Updates on my Octane.

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jeepjunk94

jeepjunk94

Active Member
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88
I am going to post on this thread what I have learned and experienced as I run the truck.
This is all exclusive to my truck because you may experience different results so it is all IMO.
The exhaust is poorly supported, mine broke off.
The battery / CDI / receiver box is a rats nest.
The owners manual has incorrect carb base settings and HPI has updated them on there website.
Won't run well at all with Klotz Super 2 stroke oil but does OK with Stihl 2 cycle oil so don't waste your money.
It's a hopped up weed whacker motor so tune it as one, they don't rev like a nitro.
The shocks are to small for this size and weight truck.
I bought extra receiver batteries and went with 1600mah for longer run time.
All wheel nuts were loose out of the box, who knows what else isn't tight.
Have to adjust everything from brakes to carb and shift points.
 
Set 2nd gear to engage early, this gives me best performance so far.
Adjusted 3rd to engage earlier 1/4 turn twice and still can't tell if it hits 3rd or not.
There is a very noticeable difference between 1st and 2nd I would expect the same from 3rd so I don't think it's going in.
If you had 2 stroke dirt bikes the truck acts a lot like one.
Loads up easy after a short idle and takes sever runs to clean the pipe out for it to kick in. I plan to lean the low speed needle and see what that does.
HPI say's never adjust the low speed needle but why? You adjust it for best performance on every other 2 cycle engine with that type carb.
I am also still unsure about HPI's 25:1 ratio, 32:1 is the normal for every 2 stroke I ever had with the exception of the 50:1 all the new saw's and weed whackers.
I found they run better at 32:1 rather than 50:1. I blame the leaner mix on emissions rather than what works the best.
Will I run a 32:1 mix in the truck? Probably not right away, but with a quality 2 stroke oil I don't see why not.
My guess is HPI is protecting there self's with a richer mix rather than what would perform the best.
 
Well like any of the new releases it will take a bit of tuning and setting up to find whats right for it. it is good you have experience and are willing to work a bit to find the way to tune and keep it running....
Thanks for the good writeup and keep posting so others may learn more as it goes along.....
 
Switched 2 cycle oil today to Blendzall.
No real noticeable difference in performance.
Tried to lean out the high speed needle a bit but it flames out and quits so I had to go back to where it was.
Still waiting for the 3rd gear to kick in for more speed but no luck.
I have already backed out the adjustment 1/2 a turn, unsure how much adjustment your able to do.
I am going to back it out more for the earlier shift and post if it makes a difference and how far I turned it.
 
Adjusting the 3rd gear shift point screw further out, caused it not to shift out of 1st gear at all.
The spring that supports the back of the exhaust also broke.
Called HPI, there on back order but will send me one so I used my mig welder to tack it back together.
Reset the shift adjusters back to factory settings, 7 turns out from bottom for 2nd and 6 turns out from bottom for 3rd.
Going to start the adjustment process over from scratch.
HPI also said I could send the truck in and they would make the adjustments, I might do that when I get my Savage 4.6 back from them.
 
Quick update on the welded spring, it broke.
So I took a long allen key and heated it to make the bends to created a solid mount.
 
seeing and hearing about all these troubles others are having troubles with their Octanes I sure do have some thinking to do on a purchase of one for sure....
 
yea, like ive said before, I don't buy anything that has been recently released. for instance, I bought a wii in 2012, avoided a lot of headaces, and, it was cheaper. the octane is just too new.
 
rcnut14 said:
yea, like ive said before, I don't buy anything that has been recently released. for instance, I bought a wii in 2012, avoided a lot of headaces, and, it was cheaper. the octane is just too new.
Click to expand...

Sadly this is often very true. Most companies do not perform enough real world testing, with a statistically significant population of product.
 
Sad but true with most manufacturers these days, they get so much money tied up into development they put things out way before they are all checked out thoroughly enough to uncover design and production flaws..... seems that most would rather work out bugs and problems after releasing products instead of before releasing it to the public.... this is the reason I stay away from new things right after release.....
 
True that on new releases.
I went to adjust my trans shift points today and the set screw that holds the gear had backed out and fell into trans.
I called HPI, got a shipping label and going to let them fix and tune / adjust the truck.
Guy also told me that HPI always runs the Octanes before they send them back.
Might be a few weeks before I post my updates but when I get it back I will let everyone know how it performs with HPI doing all the tune and adjusting.
 
Thanks for being HPISF's Octane guinea pig Jeepjunk! It's always tough to pioneer a new path, but you are likely going to provide lots of good help to those who come after you.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
My Octane is in the hands of UPS to be delivered Monday, I will be posting on it's performance soon after, They replaced the spark plug and 2nd gear clutch.
 
Well lets hope it is better and you can get some enjoyment out of the truck....new designs seem to always have a few teething pains, once worked out it usually helps a bunch to get it performing like it should....
Looking forward to some more vids of how it runs now....
Good Luck...
 
Well I had a chance to run the truck for a short time before dark. It did hit 3rd gear for the first time but the engine would flame out and the truck would down shift to second. I made several wot runs and the same thing. So it's running lean, in the smallest turns at a time I backed out the HSN. It would run without flaming out but 3rd gear became out of reach. So I plan to adjust the shift point. I feel it should hit 2nd a little sooner also. On the positive side I sent the truck with no batteries and it came back with a set so I have plenty of hump back's now because I bought an extra set myself. Another problem I had was the truck seemed to stop steering. Once in the house and a little investigation revealed the servo saver was adjusted all the way out. So I tightened up the threaded ring that compresses the spring and it steers great now. Next update will be how the trans adjustment went.
 
Adjusted 3rd and had things going my way just shifting a little to early. While adjusting 2nd I lost my place and it seems to be starting off in second rather than first. So I decided to set it back to stock setting on 2nd and start over. The book says 3 and 3/4 turns in from a point flush with the top of the threaded hole. Problem is trying to look through the little hole your given to make adjustments. Gave it my best guess and will test run tomorrow. But it was nice to see it running in high gear. Not fast enough to put a smile on my face like the Savage X 4.6 does but I am getting closer to having it tuned in.
 
Well it quit shifting. The 2nd gear adjustment screw is missing. There is nothing to keep these adjustment screws from backing out. And they turn easy. Now I have to decide if I wana send it back or fix it my self. The screw could very well be in that tranny somewhere just waiting to get into the gears. It has to come apart.
 
Yes it does need to be taken down, is actually pretty easy to work on , any questions ya have feel free to ask one of us...
 
There is a grub screw that retains the adjustment screw in the clutch. Check out the exploded view, it's part number Z721.

Make sure you use some loctite on that grub screw or it will back out.
 
yea, same thing happened to my x. remove the screw immediately before it gets stuck in ur gears. I had to get new gears when that happen to me
 
Sending it back to Hobbico, I took trans apart and put the ball bearing, spring and adjustment screw for 2nd back in. Now 3rd gear adjustment screw keeps backing out. The exhaust hanger also broke again for the second time. I wanted a refund but they won't give me one because I didn't buy it directly from them. So I will just keep sending it back every time anything like the exhaust hanger brakes, which it will. Let them continue to pay shipping and pay there tech guys to work on it.
 
Estimated completion date 11-3-14, so far they have changed the spark plug.They had a $9.99 shipping charge on my invoice so I called them and they said they would remove it. I plan to try my hand at eBay and sell the Octane along with 3 other trucks I have. My objective is to make enough money to buy the Losi 5ive T.
 
Well thats sad news, I know the losi is a good rig though, it is too bad that HPI is having its warranty work done by their distributor unlike way back when a call to HPI got immediate satisfaction for warranty things....
When my son bought his Savage X 4.6 and the front diff let go on break in and munched itself to death a call to HPI got a pair of sintered diffs sent right out without a single problem.....

I am truly sorry for all the trouble you have had with the Octane,I know you are not alone in your troubles with the platform, poor performance and broken exhaust issues are plaguing the truck...
Good Luck on your sale, please post up the link to your sale here, maybe some of the guys may be interested to see what ya have....
 
I am selling a Savage 4.6 bought just a couple months ago, it has metal spur gear with racing clutch bell and chrome HPI pipe.
Losi LST XXL 2 just as new.
The Octane and a Traxxas T-Maxx classic with a new 3.3 conversion.
 
Well I got it back today but after dark, with the time change and all. But that didn't stop me from running a tank of gas through it. Just turn on the porch light and let the neighbors get pissed. But before I could do that I had to replace the exhaust header which was cracked and broken along with the spring type exhaust bracket. How did I get the parts you ask? Or is it how could they send back a product with parts broken when the repair bill lists " NO DEFECTS"!!! The parts are from my first order when I got the truck months ago and they broke after 3 or 4 tanks of fuel. So first I have to fix my repaired nothing wrong with truck then I have to work on the transmitter that was sent with batteries in it (thank you HPI) but the batteries had bent there connections during shipment (thank you gentle UPS). Yeah I know cry cry I had to bend a couple tabs to get the batteries to make connection again. According to the website I got a new spark plug. According to the paper ya get when they send it back it says nothing wrong with it. OK, first thing I notice is my CDI has been replaced, Mine had worn marks on the wire and box now all gone, looks new again. Oh but hey they put a new body on it! Boy a new body and 4 clips really makes up for all the problems. I know your asking but how did it run?? Not bad so far, hard to drive it by a porch light but it did hit all 3 gears once before I lost sight of it and had to make the walk of shame. So I will post progress as it goes.
 
Well thats letting a vendor fix you stuff for ya HPI, I am afraid I woulda been as mad as you are about all the trouble with the truck.... and I aint usually too nice when I am mad as hell about something, especially something as spendy as this truck is.....
one good thing is you did get it back and maybe the 3rd time is a charm and the silly thing will finally run right....
 
Well it quit shifting after a tank and a half. The adjustment screws keep backing out. Yes I could figure out there best adjustment and loctite the set screws but I am not going to do it. Not just yet, I called HPI and they sent me another shipping label. So they can just keep on and on till they get it right !! Then I will put the thing on eBay and get rid of it. I recently got the Losi 5ive T and it's exactly what I expected a gas truck to run like. When the 5ive came in I set the truck's transmitter up (you have to buy separate) and checked the carb adjustments before I ever started it. It has run perfectly without me touching a thing. It's just BIG and takes a large area to run it.
 
Ya they are having Horizon Hobby take care of warranty stuff so you get a noob sales clerk fixing your truck for you..... I would rather send it to Stevie Wonder and have him fix it .........
It is TOO BAD HPI has let someone else take care of their poor designed rig for them, they have lost this customer on an Octane sale that is for damn sure......
 
Repair status on Hobbico web site. We will see how it does when they ship it back!
71669000 SPARK PLUG CM6 GT55
108960 CLTCH BELL 14TX33X20MM
101350 DIFF REBUILD KIT
We replaced necessary parts in your repair. Item(s) were test-run under normal operating conditions.
 
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