Gullwing72

Ok I am a newbie to the surface end of RC. Just bought a new Tmaxx 2.5.(wanted something to keep me busy when the wind is kicking up and a I can't fly my planes)..Having flown aircraft for over a year and having to be anal with planes, I read everything twice when it comes to setup;break in; maintance and so on. In the manual it says you have to replace the connecting rod, piston, sleeve.................if you lose compression or every 3 gallons of fuel. Being an auto tech. this sounds like alot of major work. Question is this; is this true and if so what is the cost and how much work are we talking about? Oh yeah and what tools do I need to buy to attemp this task? Any help would be great..........Thanx.......GW

twgreen3

I am on my first 2.5 engine and only have a gallon through it. I have heard that you can get as much as 6gallons through it unless you run it really lean which will cause it to burn up faster. For the 2.5 it will cost about $70 for a fitted sleeve and piston. I am not sure how much the wrist pin cost. I have never had to replace the connecting rod. I have heard they will typically last 2 to 3 piston sleeve sets. There are not special tools needed or any special talents. In fact traxxas has a excellent site on how to do this I would check it out.
good luck

ProfitOfDoom

Yea I wouldnt pay to much mind to it,,Get a temp device,I bought one from my hobby shop for liek 20 bux its not the best on the market but it does work.
But pay attention to directions and tune it good,the temp guage will help you getting it right,The engine will run for a long time if done right.
And if you need to rebuild a 2.5 engine I wouldnt you can get new ones on ebay that people take out of there maxx to replace them with some after market engine and just sell them,,you can get one for the price of a rebuild or close to it.
Have fun!

Gullwing72

Thanx doom, I may just buy a spare motor, and try my hand at a rebuild on the old one, at least I won't have to stop playing. Are the motors easy to swap out? Sorry for all the questions but I just hate being idle when I'm not at work........I drive my wife nuts and that ain't a good thing........

ProfitOfDoom

If you mean just taking a engine out,and putting a new one in,Yes its 4 screws on bottom of chassis,that screws into the engine mount,Undo those and un hook the ball end that is on the the carb arm and it comes right out,,and goes abck in just the same.
But remember to mesh up the gears nice,not to tight,not to sloppy.
I usually take a peice of paper and move the gears so that it take in the peice of paper between the gears,tighten screws,then roll the gear so it spits out the peice of paper,that way that lil space the paper was taking up makes a nice mesh for gears when the paper is gone.
And remember to use thread lock on screws on engine so that wont vibrate out.

Gullwing72

Cool thanx again. Sound easy enough. GW

Gullwing72

Sorry green I didn't see your post. Somehow it didn't show on the screen till now. Thanks for the info.......GW

Gullwing72

I have another question. I hate alkaline batteries. I have 2 Hitec Nicad RX flight battery packs for my planes doing nothing. I was wondering if a run them parallel they both would fit in the stock battery box. they are 4.8v and 270ma so I would going to 540ma and keeping the 4.8v. I am running a JR xs3 pro TX and the RS310 RX which will run on 4.8 to 6v. That way I can just keep the packs charged instead of changing batteries all the time. Will this be a better setup or should I just stay with the AA Duracells?

Wevie

You would be much happier with a 6v NiCd receiver pack. The 6v will really help the steering servo move those tires around.

Oh, and I just finished my 3rd gallon on my 2.5r and I have the same pinch as when I passed the 1 gallon mark. I check my temps maybe once a week - maybe. The 2.5r seems to be really durable so far.

beelzebubishere

My Feedback: (1)

I'd get an 1100mah NiMH pack from Tower....fits right in the T-Maxx battery box....did it to my Nephew's T. Just get a good charger too......Triton or ICE, and operate them off a 12vdc battery......for more on this, go here... http://nitroobsession.proboards79.com/index.cgi?

DaveG55

As you probably already know, the higher the mah rating the longer the run times you'll get. 540mah is not going to last very long for you. Also, as already said, you'll get better servo response if you've got 6 v to start with. There are several 5 cell hump packs available that will give you anywhere from 1100mah to 2500mah. They start, I think, around $15 and go up.
This one is real nice.
http://www.ballisticbatteries.com/St...ShowLarge=True
It's 2500mah, comes installed in a replacement battery box complete with on/off switch and charge lead. There have been several people that have bought it and I've yet to hear anything bad about it.

Gullwing72

Thanx everyone for the responces. I have a good charger I fly electric airplanes and helis with lipos. My charger will charge all three battery types. I like the looks of the battery pack at ballistic batteries. I ran my maxx through the break-in today. Holy @#$% I had no idea what 40mph was like on the ground. Most my planes due between 50 and 60 mph but it is a whole different ballgame on the ground. This thing is freaken blast. I got a good deal on a JR XS3 pro at my LHS it was used twice on dialing in a buggy. I got for 149.00 with the RS310 RX. I changed it out as soon as I got the truck.

DaveG55

You can use nimh batterys in the tx too if you want. Get the AA kind. I'm using some I got at WallyWorld. Four (4) 2200mah nimh AA's for less than $7. They're usually back near the camara center. You'll need to take the battery pack out to charge it though. JR puts some kind of circutry in the charge circut that won't let a standard charger charge it from the built in charge jack. If you want to try it anyway be careful as the JR jack is wired "backwards", meaning the sleeve is positive not the center.

clbphllps

Also, when charging inside RX packs, you may overheat the batteries without knowing. Be careful. They also have 2500 Mah. I have those in my m11 and I can go for atleast four to five hours with only a single charge. I've never actually let the Tx go dead to find out exactly how long.

Gullwing72

Thanx Dave. That was my next battery swap the TX. I just can't believe that a high end TX doesn't come standard with a rechargable battery pack and charger. I use Hitec on all my aircraft, but the JR deal was too good to pass up. ......GW

Gullwing72

Good to know about the over heating bats. I normally take the batteries out of everything I have. Got into the habit with lipos. ......GW

Gullwing72

Man you guys here in the truck forums sure do respond faster than the aircraft guys.....

FANTOM27REVO

My Feedback: (1)

that XS3 is the synthesised radio isnt it ? That was a steal at 150, plus no crystals. you'll like that. I got an XR3i for 80 bucks brans new from a buddy and I really like it, but I still have to run crystals.

DaveG55

Somebody on e-bay has an xs3 complete with tx, rx, servos, nib for $159 buy it now. Don't remember about shipping though.

Airpressure

I had a 2.5 and had it last 13 gallons! before it was hard to start warm then I got a new engine. It has alot to do with how long your engine life is, like tuning, driving style, and mostly luck!

Gullwing72

Yeah it is the synthesized radio I love it. I'd never shopped for a used TX before I bought this one. I had see it at Horizon and knew what is cost new so I went for it. 13 gallons!!!!!!!!!!!!Man I hope I am that lucky. I don't figure I will be hard on it. I'm not into bashing it. I just want something to tear up the local park with. Not to mention chase the ducks.LOL I fired it up at the apartments where I live today to do the break-in, and I drew a crowd in minutes. But I didn't get the dumb question I normally get with my aircraft "Can I try?" I thought about getting a T-shirt with"No you can't try it" on the back.LOL Thanks for all the help. Normally I find myself on the other end of the help thing with the planes. I will try and do the surface people proud...........I think the planes may have to go. Need more $$$$ for another nitro truck.LOL[X(]

DaveG55

Don't sell the planes, weellllll, at least not all of them
My dad's big into planes so naturally both my brother and I fly (I'm by far the worst of the bunch[:@]) but my brother and I also have nitro cars, MT's, boats and electric heli's.
By far the ones that get the most use are the MT's. They are such fun and soooo easy to have up and running in just minutes. And, unlike planes, most crashes are fairly easy and inexpensive to fix.

Gullwing72

No I'm not selling the planes........I have 6 planes 2 helis and now a Tmaxx. I couldn't part with any of them. I guess I will have to swap back and forth. Saturdays and Sundays with the aircraft and everyday after work with the maxx........GW