Sorry for the necro bump, did some searching but didn't find much. What spot on the motor do you guys check the temps at? When I point the temp guns laser right on the glow plug/glow plug area my 3.3 Traxxas motor in my new Revo is usually around 220f, but if I point the laser at the outside of the head/motor fins toward the very top it reads at around 270F. My Traxxas manual says to get the reading "at the glow plug", but I just wanted to make sure that's what everybody else is doing to when they talk about their temps on their engines.

Glow Plug

And make sure your at a consistent height off the glow plug, different height will
Give a different reading, I normally rest the gun against the top of the head to get same height reading every time

Very cool, thanks guys. Yeah, at first I was going off the temps at the top of the head and was like, "geez, my engine sure is running kinda hot at 270-290F. Then I got the temp at the glow plug at only 220-240F and was like, "oh, it seems fine then".

Temp is just a guide. It was said on the 1st page find someone who can help you tune and then you will know how it's suppose to sound. Tune for smoke and performance. That means that it should idle well and spool up nice and then back down. Tuning a nitro engine can be difficult if you don't know what you are doing but watch an experienced tuner dial it in and learn. IMO 220-280 is acceptable as long as it sounds good and has a little bit of smoke. I have ran engines warmer than that and I knew the consequences but never colder than 220, it's just as hard on an engine being too cold as too warm. Different fuels will smoke differently too depending on the oil package

One thing to keep in mind with temp guns - all but the Exergen are emission reading devices. Displayed temp readings can be influenced by color of the cooling head and also the porosity of the head.

When testing, put a piece of duct tape (colored similar to the engine head) on the outside of the pan of hot water and take your reading on the tape. Not perfect, but better than taking a reading through water into a shiny bottom pot.

Ah, thanks for the tip on testing my temp gun. On a boiling pot of water right now it was reading about 208F, that's about right on, just a few degrees off. Thanks again.