I blew up my motor yesterday.

Recently I have decided to get away from EU more this summer then last so I bougt a nitro powered RC car to get me outta the house on nice days. I have been into RC stuff since I was a kid but never had a nitro car they were always mid level electric ones.

I found one on the net at a decent price for a starter kit that had many upgrades to it already from the start. I took the time to break the motor in correctly and have been enjoying it alot. I already killed one set of tires testing it and setting it up.

I got a new set of tires specificly for road as the ones for off road were too soft and are now slicks from running it on the street to break in the motor with low stress. Anyway was running it at the park I have been playing at but I was on the road next to the park with the new tires. One of the local people living near the park asked if I could move down the dead end road a bit as the motor was driving his dog nutz. He said he has seen me out before and the car never bothered the dog. Now I know why...

I switched tires and headed for the grass field so I wouldnt make people mad and lose my place to play. I fired up the motor and did a few readjustments to the fuel mix so it would not over heat in the grass. The first run got halfway thru and I saw a big poof of smoke like it backfired and stalled. I walked out to restart it and couldnt make it fire up. Checked to glow plug and found it was toast. Threw a new one in fired it up.. same thing. Few minutes run and POOF. After the 4th time this happened and resetting fuel mixtures did not correct it I knew somethin was up.

Took it home opened the motor and found it had broken the wrist pin that connects the piston to the connecting rod. So now it is a nice day and I am bored with no car to run.
I did spend a few hours researching and got the replacement for it on order so by wednesday I shall be breaking a new motor in and not be bored.

Appologies if yer not into this stuff and this made you bored.

Ill take some pictures and post em to show what I am talking about later.

 

Ahh crap! Sorry to hear CB.
No warranty? Sounds like a faulty wrist pin.
30k rpm's finds structural flaws pretty well;0

 

well after researching a bit deeper then the reviews for teh car on the website I found that these motors are made in JApan and are basicly the rC equivilent to a chevette motor. run it 60k miles and send it to the landfill. The forging that holds the wrist pin in place fractures and breaks off in varying degrees. Yes I could probably get another under warranty but why go thru all that process to get a new mototr garanteed to do the same thing. These motors are listed at 68 dollars to buy a replacement on the site..No mods or replacement after market parts like other maunfactureres are aqvailable.Its disposable.

I ordered one of the picco motors that is same size, better fuel economy and has 3.6 hp vs the 3.1 the disposable one had. I got 1 gallon and maybe a full tank run on that disposable motor. The real motors should be getting 10 to 12 gallons run thru before needing maintanence like new sleeve and piston. 187 dollars for the new one lets you know the quiality range between the two motors no that I know the truth about them.

Ill do some pics tomorrow when there is better llight.

 

Is it tomorrow yet?

PICTURESSSSSSS

 

As promised here are some pictures.

This is the orginal color scheme in Alpha Blue. I ordered Gamma Green from the factory.
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Here are the second set of off road tires (in the correct color) since I made the first set into racing slicks while breaking in the motor on the street to lessen the stress on it.
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These are the new on road tires. They are Schumacker Venom 114's for those interested in the hobby.
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Here is the inside frame of the car. Many aluminum parts inthis racing edition not found on the stock version where all is plastic. Notice the 10mm led headlights and functioning led brake lights I have added to be able to run at night.
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Here is the inner workings of a nitro motor. It is a simple 2 stroke that is supposedly precission machined to withstand high rpm's of these motors. (not so precission in this case) The cheaper motor is made with a much looser machine tolerence resulting in the problem that has occured.
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Here is a close up of the piston. Notice where the metal has sheared off under the one side of the connecting rod. This is a common issue to this brand of motor and nearly all end up like this at some point in a short life span ( I sadly learned this after the fact)
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You should get backinto it as it is good fun.. both the running and the caretaking of the gear. Besdies you have some of the most varied realestate to run one on in the outback. Get yourself one and go terrorise some snakes and spiders. 8=}} I am limited to only a small park and the street where I am atm.

 

Quick update.. new motor has been shipped.. will be here by thursday just in time for the weekend and my birthday.

 

And you want to talk about my DRIVING?

 

Oh, is that a rite of passage or something?

 

Thats Hott!! Bro
Thats Funny i seen this My Boy Just Showed Me His Gas Powered Lambo it hits up to 80mph
RC's are Sick, now that i seen this one i think i may Have to get one For Sure..
it beats Givin MA More Doe For Realz

 

Yea thats right ^^

 

Me want more of this o.o

 

Thats exactly the reason it was purchaced. Too many crazy changes happenin and NONE for the better in the game it seems now we see that MA is not actively supporting the Arkadian economy. I wasnt kidding when I said this wa MA's last chance to keep me as a customer.

As far as the hobby goes its fun, educational, and can be had in many forms and depths of experience levels, investment levels and competeive levels from just hangin in the back yard to full on national competetions.

I have been into remote vehicles since I was like 6 or so and thru the years I have aways managed to drift back to them when options for something to do go stale or simple fade.


Edit: no motor today 8={{ so looks like I get a birhday present to myself on my birthday tomorrow.

 

K Im back home now.
New motor is in, adjusted, and i now broken in. Time now to start tweekin in the settings.

This is THE hardest motor I have ever tried a first time start on. Hell the 800+ hp Chevelle motor I built back in the day started easier then this. There were a few times before the engine actually fired that I had to use a screwdriver to help turn the flywheel past the compression part of the cycle. The pinch ( term for the cyclinder being tapered at the top to be tighter to ensure compression) on these motors is incredible. I litteraly had to kneel down on the back tire to hold the model down on the first few starts.

Anway I had a blast running it at a friends house as he has a nice open dirt area where I got to run the car to break it in. After a few tanks it loosened up and I had the chance to get the car to slide around in corners. A little more adjusting and I ll bet I can get the car to actually drift and not just slide. I still have not taken the motor past half its potential for max rpm and to me it seems to already be equal too or even faster then the original motor.


All in all I had big fun this weekend altho I will be a cripple for the next few days after bending down so much. More pics tomorrow I suppose after I get back ambition to dig it all out and start the cleaning process.

 

Hehe i like this sounds interesting

 

As promised pics of the new motor. But ya gotta suffer thru the cleaning break down to see it.

After I got home and the mud dried.
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mostly surface dust on top but I wiped it off to show the etching on the motors heat sink

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Close up in the car and mounted

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The caked on mud and oil that ets EVERYWHERE in these

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The transmission and brake system. Hopefully next upgrade is a two speed gear box and clutch.

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The new motor in the process of getting all pretty again.

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Different angle

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Great View of the dirty airfilter...and a glimpse at the original clutch

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Last of the 4 sides to see.... Everyone oooohhhh and ahhhhh.

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and lastly the buggy all clean again and ready to go out for next run.

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And from its winter cacoon it emerges.

New update on some of the evolution of this toy. since last post it has seen many runs the last of which was the death of the throttle control servo when a wire broke loose and left the model upside down screaming at max rpm with zero resistance. Gladly no damage to the motor from all that other then a little extra heat.

Since last report the model has evoled in a few ways during the winter time of not wanting to freeze my butt off along with a severe lack of snow to play in since we have gotten mostly rain and only 15 or so inches of our 160+ avg.

New additions are ..
Better 2.4 ghz radio alloing for more subtle contols of the various operations.
Totally updated metal suspension for the molded plastic setup from a different base of model to allow for more ride height and to accomodate any size tire I wish to run.
New tires and rims from the "Monster Truck" class to get it above the grass height so less drag on the frame will keep the motor cooler. ( not sure now due to the weight trade off of the tires. Testing to follow. Maybe even a link to some vids)