Trucks Wassup pplz, I'm Ant and I have T-Maxx questions lol!

[Ant-Monster]

A few days ago I decided I wanted to start running the T-Maxx 3.3 my pops bought for my when I was a teenager again. A few years have past since last driven, and I figured I'll have to break down the motor and clean it out before I can fire it up. I'm sure I flushed the engine before I stored it with WD-40. However, I never did own After Run Oil. I remember I stop driving my T-Maxx because I stripped my spur gear twice in a row. The first time I stripped one, I bought a replacement. After putting the new 2nd one in, I stripped it in about 4 minutes. So I flushed the motor and placed it in my closet and years past by. A few days ago I missed bashing that thing, so I decided to buy some new glow plugs, spur gears, and a few other things. I went outside with some WD-40 and tried to flush the engine. With the air filter & glow plug off, I flipped it over and tried the EZ start lol. Clearly there was some gumk build up, because the piston took a sec before I heard it roll over with the pop sound. After a few seconds the piston was now rolling over correctly while flushing it with WD-40. Since I lost daylight due to repairs on the T-Maxx, when I went outside to fire it up. I think I may have flooded the motor when priming it because it was too dark to see the fuel go in the carb. The EZ start would rotate the pistol, and then it would just stop. So I called it a day and went inside.

That's when I stumbled upon Tony's videos. I YouTube searched 'T-Maxx Engine Rebuild.' Tony, you're videos are very simple, and easy to follow. I can tell you put in effort while editing. It's currently 5am as I type this lol... After watching a movie with my girl, I started watching a couple of your videos over and over trying to memorize the steps to regain the knowledge I once had when I was an active Nitro RC driver.

But nonetheless, I have a few questions.

1). After realizing I accidentally purchased 30% nitro boat fuel, is it safe to use in my T-Maxx 3.3? I'm aware it's not good to switch fuels. I used to run BlueThunder 30%. The only difference about the fuel I have now (AquaCraft GrimRacer 30%), and BlueThunder is the oil mixture. This fuel has more oil, and is 100% cosmetic.

2). Should I break down my entire motor and clean & lube everything with WD-40?

3). I decided not to switch the glow plug I had inside since it glowed nice and orange. Should I switch it anyways because it's a few years old?

4). Can Tony's T-Maxx 2.5 video engine methods be applied to the 3.3?

I hope I don't need to replace anything. Thanks in advance.

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Oh yeah, what's a good temperature to run a T-Maxx 3.3? I think back then I tried to stay in the 150° F.

 

[breeze400]

I can answer these questions. It's not good to switch fuels. I know you do not want to here that cause at $30 a gal. It's quite expensive but. Fuels are purpose mixed for the application your using them on. I use 20% traxxas fuel in mine and it works great. If your plug is working then save the new ones for when you need them? If she won't fire then try changing it. If your satisfied that everything is loosened up then go for it. If you have Any doubts strip her down. I had an air plane that the motor that wasn't run for 10 15 years. All I did was spray her down and soaked her with wd 40 and she was fine.

The spur gear stripping twice in a row worries me. I would check the driveline to make sure everything is good. When you install the new gear, take a piece of paper and run it thru the gears. It should just fit in there. If its loose or tight, then loosen the motor and adjust the gear by placing the paper between the gears and sliding the gears together. Then tighten everything up.

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I run mine around 180 degrees.

 

[Ant-Monster]

Okay, so I managed to fire it up. It turns out I only had to charge the brand new battery I purchased for my EZ starter. Since my fuel line is kinda dirty I can't tell when fuel makes it to my carburetor. So I fear of flooding it. So I poured a lil bit fuel into the carburetor directly, and it fired right up. I also wonder if it's possible for gumk to build up in between carburetor and the fuel line. I'm tryna run this thing without having to break it all down if possible lol... The reason why is, I don't have much sunlight left, and I it's suppose to rain today. Also, when I tilted the truck I saw what looks to be rust mixed with fuel dripping out the muffler. Since it's never done that before, I'm guessing the motor was just cleaning itself but I'm not 100% sure. Either way it goes I need to get fuel into that carburetor/motor to keep it running.

Any opinions?

 

[Tony]

Hey Ant, welcome to the forum and thanks for signing up. I have moved this thread into the trucks section so that it can help someone else down the road.

I would, without a doubt, replace the glow plug with it being that old. It's $6 worth of insurance. What you never saw in my videos is the DAYS that I was jacking around with that truck trying to get it to fire. As long as I was holding the button, it would start. Let go of the button, it would die. Even though the glow plug was glowing, it had built up too much crap on the filament to keep it's self hot and glowing after you removed the power from it. So first thing when you are having issues is to replace the glow plug.

Your question, "should I take the engine apart". the simple answer is YES. Any time these things sit, they gum up. And since you never run after run, the fuel had no where to go. After run oil is made to keep the methanol from soaking up water which in turn would absorb moisture from the air and it would turn the fuel into a very thick sludge, and rust anything that was made of steel. If it was made out of aluminum, then it would pit it really bad. So take the engine apart, carefully, and clean everything with some brake or carb cleaner. The bearings should spin very free that are in there. Take your time in cleaning the engine.

Next thing, take your carb apart. You will need to remove it from the engine when you do so. What you will do is take the nut off of one side, and remove the idle adjustment screw (I think there is a nut, can't remember). Once those are out, the barrel will slide out of the body. Now, take your high speed needle off. Once that is done, remove the low speed needle out of the barrel that you just pulled out. Clean all of these very carefully and MAKE SURE they are clean when you go back together with it. If there is a single piece of trash in there, it will clog it up and reduce fuel flow. One of the best things you can purchase for these is a fuel filter. It will filter out anything that is big enough to get trapped in the needles. Use a little oil, like sewing machine 3-1 oil, when you put it back together. Same for when you put the engine back together.

As Sam stated, it's not a good idea to run a different fuel. I can tell you this, you will never get that truck to run right with boat fuel that has more oil in it. I would go back to blue thunder and unless you are racing, stick with 20%. The higher the percentage of nitromethane, the hotter the engine is going to run. And, with 30%, you can run these things so hot that it will literally melt the piston. 20 won't do that as bad. If you get the blue thunder hobby blend or whatever it's called (NOT Race Blend), then if you go too lean, it will just kill the engine by shutting it off. That is what I used in the videos of it running and it was a blast. So find someone that will take the boat fuel and get your self something that is made for the truck. THEN... you will need to break in the engine again so that it can get used to the new fuel. One tank just idling very rich, then one tank of slow throttle blipping should do the trick, then start leaning it out per the instruction manual.

The engine that was in the videos was actually a .15, the old T-Maxx. But, everything that I showed in the video will relate to a 2.5 and 3.3, only those will be bigger and make more power as well as consume more fuel. The engines are really simple, you have the block, head, two crank bearings, crankshaft, connecting rod, wrist pin, wrist pin retainers, piston, and carb. If you look at it from a mechanical standpoint, there are only 4 moving parts. The crank, rod, wrist pin and piston. Very simple but can be a pain to tune.

As for a good temp, something around 200ºF-230ºF is a good range. Just remember, the hotter you go, the less life the engine will have. When I was racing, I was running my engines are 240º but I knew that I would be replacing the piston and sleeve after every race. As you use fuel out of the tank, because air can be compressed, the engine would lean out the longer you ran. So 240º at the start of the race would end up being about 280º at the end of the race. So, keep an eye on the temp of that head. Inferred temp guns are really cheap now and you can use it to take the temp of THE GLOW PLUG, Not the head. You want to find the hottest part of the engine and stick with reading that.

As per your spur gear, I HATE the paper method with a passion because there are WAY too many variables that can go wrong. I like to push the motor to the spur, and snug up two of the 4 bolts that are holding the engine mount. then check your gear mesh. You want the gear mesh to be as tight as you can get it, but still have just a hair bit of play. Make sure to check the spur ALL THE WAY AROUND IT. You never know when there is going to be that tight spot (which should be where you are checking the initial mesh). Just take your time, set the mesh to about 1/10th of a MM and you should be golden.

Again, thanks for joining up. As you can see, I would NEVER be able to post all of this to YouTube lmao.

 

[breeze400]

Fuel line is fairly cheep! If its that bad then pick some up and change it. Like tony said clean the carb up if you had gunk running thru it. Take the motor apart and do a good cleaning. With rust running out the muffler I would strip it down! Check you fuel tank too if its really in bad shape, you can pick them up off you tube fairly cheep too.

 

[Island Breeze]

Ant- I used to run monster trucks until I was introduced to HELI's. I had the same problem with stripping spurs. With my truck (savage) it was due to bad bearings which caused it to bind and of course the weak point would be the spur gear. you would have to do your own process of elimination. My two cent's could be a starting point.

 

[Tony]

Sam, I don't think it was rust. When I ran O'Donnell fuel (it was clear), it would burn and cause a rust color liquid to come out of the exhaust when it was rich. Nothing to worry about there.

 

[xokia]

The fuel in these truck evaporates over time. When they sit for a long period of time the fuel disappears and all that is left is the sticky oil. Your fuel line is probably plugged up with oil. When I removed my Savage from storage (sat for 5-6 years) everything was gummed up too. I just switched everything over to brushless.

Now that I have the savage up and running again I remember why I stuck it in storage to begin with hahaha. Each time out you end up breaking something and just gets annoying fixing things. And the new brushless power is STUPID powerful. I have my throttle curves set to 50% power and can still do backflips on command.