Any Advice Please
 

Hi All,

I have recently got into Nitro off road Buggies, mainly because of both my sons, They have recently got an Hobao Hyper 8.5 Pro each, One has the Hobao 3 port engine in and the other, my youngest son's has a recently purchased Fastrax Enduro 3 port race engine. I have been made Chief mechanic by my lads, ooh help. Im learning from scratch:blush: I need some advice on how to set up these engines, the Fastax has Turbo Glow plugs, but I have read some where that the engine is difficult to tune, ie have a much smaller window than with standard plugs, is this the case? I need to learn how to tune these so Im not damaging the engines and getting the most out of them, so my lads have more time thrashing and less time scratching heads wondering where Im going wrong. Is the a good set up guide out there?
Im disabled which leaves my with the reactions of a 3 toed sloath lol so racing is out for me, but my lads would like to start eventually.

Thanks Very Much in advance

I think you should look into offroad nitro engine forum. There are break in and tuning topics which you can learn a lot from.

While on RCTech.net click "Nitro Off-Road" then at the top of the list of all the treads, click "OffRoad Nitro Engine Forum". The first thing on the list will be the "engine break in bible" and the "engine tuning bible" or something similar to that. The "tuning bible" is what you're after. The subject can get very involved as you can see by how many related threads and relpies there are to each one.

In addition to what's in the tuning bible, start with this info to limit some frustration:

Before you do any tuning or starting, nitro engines should be pre heated with a heat gun ($20 at Amainhobbies.com) to near operating temperature. 200 degrees fahrenheit is well enough (engines when fully warmed and run for a while can get safely hotter than that... 230 - 250+ depending on the engine and who you ask). An infrared temp "gun" ($35) helps to figure this out. When they are not fully warmed up they don't run too well, so don't even bother trying to tune if they're not warmed up. Refer to the bible for everything else.

Have extra glow plugs on hand, because sometimes they go out for no reason. And the new one you just put it can go out two seconds later. If your engine was running then suddenly not and doesn't refire, change the plug and try again.

R/C clutches are not very reliable. Its not going to do 100,000 miles like a real car may. They need maintanence. The clutch bearings (that go inside the clutch bell- the gear on the front of the engine) fail regularly. Be prepared to check those if the engine shuts off inexplicably and regularly or can't be tuned well. The clutch shoes (inside the clutch bell) also deform (mushroom) over time and can jam the clutch. The deformation can be cut off with a utility knife, filed, or dremeled and reused if they otherwise still have meat. (Specialized tools can ease the pain associated with rebuilding the clutch). The tell tale sign of a jammed clutch is that your wheels never stop spinning and the car stalls as soon as the wheels touch the ground or you hit the brakes. If using a pull start, you won't be able to turn the engine over if the wheels are on the ground.

This is more than I was planning to write, but I guess the list just keeps on going! Read the bibles,which are far more in depth than this, then jump in and try it. There will be some frustration so just know that.

If you have a track near by, go to a race and talk to people there. That would be your best bet. Otherwise, a hobby shop.

This one is "the best advice " , belonging to a club is always the best place to start and the best way to find free advice from people with the same passion, otherwise you might end up (like lot of beginners )with a total disgust of this hobby after your encounter you first problems like I have seen it happen many times over the years.
Plus once your lads will start to drive and take pleasure in it, they will then be able to measure themselves against other racers and progress that way.