alucard13

My father in law bought an rs4 rtr3 nitro car like me but while breaking it in we noticed that the temp was like 290 degrees. when we first started it up, the idle was high making the wheels turn and the carb looked like it was open a little more than it should be. so i lowered the idle just a little bit and made the carb opening 1mm. but while breaking it in the engine temp looks way high. should i adjust the needle? my needle valve doesnt stop after three turns clockwise or counter-clockwise (even though the directions say it should). I have the 15fe engine. how do i know when it fully open or closed? then once i get it closed or open, how many turns (and which direction do i turn) should i do?


i found out what i was doing wrong. it was telling me to close it till it stops, then turn counter clockwise 3 turns. i think i got it. i'll let you know

alucard13

new question:

i've set the carb to the factory settings for break in. While i'm driving, every few minutes i stop to get a temp reading. while its stopped the engine will die. should i adjust the carb or the idle screw and make the idle a little higher? right now it has a nice trail of smoke at mid and high throttle. just after it is warmed up it will stall if i let it idle for a couple seconds.

buggyman81

turn the idle up a litte bit, that might help

nitro dipstick

you did not say what your temps where. I would say you are running a bit rich, and this is what is causing it to stall. Try leaning it out a few clicks at a time. Watch your temps, you should be running about 220 with the body off.

alucard13

i turned the idle up and it doesnt stall anymore, but its running around 275-280 which is way to high. i'm trying to richen it more so that its not so high.

compuatic

to tell you the truth, it sounds like your engine is jacked up. if you were at those kind of temperatures at break in that would be a sign. even though the 15fe is the shittiest engine i have seen in terms of power, it is the most reliable. if your needle is any where between 1.5 out (very lean) and 4.5 out (very rich) the engine will run and never die. the needle should be between 2-3 turns out for optimum performance on the fe. if you cannt get the engine to run right, learn your lesson and dont screw up your next engine. always remember that its easier to get a lean engine running than a rich one, but thats not what you should be doing.

alucard13

Right out of the box it was running at like 290. the first one i got ran fine and didnt overheat. i have turned it to 3 turns to richen it out so that it doesnt overheat. tomorrow i'm going to try a few things and see what it does

compuatic

btw, i hope i didnt sound harsh in my post. sorry if i did. if you had another fe before this one and everything was fine... its possible that something could be wrong with this one from factory. i wish you all the luck, if all fails maybe try contacting HPI...

alucard13

you didnt sound harsh. i appreciate the help. the only thing i can think of is while a ran the 2 tanks at idle the needle may not have been set right from the factory. i reset it myself to 3 turns, but i can remember how many it was in the beggining.

what kind of car do you have?

compuatic

Onroad, i have

1- HPI Super Nitro Big block conversion
2- Trinity Reflex NT W/MT-12
3- Mugen MTX-2 Pro-Spec W/MT-12 Turbo
4- HPI Nitro Mini which i dont run because i treat the car more as a collectible.

i started a few years ago with an RS4 and while the car is no where near competitive level as others, i have learnt alot and never regret buying it. Plus HPI cars seem to have great resale for some reason, so i didnt loose anything when i sold it

alucard13

what about ntc3? do you like those? I love my hpi rs4, but like you said, its not very competitive. I want to get used to the handling and tuning, but in a month or so i want to get another car. Can you suggest any?

compuatic

Well, the TC3 has a very good reputation and great potential. i dont have the nitro one but do have an electric tc3. The NTC3 aready has a track record which proves the car's capability, its also extremely poplular. for your next car i would do as follows. pick your favorite three. keeping in mind what you can afford. then base your decision on local parts support (very important), and what everyone else is running (you get lots of helpfull setup tips, help with problems etc). one thing to think about is that if its a vey hard decision to pick which of two cars, then one of them cannt be superior to the other. so either way youll get a good one.

alucard13

Great, thanx for the advice Much appreciated.

TimPotter

iTrader: (15)

Alucard,

Those Fe's do run hot.... but it seems you may bee too lean.

What car where you running saturday night ?

alucard13

hpi rs4 rtr3. with the blue Acura integra body. I took today off work (since everyone else took off on friday) and when i woke up this morning i decided to tune the engine. I closed it all the way and then turned it 3 1/2 turns counter clockwise (to open it). I tried to run it like a road course, and the temp got up to about 230-250, which is ALOT better than before (280). But the car i am talking about is my father in laws. My car is running ok, the only prob is when i took a hit on saturday, i had to re adjust my linkage on the servos and for some reason i cant figure out how to keep the carb closed to 1mm. i've got the idle screw set right but whenever i put the linkage back on it and i screw it in it opens up a little more. so when i turn the car on the wheels spin a little bit every once in a while.

spooky, is your real name bryant? Cause i see you're from Boynton Beach and I met someone named bryant on sat from boynton beach.

I just called HPI and they said the running temp for the 15fe engine is 280-290. i think thats a little high, but it came right from the horses mouth.