Woohoo! I'm in business!!!!

[JayJ]

I finally got the T-Maxx running today. I took it back to the LHS (for the fifth time) and it turns out that there were two reasons why it wouldn't move: First, it was a little bit too rich, but that wasn't the main problem. The main problem was that I just wasn't giving it quite enough throttle. When I was trying to get it to move, I was only giving it about 1/2 to 3/4 throttle because the instructions said to never give a new engine full throttle with no load on it, so naturally, I never did that for fear of destroying the engine. The guy at the LHS had to give it full throttle before it would move, but said it won't hurt to do that for a couple seconds; just don't hold it there during break-in. So I just spent all afternoon running five tanks through it and breaking it in, and here's the deal:

The guy who helped me couldn't get the truck to run by leaving the high-speed mixture screw at the recommended 2 1/2 turns out. He had to adjust it to 2 turns out to get the truck to run, so I had to break it in from there. This means that by the time I was finished, the high-speed mixture screw was less than 2 full turns out, but the instructions say not to adjust it less than that. Well, I noticed my truck doesn't run very well at that setting and runs better at 1 1/2 to 1 3/4 turns out. Will I hurt my engine by running it this lean? Even after five tanks of fuel, it stumbles and stutters quite a bit at 2 turns out, but is smoother at less than that, so I now have it at 1 3/4 turns out. Can I leave it this way? That's really my main concern right now. It also won't shift into second gear, but that problem is discussed in the manual, so I'll see if I can get that taken care of tomorrow. I hope my truck is running like it's supposed to. It still stumbles a bit on take-off, but I thought this was normal for nitro????

[THORAX]

I had do do the same with mine. Mine would not run at 2.5 turns. In fact it would barely run at 2.25. mine is now around 1.75 and is just right. Remember that each engine is different and depending on the break in will all be different. I called traxxas when i first got the truck and they said some of them were a little too rich from the factory. Hope it makes you feel a little better. Enjoy the Maxx

[chucksolo]

Yeah, it all depends on the individual engine. My T-Maxx runs hot at anything less than 2 and a half turns out so I run it there. My Nitro Rustler used to run it's best at 3 turns out. I had to replace the engine though after about 4 gallons. If you run your T at 1 3/4 turns out make sure that you watch the temperature real closely. It doesn't take much to cook an engine. I was running my T at 2 turns out and the Traxxas tech told me that was too lean.

[JAY10203]

have you ever check the low speed needle? If it is not set right the truck would be sluggish on the take off.