Rookie to Nitro needs help starting truck

[RyanV]

Long time RC hobbiest that has spent 20 years with electric. I did a lot of racing back in the day with my rc10T, rc10, rc10L and a few years ago got into onroad witha tc3 and tc4. I finally took the plung and traded the TC4 for an offroad monster truck. I got a XTM XFactor now but I'm having problems startig it. I got it started the 1st day but it only had a tiny amount of fuel. I ponied up 40 bucks for the 30% nitro like i was instructed and was able to get it fired up. it drove fine for maybe 10 minutes and I pulled it over to check the fuel. It had hardly any left so I choked it out and added more fuel. I tried to restart it but I could get it to fire. It seems to turn fine and then starts to crank but nothing. I think i flooded it bad because after to trying to start it so many times I saw some fuel coming out of the tailpipe. I left it alone all day yesterday and all night. I just tried to fire it up again this morning and it seemed to crank again but nothing. eventually it flooded again. I had my glow plug charging all night last night just in case. I have not taken out my ummm sorry this sounds horrible but I have not removed the piece inside my coil and drained the fuel. should I do that now? does it sound like maybe my glow plug is bad? Just looking for some tips. I looked at a bunch of threads here and I think i have it narrowed down but not sure yet. I'm guessing i need to take out the piece in the coil and put the glow plug on to see if it gets hot or not. Sorry to sound so dumb but appreciate the help!

 

[RC Addict]

First thing I would suggest is to check the glowplug and replace it if its no good. Take your glowplug out and carefully insert it into the igniter. if it glows cherry red its still good. A weak or no glow means its dead. Don't be surprised if you go through two or more plugs during break-in. Good luck!

 

[chuck3]

second, I would guess your running rich. If you flood out your mill on startup, loosen your glowplug about 1-1/2 turns. then turn over your mill for 3-4 pulls (or 3-4 seconds if its rotostart) then tighten the plug backdown and try again

 

[RyanV]

I'm cranking the engine witha drill . ill pull the glow plug out and put the ignitor on it. how can i tell if my ignitor is bad? are glwo plugs expensive?

 

[brad55102]

if it's not the plug then it sounds like a tuning issue, Put the needles back to factory and try again. Make sure to drain the engine if you think it is flooded, Take the glow plug out turn the truck on it's side and turn the engine for 5 sec. replace plug and start. Good luck

 

[RyanV]

ok i took out the plug and drained it, put it back in and started again.. nothing. just flooded again. i pulled it back out and held it with small plyers and put the igniter on the smal little plug and nothing. I'm going to take a trip to the local hobby store ina minute. how can i tell if its the plug or the ignitor?

 

[Rolex]

If you have a clip on igniter, you need to lock the plug into it so you'll get both the positive and the negative to make the plug glow.
You should always have a minimum of one spare glow plug with you. Then you have a backup as well as a way to test your igniter charge.
Plugs average $5.

 

[newviennajj]

take the plug with you and they can test it there for you.

 

[RyanV]

thanks everyone. I'm heading there now. ill report back later.