15fe won't start. about had it with nitro before i've driven it
 

i have a 15fe that just won't start. i have never had to start. i bought a rs4 and it was in need of some attention. 50 bux. after spending two weeks getting it complete and soaking off the half inch of old fuel/grime etc off of the whole thing i finally got the pullstart in the mail and filled up with fuel. primed it and everything. i did follow the manuel on how to set up initial needle settings and nothing the damn thing just floods
i rebuilt it with a medium traxxas glow plug.
fuel i picked up was odonell 30%

the piston and sleeve looked fine however i don't know anything about nitro. i figured this was a good way to start. always been an electric guy.

i have tried liquid gasket anywhere i could. the glowplug works. i tried it with the the head off. glow warmer is charged and also brand new. carb is set to a 1mm opening. engine does pull fuel through it. i get the popping sound out of the exhaust that i didn't get when i brought it home which says to me i did it right. i have even taken the engine apart again to make sure i didn't put the piston or anything in wrong. i do think i am getting some combustion as when i am trying to get the engine flood taken care of i do see some brownish black whatever that says something is igniting. i'll try to take a picture later after work so i can show and maybe someone can tell me if i need a new piston/sleeve. they are jsut like 45 bucks and i can get a nitro star t-15 for about 70 on ebay.

you want to prime till fuel reaches the carb and then stop.
wait a couple of seconds for the fuel to get to the bottom... then crank her up

I think your on to something when u say it floods,the setting in manuel is for a new engine when u need to run it rich,lean it about 2-1/2 turns from close on high end needle,if there's a low end needle-flush collar,don't get over it before you enjoy the nitro rush:nod:

If I'm not mistaken, those engines are designed to run 20% nitro fuel - don't know if your 30% is contributing to the problem. Also I think the recommended plug is an OS 8 - there again I don't know if the Traxxas plug you're using is part of your problem. It's been a long time since I've played with the 15FE and I don't remember the settings, but it's possible that you have it a little too rich. You can try leaning it down a 1/8 turn at a time to see if you can get it to fire. If you can get access to a starter box that will work with your configuration it will make it a lot easier than messing around with the pull starter, especially until you can get it running initially.

the 30% was sort of an accident. i wanted a quart and i thought i found the last one but i wasn't paying attention. i don't need a gallon in my little apartment at least until i i know what i am doing. i didn't know the engine was designed for lower content. i just had gathered it just shortens the engine life.

the guy i bought it from said he used the traxxas racing fuel in it and a medium glow plug. i asked at the lhs for a medium plug and that's what was given to me. glow warmer is brand new and so is the fuel lines.

it is a single needle carb. also i pump it til fuel reaches the inlet. and then two more times so the fuel is in the engine. if on the second time i pump the primer i see a good amount of fuel bubble up does that mean i already flooded the carb? i actually thought to myself that i didn't really clean the carb well. so i took it apart and got a good amount of junk out of it but no help either. i've tried with the carb all the way open and every which way in between.

i have tried to lean it out as well as richen it just to see a change but nothing.

thanks i'll post with hopefully good news in the next day or so. i'll go pick up 20% and a different plug and go from there.

check the backplate and carb for leaking, those engines were prone to doing so, I had my .15fe for years until I got fed up with it and bought a .12cv-rx.


also take out the glow plug and place it on the glow ignitor, check to see if its glowing, you would be suprised how many times its just a dead battery in the glow ignitor.

the carb doesn't leak. it's sealed up to with liquid gasket. seems like i do get some leakage not on the backplate but the starting shaft brass bushing seems like it does a little but i figured it is due to pulling too much and flooding it.

well to no avail i couldn't get any different results than before which is absolutely nothing. so i ordered a nitro star t3.0. 88 bucks on ebay. should be here in a couple days and i think i will be more happy with it. thanks for trying to help.