meet and see if it wet underneath it or around it. If it is wet around it or dripping off at those spots onto the pullstart or chassis at the joint coupling you could have a air leak and when you give it throttle you are not getting enough pressure to flow fuel to the carb. I just had this problem with my protos and it would idle fine and keep running sitting still but when I touched the throttle it would die. I had to different air leaks on my pipe and it was wet their. Make sure everything is sealed with not leaks and that your carb is tight and not moving.

The starter that comes with the kit is garbage, get a better one. Mine will work well maybe for one or two times starts off a full charge then after nothing.

ok i got 2 igniters now and working with both...i kinda figured out that the throttle trim was a bit off...i when i'd give it throttle, it was opening up way too much...when i'd mess with the servo manually, i could get the car to throttle without dying...so i adjuste the trim and now i can make it move altho something stll doesn't seem right cause the trim is now at -100%...maybe it'll act different once the engine is broken in, i dunno

so i notice smoke when i throttle...there's smoke and a little bit of fuel being spit out of the pipe...that's normal, right? just means a little bit rich?

by the way, there was no wetness where the pipe and engine meet, the gasket seems tight

acceleration seems pretty slow...i need to throttle about 1/4 before the car starts moving...the car is no where near its optimum performance, but i guess that's too be expected during break-in...i'm just doing a couple full throttle passes for a few seconds, so it reaches 15 mph max...i'll do this a couple more tanks until it's broken in and then start making adjustments, since it's at least moving now...

we'll see how it goes after a few more tanks

eh, this second tank isn't going to so well...still have the igniter in, but once i take it out, the engine dies, even after half a tank...is the glow plug bad? and it takes a long time for the engine to turn now, i was only able to start it twice...this is the second tank after letting it cool...man, i don't get these engines

and my temp gun shows it's only at 150 degrees...is it not hot enough?

sounds like the plug is bad and 150 is way to rich.

man screw this, i'm going to the hobby shop on monday...the pull start screwed up and i wasn't even pulling it to 100%...everytime i tried to start, i'd only feel the flywheel making 1 rotation...i have a rotostart that i installed...but once i changed that out, something jacked with the throttle servo and the damn thing doesn't even break anymore...and now i'm back to the beginning where any throttle response kills the car

what the hell? 6 tanks through and i can't even keep the thing running or any parts working...i've got nothing to show for it, didn't make one measly step forward on this damn car

There really is only two things that can change the throttle servo setting.

1- instead of taking off the cup at the end of the throttle servo arm when you removed the motor to put the rotostart on you took of the throttle servo are and the servo then did not put it back on correctly in the same spot.

2- For some reason you touched the trim setting on the controller and did not notice it.

Putting on the the rotostart should have nothing to do with the way the truck runs. I know it is frustrating but it is to everyone who is new at this and it may suck but everything you are doing now you would have to have learned anyways later and is making you learn how these things work and then it is alot easier. Believe me the truck is a good truck. If you have totally given up on it then if you can spare a few dollars you local hobby shop should be able to get it running for you and you can just pick it up and go and have fun.

i made sure to put the part back in the same spot on the servo...there were only two holes in the servo, and i kept an eye on which one it was...hopefully the people at the hobby shop will be helpful...just not sure why eveything that can go wrong has gone wrong and not one bit has been easy