sokar

I spent all day today repairing my T maxx, and all for nothing. I invited a friend over to go driving at a local field, and I couldn't get the damn thing started. I spent hours and countless 1500 mah batteries trying to start this thing, and it just won't go. It was working perfectly yesterday. In fact, it started the first time I pressed the EZ start button.

It all started today, when in the morning I rode my bike up to the LHS and bought some suspention arms because I broke one in a crash yesterday. I spend all morning and a little past noon installing the arm. Then, I tried starting it. Nothing. I tried and tried and tried, but the engine kept getting flooded. It got so flooded at one point that it was spewing puddles of fuel out of the exhaust. I removed the glow plug igniter, tipped it up side down, and revved the start motor. It spewed tons of fuel out the carburetor. Then, I tipped it back and it seemed OK for about a minute, then it flooded again. I turned the mixture screw to make the mixture very lean. That seemed to solve the problem, however I did not touch the fuel screw since yesterday, and yesterday it worked fine with the fuel mixture set to more rich.

After that, I kept trying. Nothing. I kept trying to start it, and used 2 1500 mah batteries. Nothing was happening except the starter motor becoming searingly hot. I let it cool for awhile, and tried again. I tried changing the glow plug, charging my external glow plug igniter, using my internal glow plug igniter... nothing. At that time my friend showed up (he has a Jato 3.3), but I still couldn't get mine started. I even tried using a brand new glow plug, and still nothing worked. Then, I used his newer EZ starter with two lights: one for the glow plug and one for the starter motor. At first both were showing green. Then after a little while, the glow plug light went off. I tried replacing the glow plug again and the glow plug light came back on. After a little while however, the glow plug light went off again. I touched the blue wire glow plug igniter to the exterior of my engine and it made sparks. While it was making sparks the glow plug light on my friend's EZ starter flickered on. I thought to myself that it can't be that a brand new glow plug would become ruined so fast, so I kept trying to start it. After many battery charges and nearly burning out my starter motor, nothing happened. I've tried everything, plugging the carburetor, plugging the exhaust, squirting carburetor cleaner, using different glow plugs, using different glow plug igniters, and still nothing. I then became increasingly frustrated, still trying to start it at night after my friend left (we didn't get to drive).

I also might note that this T Maxx has been problematic since day 1, when I got it 6 years ago. It will sometimes work, and sometimes it just won't start. Even when it does work, it takes an unusually long time to start. When I would bring it in to my LHS to get it fixed up, it would work for a couple of weeks and then revert back to its stubbornness. Does anyone have any suggestions? I'm a bit frustrated at spending half my Saturday and my whole Sunday trying to repair this car, all for nothing. I took a vid, just to show you guys what it sounds like. Any suggestions on what to do? Do I need a certain part? Different fuel? Some help would be appreciated. Here's the vid, sorry for the darkness:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5_1DvL5dVQg

Try to watch the whole thing, because the sound gradually changes from beginning to end.

Note: It is not flooding, because I have checked the exhaust and there was not an excess amount of fuel being spewed out. The fuel is getting to the engine however, because I can see it through the hose. I also don't think its my starter motor, because I've gone through three of them already.

EDIT: Here's the new vid in daylight. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vObMZ46Yb_o

RIP_nitrodan

My Feedback: (1)

it sounds like it could be a number of things. however, all that come to mind you have probably checked/been through considering youve had this truck 6 years. i will go through them anyway...we all have a lapse from time to time . . .

-first thing i would check would be glow plug. look to see if it lights up if you have an ignitor. if not..its always safe to buy another as they are only $7 at my lhs. believe it or not...sitting there cranking on a flooded engine for 5 minutes like you did in your video could easily foul a plug.

-one way bearing could be slipping.

-piston/sleeve could have lost pinch or could be seized. have you had the same motor in your tmaxx for 6 years? if so the piston/sleeve could have lost all compresion. also, traxxas vehicles have a knack for getting seized open at tdc. might try heating the head with a blow dryer or heat gun then trying to start it.

GOOD LUCK!

TMaxxDriver

video was kinda funny, you might need some light in your garage or wherever you were working..


and anyway... o totally agree here with ripnitrodan... sometimes there can be a bad 'batch' of glow plugs that get to your LHS..

also, your piston/sleeve could be seized... possibly not, it sounds like everything was turning over...

i would try heating up the head with a hair dryer/heat gun... MY problem last week, was that my blue wire for EZstart was not igniting the glow plug, so i bought an ignitor and that fixed my problem... sounds like everything else you are doing, is what i would try myself... I can see where you are very frustrated... keep at it man... come back for more help if you need.. good luck..

RIP_nitrodan

My Feedback: (1)

also something else i just thought of. on your external glow driver sometimes you gotta clean the head with a qtip. it does get gummed up from time to time. best way to test ignitor and glow plug would be to take out plug and see if it lights up orange.

dkastil

it could just be to ritch, lean the lsn 1/8th at a time and open the idle screw a bit till you get it started then when it warms up you can find a good idle have some wd40 on hand if you flood when you clear the gass spray a shot of wd40 on the plug and have 2 plugs on hand make shure you hav e a fresh 7.2 and check to se that the plug glows bright .

sb13

My Feedback: (52)

I agree with the above, all of it. You have to start with one thing and move to the next until you figure it out. My 3.3 started going through plugs between every run at one point. I can't tell you exactly what the problem was other than I bought all the Traxxas plugs from my LHS at the same time and could'nt help but wonder if they had a bad batch. It could happen I suppose. In the end I used an OS plug and also McCoys with a glow ignitor and it fired up and never had that problem again. The Traxxas plugs would not fire it up with the glow ignitor so I know it was'nt the blue wire. That motor is being sent to TMaxxDriver for his truck and I hope all is well when he gets it. It ran fine in the end for me but I stuck with the other plugs and glow ignitor and never tried another Traxxas plug and the blue wire although maybe it would work now if I had a batch of bad plugs from Traxxas. Not sure but keep at it and you'll get it. Good luck.

sokar

I had two batches of glow plugs. I tried all of them with my glow plug ignitor and none of them lit up, even the brand new one from a third batch. My ignitor may not have been charged, so I'm charging it overnight.

They would also not light up with my blue wire, however they wouldn't light up with my friend's blue wire either and his starts fine. I'm going to charge the ignitor and try it again today if I have the time.

Note: This thing was running the day before all this.

matts6887

I agree with a bunch of the others in that it sounds like the one way bearing is shot. Also yes u should try putting a new plug in. Also re-set the needles back to factory and then lean them out approx. 1/4 turn at a time to see if that does anything...it also could be though as much as I hate to say it, it very well could be that the engine is possibly loosing compression and is slowly on its way out, especially after 6 years.....

GreenRacer

My Feedback: (3)

From your video it looks like the green LED for the glow plug is not lit. Check your glow plug, check the blue wire.

sokar

And how would I go about doing these things?

matts6887

Which thing(s) are u referring to?

sokar

Replacing the one way bearing and resetting the needles. I don't even know what those are or where they are located for that matter.

GreenRacer

My Feedback: (3)

If your engine is turning over your OWB is fine. The needles are the little screws in your carburetor.

nitro stan

your engine has'nt been tuned in 6 years, theres a good chance its shot

if you dont have a glow starter take out your plug , put it in the blue wire and hold it aginst a clean spot on the head facing up so you can see the element, push the start botton, should glow, if not replace it. also check youe yellow wire and make sure its grounded good to the engine, thats the ground for the glow plug

whats your air filter look like? clean? clogged?

TMaxxDriver

HOLY COW, thanks for your post nitrostan.... I just recently replaced my motor mount, and then after i went to start my ride... it wouldnt fire... so i got a glow ignitor, thinking it might be the blue wire (also bought a brand new blue wire), and it fired right up...

my point being, I NEVER thought to check the yellow wire.. i know that i put it back where it was screwed into the mount, but maybe its not grounding like it should!! i will have to check that out tomorrow, but just wanted to thank you for mentioning that!!! WOW, learn something new everyday!!

matts6887

tmaxxdriver; he's right about the yellow ground wire; as if that wire is not properly attached to the motor mount, it may not ground properly. So, that in fact could possibly be ur problem. In fact, the same thing has happened to me before on my Revo; but once I re-attached the wire properly it worked fine....

nitro stan

no problem, we need video when its running agian

matts6887

remember next time though, take some video with LIGHT on the subject. It makes for much better video taking especially when its dark...

sokar

So far its not running. I guess I'm off to the hobby store to buy another glow plug. I might just buy a new pro .15 though. This engine has been having starting trouble since I got it. We literally had to convince someone from my LHS to come out to the field I was driving at and start it for us. Maybe I got a lemon, I dunno. It has just been having starting problems for awhile now.

TMaxxDriver

did you try priming the carb by adding a few drops of fuel (remove the air filter) and drop a few drops in the carb...

sokar

I added some carburetor cleaner.

sb13

My Feedback: (52)

Where are you at with the no start issue now? Keep us informed and we will all do our best to help you. these are the things that get you down but you CAN NOT give up as this is what it's all about. Once you do get it running you are going to feel so proud of yourself and I'll be right there with you man feeling proud of you becouse you did it yourself. You can and will get it if you just keep at it and do not give up. Just wait and see how good you feel knowing that YOU did it and nobody else. It's truely a great feeling of success. Just wait and see.

sb13

My Feedback: (52)

BTW, if you need an engine just look on ebay and you can find a 3.3 at a good price if you keep your eyes open. Don't feel bad if you do becouse it happens and really is no biggie. Easy to change but get your mesh right between the spur and clutch bell if that is what you have to end up doing.

matts6887

Just don't give up so easily man. Its more than likely something simple that is preventing it from starting. Make sure to obviously put another fresh plug in it, make sure its not flooded, make sure fuel is reaching the carb and keep at it man, its bound to kick over at some point. Also make sure that u have a fully charged ezstart battery. Also, if u are using the blue wire still, do urself a HUGE favor and ditch the blue wire and get a handheld ignitor. It will work much better than the blue wire....

sb13

My Feedback: (52)

+1 here.