Just trying to make sure I'm doing the right thing. (pretty long)

[JayJ]

Right now, I'm 98% sure that I'm going to sell my T-Maxx. I apologize to those who are tired of hearing me complain, but I must complain. I plan on selling it back to my LHS this Tuesday, after the holiday weekend. I'm only posting this as sort of an assurance that I'm doing the right thing. I have had this truck for almost two weeks now and it has been nothing but trouble. I bought it, with great enthusiasm and eager anticipation, to have fun this summer. But every time I drive it or even work on it, I put it away feeling frustrated and upset. In other words, it puts me in a bad mood. I've spent hours fiddling with it, reading the instructions over and over and making every adjustment possible, but after everyone's help here (which I am very appreciative of) and the help of my LHS (I've been there so many times they're sick of me) it only rewards me by running like a Yugo. I probably spend two hours working on it to every one hour running it, and most of that one hour is wasted making constant adjustments. Yesterday, I actually got it to run reliably enough to put the body on for a tank of fuel without having to pull it over to make adjustments. Today, I spent an hour just trying to get it to start, even though it was running so well (in comparison) yesterday. I finally said, "To heck with it," and put it away. I'm only sorry that I wasted nearly $500 on a Traxxas product, and I don't believe I will ever buy from them again. I'm so ticked off that I can't even act mad. There is plenty more I could gripe about (such as the EZ-Start giving me as much trouble as anything else), but I think you get the idea. When I do sell it, I will either go back to electric or once again leave this hobby. This has definitely discouraged me from ever buying nitro again, whatever the case. So, considering I have until Tuesday to think this over and there is a very slim chance I might keep it, does anyone have any words of wisdom to help sway my decision? All thoughts are appreciated :).

[very low budget racer]

hey, if you want to give it another chance ditch the trx .15 its junk, get a os .15 and you will love it. Its not the truck, traxxas makes good stuff, but they cant make engines for their lives.

[JayJ]

Well, the thought entered my mind, but I don't really want to spend another $100+. Although I would like to be able to keep the truck, it's just not worth that much to me. I understand what you mean about it not being the truck, but the engine is the heart of the truck, and darn it, for $400, it should come with a decent engine. Thanks for the response, though.

[JAY10203]

hey, jayj i had alot of problems wiyh mine believe me but you just don`t give up it`s a hobby!!!!! give it time you will like nitro. i don`t know if anyone told you to get ride of that blue wire on the glo plug. i was going thru glo plugs like 10 min. run on 1 plug. i was burning them out and didn`t know why. i went out and bought a dynamite dyna-glow i think it was like $17.99 Lhs. i have had a dynamite glow plug in it know for over three weeks no problems!!! :) i think i am two turns out on the low end needle and three to three and a half on the high. it seems to run alot cooler now.you said you ran one tank the other day and it would not start is because you are to hot the feul is burning up in the carb before it even hits the motor. i don`t know if this is going to be any help to you but i know how you feel.good luck ;) don`t give up yet. this is my first r/c car ever it`s getting better.

[TRXboy]

Hmm i feel the same way about both my Traxxas trucks, had engine problems so i got O.S .15's for both the N pede and T-maxx, Problem's, T-maxx is missing 2 rear turns and no one has a replacment in stock(Not even Traxxas, some one help me on this one please) And the Pede was down a rear skid plate for a good month(After i blew the idler gear at the same time) Went out today and stripped a cluch bell and now im waiting on that...so it is traxxas, all the parts i need are on back order till God only knows when, but then again, i had the same problem last year at this same time getting a pull start from them so i cant complain(What am i saying yes i can!)

[JayJ]

Thanks for the help, Jayman. I suppose that since I can't do anything until Tuesday, I'd may as well keep fiddling with it, and if I'm going to keep fiddling with it, I'd may as well ask a few more questions (these are for everyone, not just Jayman :)):

1. When you say it's too hot, I assume you mean it's too lean? I've tried richening the mixture up to 2 1/2 turns out, but that didn't make any difference. It also has a brand new Traxxas 3231 glow plug. (If I decide to keep it, I'll get rid of that blue wire like you suggested.) I experimented with the idle and low speed mixture screws, but they're both set according to the manual now.

2. I think I read in R/C Nitro that if there is raw fuel coming out of the exhaust, then the mixture is too rich. Fuel always comes out of the exhaust, no matter how rich or how lean I run it. And it's not just a few drips; it leaves puddles on the ground. Fuel also continues to drip from the exhaust several minutes after I turn the engine off, and more of it pours out when I pick the truck up, usually leaving puddles on the floor and chassis (it also leaks around the exhaust seams). Also, the fuel looks dirty; it's a greyish color. I took apart the exhaust and noticed that the metal rod inside is rusty. I always burn the fuel out of the lines and use after-run oil before storing the truck, so I don't know if this signifies a problem or not.

3. When is the clutch supposed to engage? I have to give it almost full throttle before the clutch engages, so this makes it tricky to drive; it has very poor throttle response. When I pull the trigger back, there is a delay of one or two seconds before the engine starts to rev. I adjusted the transmission 1/8 turn for earlier shifts, but that was too much; it started out in 2nd.

4. When I use the EZ-Start, I hear a horrible rattling sound and the engine isn't constantly firing, like the EZ-Start is slipping or something. I took it apart and checked the gears, and they're all in good shape.

Help me save my truck! I don't really want to have to sell it, but I just might! :(

[E-MAXX]

Dear jay j I know Nitro can be very frustrating to newbies but those instuctions wont help your problems, Buy the Nitro Basic mag, it will tell you about engines, tuning, clutch's, temp, cleaning, just about everything. Buy the mag read it a couple of times, All of IT! and the T-Maxx will be like switching an on switch on an electric.

[Dirty Pirate]

philip is quite correct. it gets alot easier for the most part. still there are problems u will run across, and u will tell yerself.. "oh it cant be an airleak.. i just checked such and such". u should never assume it cant be something, cuz just when u rule something out with really checking, thats wut it turns out to be.

JAY for yer problem. u will want to contact traxxas before you give up. they are known for great customer service.
from reading yer original post, i have come up with a few ideas.

1- u will want to bail on the ezstart.. breakin on an engine with rich settings, hyrdra lock etc, just destroy the ezstart. hook yerself up with a pullstart.

2- if yer needle adjustments are really having absolutly no affect whatsoever, you might have a faulty carb, a needle might be broken or something. in which case traxxas will replace it, most likely, free of cost.

3- now dont go.. oh this never would happen to me.... make sure you are counting out full turns, not half turns. close the needles on the carb, and reset them carefully counting the turns, to factory suggested. still no luck.. go back to step 2.

i kno all about breakin of engines. and the first tanks after a breakin... they are real bear! frustrating, hard to start etc. once the piston sleeve is nice and worn in. and u have found a rough needle range.. thinks start up easy. both my cars now all i do is pop the ignitor on turn the engine over and boom when fuel hits the carb its runnin.

oh and also, nitro engines will always be tuning, expect to spend that first half tank every day of runnin tuning the engine a bit to get it on the mark for the weather conditions. then the rest of the day the needles should be fine. set yer idle screw a bit faster, this will keep the motor running while u make those tuning changes on a rich running engine a lil easier cuz it wont die on u.

[Ultimaxx]

I felt the same way when I bought my maxx a year ago. It was the worst learning experience I ever had. Today I decided to take my Nitro Stampede out instead of my Maxx and when I went to start it, I was there yanking and yanking and still no luck when it did finally start, it sounded really boggy and then it would die. I had to give it alot of gas and sometimes had to "pump the gas" meaning the throttle to keep it going. It turned out that the low end screw was set really rich a full turn rich. If you are experiencing hard starting and and the engine sounds boggy like the way you explained it. try turning the lowend screw one full turn clockwise to make it leaner. and you should experience better performance. This should make the truck wanna move right away with less throttle action. now if it does and then dies after a half a tank or so richen the low end needle 1/8 of a turn only (counter clockwise)until the engine goes through a tank of gas. Keep me posted on whats happening. :)

[JAY10203]

jayj, 1 more thing, you said you have to give full throttle before it moves, check to make sure you are getting full throttle, remove the air filter with the truck off electronics on and give it full throttle and see if your throttle body is opening all the way. mine didn`t open all the way the set screws came loose on the throttle linkage buy the servo.maybe this is why you have to give it full tghrottle to get it to move. good luck ;)

[JayJ]

Thanks for the responses, everyone. After sleeping on it last night, I decided that I'm going to trust you guys (to both my truck and my bank account ;). Tuesday, instead of selling my truck to the LHS, I'm going to buy a pull-start and a glow ignitor to get rid of this EZ-Start piece of junk, and I'll probably order that nitro magazine for beginners that I see popping up on this site, like Philip suggested. Now, a few comments on some of your comments:

Dirty Pirate- I am turning the mixture screws complete turns, not half turns. That day I had it running fairly well, it fired right up the instant I touched the start button, like your cars do, and it started that well several times. It also idled pretty well, even upside down (hehehe). I don't know why it was being impossible yesterday.

MaxxAttack650- I've always had to "pump the gas" to start it and keep it running, at least until it warms up. When I was experimenting yesterday, I leaned the low end screw in small increments from over 2 turns out to almost all the way in. It did seem a bit more willing to fire as I leaned it, but it still wouldn't start. I've noticed that the low end screw has become much easier to turn, whereas it had some resistance the first time I turned it. I hope it's not damaged; I tried not to overtighten it before backing it out 1 3/4 turns, as suggested in the manual. Not much luck there.

JAYMAN- The throttle is opening all the way. I checked that, too. The idle is also set at about a 1mm gap, although I did try setting the idle speed higher because I thought it might help the engine stay running once it did turn over. It still died, even when I tried to give it gas.

So what about the fuel leaking from the exhaust, and the grey color of it? Is that normal? I guess I'll go mess with ol' Betsy again.

[E-MAXX]

Yes oily stuff is supposed to fall out of the exhaust stinger,it is a sign of your engine running properly. You should be able to leave it alone for about 4 weeks, pick it up and oil will still fall out of the stinger. I am not sure about the grey color, I have never drove a T-maxx, my nitro cars oil is green.
Hope this helps
Philip S

[stripedape]

JayJ, Don't give up whatever you do. If you like high performance hobbies this nitro stuff is the way to go (without droppin your life savings). I had a ton of probs with my maxx, although no ez-start probs. Had it about 5 months now and not a peep from the ez-start. I did remove the blue glow plug ignitor wire and switched to a seperate glow ignitor. Much easier to start. Set aside some time alone without freinds and competition hungry racers breathin' down your neck and experiment with this truck to find starting and running settings that you can live with. I used to be scared to death of the dreaded hydra lok and therefore did not prime my engines properly but, now to watch me start my nitro engines you would swear I was gonna' fill the engine with fuel. so after experimenting with priming methods (and hydra loking a few) I found a method that works great for all my vehicles. Take what these folks here on the BB tell ya and apply it to your engine and dont be afraid to try but whatever you do don't quit. This BB is a tremendous resource for help and advice, if the first round of advice doesn't work come back and ask for more! When a frustrated person leaves the hobby we all lose a little. :D

[JAY10203]

JAYJ, I JUST WANT YOU TO KNOW ABOUT THE PULL START. DON`T PULL IT TO FAR OUT WHEN TRYING TO START YOUR TRUCK CAUSE YOU WILL FIND YOUR SELF TAKING THE PULLER BACK OFF OF THE MOTOR TO FIX THE SPRING THAT JUST BROKE INSIDE AND IT IS NOT FUN TRYING TO GET IT BACK TOGETHER (RECOILING IT). I HAD PROBLEMS WITH MY EASYSTART AND THOUGHT I WOULD GO SPEND 17 DOLLARS AND GET A PULL START.AFTER FOUR TIMES FIXING THE THING IT`S IN THE CAN.THE EASYSTART IS BACK ON.(MINUS THE BLUE WIRE THAT`S IN THE CAN TO). :( THE FIRST THING YOU DO CALL TRAXXAS TELL THEM YOUR MOTOR IS MAKING WEIRD NOISES,THEY WILL PUT ONE IN THE MAIL THAT SAME DAY(IF YOU DON`T CALL LATE). THEY SENT ME ONE, TO DAYS LATER IT WAS IN MY MAIL BOX. ALONG WITH SOME NEW GEARS(FREE OF CHARGE) :) WELL GOOD LUCK, JAYMAN

[NervousXtian]

try the ez-start glow plug ingniter combo before you switch to a pull-start.. a pull-starter can just as much of a pain as the ez-start

a couple tips with the EZ.. MAKE SURE THE BATTERY YER USING IS FULLY CHARGED.. if its not.. then it won't have enough juice to light the glow plug/and turn the engine over.. (this is a common thing people do.. using partially dead batteries)..

starting with a full tank of guess usually helps for fuel pressure also.. make sure you don't have a buncha air in the fuel line..

and be patient.. when it fires up.. its really fun to bash.. just give it time..

i use the stock EZ start.. doesn't ALWAYS fire right up.. but I can usually start it in a matter of minutes

[RC_EAGLE]

Am O going to feel like this when/if I get a Monster Pirate?

[RC_EAGLE]

oops sorry. Am I going to feel like this when/if I get a Monster Pirate?

[Jwelch]

Believe me, being a newbie in nitro isnt fun. I almost shot my RC10GT when it didnt run correctly. Just listen to these guys!!! They're terrific. Oh, and about the grey fuel...what kind are you using?

[nitroracer911]

when i got started in nitro i thought it was the HOBBY FROM **** :mad:

Here is what I did wrong:
-I was not running the correct fuel
-I was flooding the engine
-I had an air leak on ONE of my bolts to the engine
-My fuel tank was taking in air
-My FUEL LINE was taking in air.... so on.... an so on.

Believe me... I went through it all....

After educating myself and listening to the guys on this board.... I consider myself PRETTY DARN GOOD at this nitro stuff.

HANG IN THERE... ;)

[JayJ]

Jwelch- I'm using Traxxas Top Fuel, 10% nitro, with a new Traxxas 3231 glow plug.

nitroracer911- All of your problems check out fine in my case :).

I did get it to run on Monday, by the way. When I was having trouble with it, I was using a Sanyo matched pack with the EZ-Start, but I switched back to a cheapy Zip Pack on Monday and the temperamental little cuss started right up on the second try, and the EZ-Start didn't make any funny noises. Go figure. I drove it for a little bit, fiddling with the low speed mixture screw to try to give it better throttle response (instead of having to give it full throttle before it would move) and also the high speed mixture as usual. After this, the throttle response is slightly better, meaning the best I could get it was 2/3 throttle before it would move. I was also having trouble getting it to shift into second gear, but I can't adjust the transmission any more without it starting out in 2nd. In the past, I got it to shift by leaning it way more than the manual recommended (about 1 1/2 turns out), but I don't really want to have to do that because I just know I'm tearing up my engine. And then, even though I was running it richer than usual at about 2 1/4 turns out, by the second tank of fuel, the truck suddenly seemed to lose a lot of power, even though the engine was showing no signs of overheating. It's never done this before. Also, my EZ-Start remained faithful by starting its gear-chattering, I'm-gonna-blow-up-anytime-now problem once again. So here it is Thursday, and I haven't driven my T-Maxx since Monday because I just don't feel like messing with it. But I did take my brother's electric XXT out for a spin yesterday, and it sure made me smile :). I still haven't gone to the hobby shop yet. I'm still keeping the truck, even though it's stretching my patience (and generosity, as far as I'm concerned, for keeping it without giving Traxxas an earful) to the max.

[tbass2]

I think we have all had our fair share of problems when we first started out. My truck made me mad because I couldn't get it to run right, I fixed that, but then I kept stripping spur gears! I fixed that too, I use allen head screws instead of phillips head, I recommend this as a crucial upgrade (it helped me a lot, I kept stripping the heads on phillips screws) :D