Killed my TRX 3.3

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adssmuri

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Gents, I was running the car the other day at 50 degree weather and was running a bit cold. So I adjusted the needles and worked fine with the exception that it burned two plugs and showed too much compression on the third plug. I was using Traxxas Top Fuel 33% on my 3.3 revo. Well a couple of days ago I'm hanging with my brother in law and a buddy and ran the Revo at 66 degree weather.

I screwed up bad. it was stalling and I decided to put the high needle in factory settings. To make the story short I closed the needle and went 4 turns open instead of the oposite. Blew the engine!!!. Metal fragments came out of the glow plug port. I couldnt sleep that night. I removed the back plate and the broke the connecting rod. What a bad trip this is man. The piston sleeve looks good and havent figured out how to remove it yet. Any way do you guys think the engine is salvageable or should I go with the Traxxas replacement plan.

Any suggestions

Jose
 
You can look into the cost of a new piston/sleeve and rod but chances are it will cost pretty close to what the ERP will be. Sounds as though you leaned it out too far, especially if you were burning up plugs. Do you have a temp gun?
 
Metal shavings in your engine= very bad! If it were me I would get a new engine.
 
bought the parts

Thanks for the suggestion

I bought the piston/sleeve and a connecting rod. The engine block looked good and the only thing damaged was the connecting rod, and the piston had a very small cut at the edge. One of the guys at the shop told me that I should be good to go after replacing these parts.

Also one thing i didnt know was that when I went from 20% to 33% nitro I shouldve put a shim on the engine head to create more separation at the combustion chamber. I was causing too much compression and thats one reason I was burning the plugs. I also went back to 20% and got the McCoys mc9 plugs. I will send pics and please wish me luck. I'll let you guys know how it goes.
 
You don't necessarily need to shim it.But you need to re-tune it for the increase in nitro and less oil content. IMO richen up the HSN and try running her again. Start from there.

If you are going to ro use 20% MC59's are great plugs to use. The MC9's are a medium plug whereas the MC59's are a hot plug and work awesome in that mill.
 
jon2
Thanks for the help. I can still use the mc9 correct??? also I have a lc3 os glow plug but i dunno if i should use that one.. What are your thoughts
 
adssmuri said:
jon2
Thanks for the help. I can still use the mc9 correct??? also I have a lc3 os glow plug but i dunno if i should use that one.. What are your thoughts
Click to expand...

You can use the LC3. The MC9 may be more prone to flame outs.
 
got it to run

I installed all the new parts and did the break in. It was running excellent until something bad happened. The clip for the connecting rod pin somehow came loose and slid between the piston and sleeve and cut several grooves. I am so bummed out. I removed the engine and am going to send it to traxxas for a replacement. This has been a very expensive learning curve.
 
I am not sure what brand of fuel that you are using but the oil content in Traxxax 20% and 33% is the same as per Traxxas.

Sorry about your engine problems.
 
thanks

I was running 33% the first time it died. After buying the parts I went back to 20% Top Fuel but the problem was at the clip that holds the pin inside the piston. I sent the engine to Traxxas for a replacement. Ill let you guys know how it goes.
 

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