johnnyride

im gonna pick a inferno 75 sports rtr today or tomarro and it gets pretty cold up here in milwaukee wisconson. i was wondering if its all right to drive it in the cold weather. will i have any problems breaking in the motor. if there is a problem im an apt manager and have a pretty good size underground parking garage that holds 84 cars. since im the manager my apt is a loft and i have access to the roof from my loft. the roof is huge and i have allready set up a track on the roof. i used caution tape and taped of all the heating vents and stink pipes that come through the roof to form a half way decent track. nothing special but its something to do when i dont feel like driving anywhere and its all gravel. i have a patio bar and a huge grill up there and its a cool place to hang out when my buddies want to come over drive there cars and cook a few burgers. anyway i just wanted to know if it would be alright to run the car when its cold out. by the way is anyone near wisconson or know anyone who is just thought it would be cool to hang out with someone who knows what their doing.[sm=idea.gif][&:]

coolko212

you wont hurt the car but its harder to keep them runnig

studysession

I broke in a motor recently - the temps outside was in the mid 30's. Don't worry about it, you will be fine.

dagass

Johnny,

The only thing you really need to watch out for is running into things. In the cold weather, the plastic tends to break easier (it's still plenty durable though). Also, it's a little more difficult to get the engine up to temperature but it's still very doable. I drove my HPI NMT all winter here and had no problems with it. If you avoid non moving objects, you should be ok .

Morphector

Here it's a little bit cold during winter.... just look at the pic, yesterday there was NO snow at all!

CaNaDiAnRaCeR

lol, bring out the monster trucks! I'm waiting for the first snow fall of the year to run my truck. yesterday I got a little bit of snow but not enough to have fun.

Moonunit451

Man I hope you got some big walls to keep your car from going off the roof and hitting[sm=confused.gif] These things can, and do go out of control and can cause damage and injury to inanimate objects and humanoids! Be careful, and HAVE FUN!

Morphector

I only have an ofna 9.5 buggy.....
maybe I'll go out a time or 2 during the winter..... right now I cannot cause my servo horn is stripped....

Today I discovered that all door jammed when it's icy and cold... but one is ok... the one on my gaz tank !

Nitroaddict

The previous posts pretty much have it dead on. It is no problem running a vehicle in the cold. As mentioned, the plastic parts become a bit more brittle, but nothing serious. If it gets really cold, I would advise wrapping some tinfoil around the Cooling fins, as you really dont want to run a nitro engine consistantly below 160 degrees.

As for the parking garage - i wouldnt recommend that. Not only will it be EXTREMELY noisy, but the possibilty of excess exhaust fumes getting into your lungs is a possibility.

caseyddr

My Feedback: (13)

eh not really nitro because our indoor track has NO venting at all lol! as for break in, lean the needles about half a turn from the factory settings so you have an easier time breakin it in.

teamsquirreltail

Also, dont lean it out because the engine is reading low low temps. The air already leans it out some, and then no matter what your temp gun says, leaning it out so get readings of 250-270 will be bad for your engine. I doubt it would even run to get those readings. So, richen it up a hair if anything.


I have heard its not good to break in an engine when the temperature is cold. I could be wrong, as I broke in my Savage at around 40 degrees and it lasted for a solid 8 gallons. I always heard to break in the engine around the temperature it will be ran at. Just my ramblings.

Snow driving is fun!! Especially when your engine starts to steam from all the snow. Just make sure to waterproof!! My local track is having ice races on their pond when it freezes over, I am about halfway thru turning my old tires into ice tires

Kuma

My Feedback: (1)

It was 35F outside last sunday, drove my Hyper 7 and NMT around, broke one of my rear shocks on the Hyper but they ran fine. Can't wait for snow, I want to get some paddle tires.

caseyddr

My Feedback: (13)

no, you are supposed to lean it out in cold weathers to make breakin easier. I was told this by EPIC when i couldnt get my big bore started in 40 degree weather. Leaning it out some helps build temp and increase performance. I'm not saying lean it out to the point of where your getting no fuel jus to get temps, im talking enough to run at a healthy temp instead of 160-180. Cold weather you lean, warm weather you richen.

teamsquirreltail

Casey, that might have been for break in. Remember, the air in winter is thinner. Thinner = leaner. I dont go by temps most of the time. If my engine is running good and making a nice smoke trail, I leave it how it is. The temperature is just a good starting point.

proptop

My Feedback: (8)

FWIW, the colder the air, the denser it is. At sea level that is...Denser air means more power, because there are more oxygen molecules in a given amount(cubic foot, whatever)so you need to add fuel to go along w/ the increased O2 content. I'm getting my X-Terminator ready for snow tonight. Got the center and front diffs filled w/silicone oil, got to finish the rear...I'm using 5-7-3k wts. Gotta get some good tires, what do you guys w/ experience reccommend for a buggy? I was thinking paddles...

nitroman88

My Feedback: (5)

you guys have it wrong, richen the engine out when its colder because cold air is denser then warm. you'll make more hp if you do this.

caseyddr

My Feedback: (13)

cant make hp if u dont have heat. theres a balance, and especially when breaking in, which was the whole point of my first post. you need to lean out a bit in colder weather to break in so you can get the proper temps.

Kuma

My Feedback: (1)

Cold weather = richen
Warm weather = lean

But don't forget elevation, humidity, and preasure too.

There are charts of these settings in many manuals as well, Look at the Traxxas T-Maxx 2.5 pdf for instance.

Proptop, definately paddles, would go pretty good in the snow, or make up chains and put them on Knuckles or Crimefighters but that's too much work.

caseyddr

My Feedback: (13)

im jus goin by what epic told me

Tigger N. Bennie

Although it appears that many on this forum don't like the T-Maxx, the 2.5 or even Traxxas for that matter, there is an article posted on their site that goes into seasonal changes, nitro engines and the ongoing comments.

http://monster.traxxas.com/showthrea...hreadid=161277

Seasonal Changes:
Your engine could require tuning adjustments, or possibly even a new piston and sleeve depending on when it was broken in. For example, if you broke in and tuned your engine in the dead of winter when it was 20 degrees outside, its operating temperature range may not have exceeded 190 degrees (By the way, the Operating Instructions advise against this….you’re about to read why.). Now it’s spring and 90 degrees outside, you fire up your engine and it runs fast at first but soon starts to overheat, stall, and become hard to restart. Tuning seems impossible. You re-set the needles but it doesn’t help. What’s wrong? Now that it’s 90 degrees outside, the engine is running in a completely different heat range (230 to 260 degrees). The sleeve is expanding with the increased temperature, loosening the piston and sleeve fit. The engine essentially acts like it has a worn out piston and sleeve, even though it may only have half a gallon of fuel run through it from the previous winter. Unfortunately, the cure is to replace the piston and sleeve. You can keep the old piston and sleeve and use it for cold winter running.

Tigger N. Bennie

Continued.

http://monster.traxxas.com/showthrea...hreadid=161277

The Weather:
The current weather outside your front door is perhaps the single largest variable that can influence your engine’s tuning needs. Temperature, humidity, barometric pressure, and air density all influence the engine’s fuel mixture requirements. For the best running performance your TRX 2.5 requires a specific ratio of fuel molecules and air molecules in the combustion chamber, no matter what the outside conditions are. The carburetor’s job is to meter just enough fuel into the available air to maintain the necessary fuel to air ratio. The needles on the carburetor control how much fuel is being metered into the air stream passing through the carburetor. If you have cool, dense air, then more fuel (a richer mixture) will be required to maintain the correct ratio. If the air is thin, hot, and less dense, then less fuel is needed to maintain the same ratio of fuel and air. This is sort of a quick overview to help you understand why carburetor adjustments are there in the first place and why it is necessary to set them just right. Several pages of in-depth full-color instruction regarding this are in your operating instructions for your model. If you really want to tune your engine well, take some time to read and understand the principles that are there. The link to the T-Maxx manual is provided for your assistance.

http://www.traxxas.com/products/nit...ting-manual.pdf

Nitrofreak_105

im going to get a RC10GT for christmas (im financially challenged) its a kit for $530 comes with fuel, glow plug, glow starter, radio and (well duh) car. will i be able to properly break it in in the winter (in canada)

gmac4826

all you have to do to break in an engine is to slowly bring it up to operating temp. what i do is idle it for a tank to get the engine tuned right then run 1/4 throttle for 2 tanks 1/2 throttle for 2 3/4 at 2 and then have fun.

studysession

I will be breaking in a Fantom 18 tomorrow - In the AM it is in the 30's here and in the afternoon gets into the 40's then back to 30's in evening and night. That is pretty cold.

rushdude

My Feedback: (1)

What I do during the winter is that I have another body with only 2. One for the antenna and one 1/4 inch hole near the engine to let hot air escape. It seems to work pretty good.