Hi guys, I've been out of the hobby for quite sometime and decided to dig out my old Losi XXXT and covert to a Brushless system. I picked up a Castle Sidewinder 3 and installed it along with my old Novak XXL Reciever and Futaba Magnum jr contoller. I'm having some issues calibrating it.... I've gone through the steps as stating in the manual and the ESC seems to have recognized throttle, brake and neutral. Upon completion all LEDs light up and I get the beeping sound and the yellow light come on meaning its armed and ready. Soon as I hit the throttle the motor will spin for about 1/2 second and dies, then the green/yellow lights blink. I cannot seem to figure out what's wrong, steering works fine I just only get the motor to spin briefly and then nothing. I've tried bith normal and reverse throttle settings and still no luck. I have three seperate throttle trim settings. Main throttle trim which has zero setting in the middle and 1-5 going clockwise and counter clockwise. I also have two other settings marked TH.ATV with a low adjustment of 1-10 and a high adjustment 1-10. Not sure where I should be? Can anyone offer some assistance, I'm out of ideas. Thank you

A couple things to check:
-You may want to try calibrating with you EPA's set to max
-It sounds to me like your LVC (low voltage cutoff) is kicking in. The LVC is there to protect your battery, as LiPo's cannot be discharged too far or they will be damaged. I don't know what the settings are like on the Castle, but you can usually set ESC's to auto-detect your LiPo cell count or you set it manually. The ESC needs to know how many cells the battery has to accurately apply the LVC. For example, 3.2V per cell is a common cutoff, so if you are running a 2S pack your lVC would be set to 6.4V. If it was set for, say, a 3S pack then it would want to see 9.4V or more to function. If you are running a fully charged 2S pack you will have 8.4V, so if you were in 3S mode then it would cut out immediately.
I would re-check your calibration but what you say about the motor starting for a second and then stopping to me sounds like an issue with your lVC. Do you have a program card or USB link for the ESC to check the settings?

I don't have a USB cable to use the online programming that I read about in the manual. I did forget to mention I am running a brand new fully charged 3300mah Ni battery and not a lipo. I believe I tried calibrating with both the High and Low TH.ATV settings at 10 with no luck. If I'm having an issue with Voltage Cut Off theres no way to correct it without connecting to a computer?

I'm wondering if you're running a AM radio system? I had the same problem as you're describing, & found out later the problem was because I was using an old AM radio system.
In fact, some manufactures, (Novak for one), tells you to only use either FM or 2.4GHz radio systems.
Why? Because of radio noise & interference.

This is likely your problem, the ESC needs to be in LiPo mode and not NiMh. That explains why it is cutting out on you (most likely).
I also agree with ditching the AM radio, nowadays you can get a 2.4ghz that will do the job for very little money and it is light years ahead of any AM system you could use.

Thanks for the help guys I appreciate it. I assume I must be using an AM radio, it's at least 15 years old. I do have two of them and both do the same thing. So if I switch between Lipo and NiMh then I will need to connect to a computer to make the change in settings? Can you guys recommend me an inexpensive radio and would I need to replace my reciever as well for it to work with a newer FM style radio?

Yes, if you use a FM radio, then you need a FM receiver. Same thing if you use a 2.4GHz radio, the receiver needs to be 2.4GHz too.
If you want good, I'd try to find a 2.4GHz system (radio & receiver). Might look for a Spektrum DX2 or 2.0 with a SR3000 or SR300 receiver. You can find those either new (if you're lucky), or used for less than $100. Also, Losi makes the same system, that was used in many of their RTR vehicles.
Also, I believe you can MANUALLY change the settings on your ESC, including the LIPO cutoff.
TRY THIS:
To get into programming mode on the ESC:
1. Turn your transmitter on.
2. Plug the battery into the ESC with its switch off. Note: if your ESC does not have a switch, hold full throttle on your transmitter
before plugging in the battery.
3. Hold full throttle on your transmitter and turn the ESC switch on.
4. The ESC will go through its boot up sequence blinking green
5. There will be a sequence of melodic tones and the light will turn red
6. Keep holding the trigger, within 6 – 8 seconds the light will turn yellow. You are in programming mode; let the trigger return to
neutral.
When in programming mode, the ESC will beep once, pause, then beep once again and repeat until a change is made with your
transmitter. If you accept setting 1. Brake/Reverse Type’s default option 1: Reverse Lockout, you would pull full throttle to accept
option one. When the trigger is returned to neutral the beep pattern will change to 2 beeps followed by 1 beep meaning that by
selecting option 1 you jump to setting 2. If at setting 2: Brake Amount, you reject option 1. 25% by going to full brake/reverse the
beep pattern will change to 2 beeps, meaning it’s still at setting 2, followed by 2 beeps meaning you are now at option 2 under
setting 2.
Look at the inside back cover of the guide to the Castle Car ESC Programming Guide. This shows the programming sequence as
settings and options. Accept or reject options, usually selecting the default, unless you want to change that specific setting.
As an example, say you want to turn off the default Voltage Cutoff to run NiMh batteries. Work through the settings and options
selecting the default options until you get to 7 beeps, meaning Cutoff Voltage, followed by 1 beep for option 1: None. This is the
correct setting for NiMh. Select option 1 by going to full throttle. Once you have changed the setting you want you can unplug
power from the ESC to get out of programming mode. You do not need to finish all of the settings. The ESC will store your changes
until you change them again.

Wow thank you for that information. I'll attempt to give that a shot, otherwise looks like I'm going to have to buy a new radio/reciever? I'll report back after I follow your instructions. Thank you again