i think i have an air leak, how do i know for sure?

[pelicanprentice]

i had a big red .28 sitting for a while and i recently took it apart and cleaned it and put it together. it believe i did a goof job on taking it apart. however the first day i ran it, it had a high idle and then i took it home and adjusted the gap and now i believe the idle is good however i noticed that the hsn and lsn are basically flush but the engine runs HOT, like its already so rich and its getting past 300f when stressed. i also noticed on wot i don't see blue/white smoke. When i step on it from start to mid power band i can see some smoke and when i blip the throttle at standstill however when it passes 1st gear it basically has no smoke. i don't know if its because of the speed and the smoke dispersing maybe but i believe something is up for sure. i bought some copper permatax and I'm going to seal the backplate and carb area and then also put some green slime on the carb o rings. i also suspect my hpi aluminum pipe has a leak where it fits into the silicone coupling but i put a new one but i think even if there was a leak near the coupling it wouldnt give the symptoms I'm getting, i could be wrong tho. i noticed this issue even when the tank was full full so i don't think its half tank lean.

anything else i should do or check?

 

[rcnut14]

Seems like a good start to me. Check the o rings on the needles as well and lube them a little.

 

[ez2frag]

Take the motor out of the truck, attach a CLEAN fuel hose to it, put it in a pail of water with your finger over the carb inlet, and blow through the hose. After this the blow it out as best as you can and put after run oil in it a crank it over. If you see bubbles you will know where the air leak is. It would be one step better to dis-assemble the motor and completely clean and re- oil everything. You have to take it apart to fix the leak anyway. EXTREME CAUTION ON THE HOSE YOU BLOW INTO, RC FUEL IS DEADLY!!!!!!!!!! You could use compressed air on a very low pressure setting as well.

 

[ez2frag]

Also if you have a leak on the hose from the tank to the pipe it can cause low fuel pressure to the tank. Are you running a coupler or the stock plastic pipe with a hose????

 

[rcnut14]

Also if you have a leak on the hose from the tank to the pipe it can cause low fuel pressure to the tank. Are you running a coupler or the stock plastic pipe with a hose????

that being said check your tank cap oring as well.