New to hobby. Need tips.

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Imran

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Hello everyone, I'm the new guy here. I bought myself a used Savage x 4.6 nitro. Its my first nitro and I have learned a great deal about nitros in the meantime after getting my hands on it. Since this is not a popular hobby around here (United Arab Emirates) I don't really have much support available or much luck with just 2 authorized HPI LSH here. They charge a huge bomb for smallest of work and parts are ridiculously expensive. Hence I am going to rely on you guys for tips, help, part selections and where to purchase them and if so, a comprenhesive guide to install them, vids being the best of them :D

I have already been through lots and lots of post but I thought I'd ask regardless just to be on the safe side.

I plan to abuse my savage as much as I can (stress relief) and It shall mostly be on desert sand and some hard ground. I have taken it for a few rounds out in the sand and it gets really dirty with all the sand all over the body.

So my question is, what do I have to keep in mind to maintain a savage that runs mostly on desert sand?

Also, what upgrades would you suggest for me to get and where can I get them? ( No LSH please, they arent really that helpful because of this hobby not being as widespread as where you may live. There are literally no track here anywhere that I even know of)

I know for one I need to do something about the airfilter as sand ruins the mill. I have to clean it after every single run.

Also, since its my first nitro and its a used one. You people are more than welcome to ask me questions about it to get to know my rig more for better help, tips etc. I have mostly learning tuining and I believe i have done good so far from only 2 runs I have been able to make so far cuz something or the other had to stop working and I had to dent my wallet for simple replacement cuz idk the know how.

Thank you
 
Welcome!
Most of the cleaning I do with small brushes, water and an air compressor. I keep extra air filters oiled up and ready to go at all times.
I'm sure some experienced sand bashers will have specific tips that I'd be interested in too.
 
Thank you all for the welcome :D

Also, I am having issues with my nitro, its regarding engine/tuning. Not sure who to ask for help :/
 
I also stole this from another post:

This is the way that I tune engines, there are many other ways to tune but I figured this is the most simple way to do it so I will share my info. This technique is for a fully broken in engine that is ready for a full performance tune. This tuning procedure will set your needles where they need to be for optimum performance, there is no guessing, the engine will tell you.



For this to work the engine has to be at running temps (or as close to it as possible) as well as having the standard 1mm gap for the carb opening.



#1) High Speed Needle.

Pull a wot pass a couple times and listen what the engine does when you let off the throttle. As long as the rpm drops right to idle, the HSN is either good or on the rich side. At this point you can lean the HSN in 1/12 increments until the idle seems to hang a little after a wot pass, when it starts to idle high after a pass it is just on the lean side of a perfect tune. Back the HSN out 1/12 turn at a time after a wot pass until the engine drops right to idle after a pass. Now your HSN is set.



To give an explanation to what is happening is simple. If your HSN is too lean, after a wot pass when you let off the throttle the engine is still lean causing the idle to hang and idle high until the LSN has a chance to take over and meter the right amount of fuel to bring the idle down to normal running speed (given the LSN is set correctly)



Now if the opposite happens, after a wot pass when you let off the throttle, if it drops to a good idle right away and then starts to idle back up too high, this is a sign that the LSN is too lean. If it comes off wot with a good tune and will drop rpm nicely then the HSN is metering the fuel properly but once it hits idle the LSN being too lean will quickly take over causing the rpm to go back up.



#2) Low Speed Needle

Most of this setting was explained above but there are a few little tricks you can use to make sure the LSN is adjusted perfectly. We all know that you don't tune for temps but a temp gun is very handy for this part. After some wot passes with the engine good and warm, bring it in and let it sit for about 10 seconds. At this point take your temp gauge and hold it as steady as possible on the head, what you want to see is the temp dropping a degree every 4-5 seconds. You want the temp to drop very slightly at idle because when your off throttle the engine should be cooling, if not, the temps will keep pushing higher with on and off throttle running and will cause temp issues.



This is how I do it and I have tuned a lot of engines for people whether bashing or racing. I have seen across the board from beginners to veterans that when they hear the high idle after a pull, the first thing they go for is the LSN when in fact it is the HSN causing the issue. I hope it's not too hard to understand as typing it out is much harder then explaining it to someone first hand, if you have any questions feel free to ask.





Here are some symptoms of an engine that is running too lean:



1. Dies or flames out at full throttle.

2. The glow plug wire or element turns white.

3. A drop of water or spit on the engine head immediately sizzles. Too hot.

4. Dies while just idling.

5. Dies while accelerating from idle. Note this can also be caused by a rich engine.





Here are some symptoms of an engine that is running too rich:



1. A lot of blue smoke from the exhaust pipe.

2. A lot of unburned fuel exiting the exhaust pipe.

3. Idles properly, but bogs down an dies when the throttle is full applied.

4. Never reaches full top speed.

5. Engine temperature is too cold (e.g. below 200 F degrees)
 

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I have read all that you have told me. I even have it saved on my phone so when I go out and cant figure out, i will read step by step process. It just doesnt seem right. Earlier today, I was out sitting with my car until the battery of my rotostart died. It idled properly, low throttle was good. The moment it went any higher there was a click and engine shuts out. Ofcourse its a sign of lean engine so I richened the HSN by 1/8th of a turn (counter clock-wise). Still the same. Literally went all the way to factory settings and still to no avail. Adjusted LSN as well but to no avail. Literally got frustrated as I have ran this before and it was working fine. I realize you gotta retune nitro all the time but, I cant seem to figure out.

Got a little frustrated and messed with idle. Went all the way up and then down. I'm charging my batteries as I type and as it finishes up, I'll go try it out again. In the meantime, I'm reading up more and more of the things I have read word to word and act like a noob rookie. You are also welcomed to help me out with what to do :D

Although thank you for the rather quick reply, appreciate it
 
Imran said:
I have read all that you have told me. I even have it saved on my phone so when I go out and cant figure out, i will read step by step process. It just doesnt seem right. Earlier today, I was out sitting with my car until the battery of my rotostart died. It idled properly, low throttle was good. The moment it went any higher there was a click and engine shuts out. Ofcourse its a sign of lean engine so I richened the HSN by 1/8th of a turn (counter clock-wise). Still the same. Literally went all the way to factory settings and still to no avail. Adjusted LSN as well but to no avail. Literally got frustrated as I have ran this before and it was working fine. I realize you gotta retune nitro all the time but, I cant seem to figure out.

Got a little frustrated and messed with idle. Went all the way up and then down. I'm charging my batteries as I type and as it finishes up, I'll go try it out again. In the meantime, I'm reading up more and more of the things I have read word to word and act like a noob rookie. You are also welcomed to help me out with what to do :D

Although thank you for the rather quick reply, appreciate it
Click to expand...


IT was so quick because I have it saved to my phone as well. When you say "the moment it went any higher", were you pushing the throttle on your controller? Is your carb slide working correctly? I'm rather new myself and just throwing out guesses. One of the guys who knows a lot more than myself will surely chime in shortly and offer more helpful advice.
 
Yes, when I put the throttle to anything above half it'd die out with a click. To check, I fiddled with idle and made the wheels spin and increased the idle speed so the wheels start rotating, it'd die out before high rpm's were reached.

And how do I check if my carb slide is working correctly? Sorry well in advance because I'm going to ask a lot of questions because my LSH are of no help whatsoever.
 

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Your idle gap looks correct from what I can tell from that picture. If it was running correctly before, I'm sure your carb slide is working correctly, and don't worry about asking questions. That's how you learn. The carb slide is on the far right in that picture. With your engine off try to pull it to the right and see if it easily slides. But now that I'm thinking about it, that likely is not your issue. Or with the engine off and your servos on, hit the throttle and see if your carb moves.
 
Carb slide should be about where it is in that pic for idle (1-1.5mm gap), and fully open when the servo is at full throttle. Servo should get to the end of its range at the same time as the carb is fully open and not straining to open it even more than that. Helps if you have endpoint adjustment on radio.
 
Checked, carb seems to work fine. Going to go out and try tuining this again
 
okay, so I tried it out again. Checked glow plugs and what not. Symptoms this time led me to glow plugs. I had the last piece of glow plug apart from a new packed traxxas that I got when I bought the savage off the guy. I used it earlier before I posted it, I noticed air leaks where the glowplug goes in. So I changed back to the one I had in. I did do the glow plug test and it seemed rather fine and working nicely. But I changed back to the traxxas one I had and i know it's a little longer than usual, I'm not sure if it's hitting the piston or is it safe to use since it's longer. But there's an airleak where the glowplug goes in. I ignored it just to check and test the savage out if it holds up and it actually did rather fine, was surprised it worked this time and not the last time. Now, my question is, the temp. here is usually very warm. Full on winter around here is around 20 Degrees Celcius (68F). I use the HPI fuel when I got the car off the guy, he hasn't even gone through one gallon of it. The tags are all worn out cuz of nitro spills on it so I'm not sure but I believe it's the 20% nitro and idk how many % oil.

So, my question is, what glow plug + oil combo to use for bashing in hot climate?

Have researched a little and asked the LSH one the way back from work one day, they said they only keep O.S glow plugs and med-hot works great. I'll be picking up a piece or 2 tomorrow cuz I have none and they are ridiculously expensive, I'll order my stock with rest of the items like diff oils, shock oils etc together.

Which also brings me to the question, what weight shock and diff oil should I use? I have seen a vid on yt of a guy who does extreme bashing and he suggests 35wt. The vids I have come across (not many) have suggested around that rage. 30-35. Also, I can use the silicon shock oil on differentials as well or are they something else (I haven't done my research yet, which I will before I purchase. Been trying to just learn how to run this rig and work on it).

Also, thank you once again.
 
Medium plug will be fine, as for shock oil to use it will depend on your preference and bashing area, I use 40 in front and 50 in back for my shocks and have good luck.... for the differentials do not use shock oil, they make silicone oils just for diffs and thats what you should use, I just pack my diff with HEAVY grease and have no problems at all....
 
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