running nitro in the winter

[mac55]

I was wondering if its true what I've been reading that i'm not supposed to run a nitro engine in the winter I really don't want to put the truck up for the winter there are some nice icy and snow covered roads to be torn up! any suggestion would really help me out.

 

[Metalhead Matt]

It really depends on how much your wanting or not wanting to rebuild or pick up a new engine. You can cover some of the cooling fins and richen it up, but there's a chance that the piston and sleeve will wear out faster. You'll notice when the weather warms back up. It's just tricky keeping steady temps in the cold.

 

[2revo1maxx]

My suggestion is to clean your chassis or at least blow off any snow with compressed air after running. Your so-called sealed bearings will go bad alot faster when they're allowed to get and stay wet. Wrap the cooling head with something to help the engine stay up to temp (be careful doing this) and tune it richer to make up for the cold weather. Be ready to buy a new engine in the spring, they just don't last long when used in below 40 degree weather.

 

[olds97_lss]

I'm with MHM on this. Personally, I run a "winter" engine that I just plain don't care about in the one rig I plan on running over the winter. My winter running is very minimal, but when I do, I make sure to swap out my good summer engine for an old/tired engine I don't care about killing.

I've seen/run 3 engines (1 was mine, 2 were friends) that were fairly new in the winter and all 3 had weak compression the following spring with minimal run time overall.

 

[alpinehyperlite]

Just get an electric rig for the winters.