| When I first started racing Gas Powered RC cars, I | | | | speed needle is dialed in you shouldn't have to adjust it |
| used to struggle to get the engine into tune, while I was | | | | again. Make sure you keep it slightly on the rich side, |
| able to get the engine to start on a dime and it used to | | | | when you RC Car idles the combustion chamber |
| run fine for almost an entire fuel tank, it always | | | | should start to fill up with fuel, this helps keep it cool. |
| seemed to over-heat near the end of the run. After | | | | After a while the engine will stall, by measuring this you |
| many hours out on the track I can now finally say that | | | | can tell if it should be richer or leaner. A good time is |
| I've got it down, tuning for me is now a 5 minute | | | | about 30 - 60 seconds before it stalls. The RC Car |
| operation before I take my RC car out, and once it's | | | | should pull off quickly from a standing start and should |
| dialed in I only need to adjust one needle a fraction of | | | | not bog down or flame out when you apply full throttle. |
| a turn to get it back to it's optimal settings. | | | | High Speed Needle. |
| I assume that your understand the basics of a RC | | | | Once you have your low speed adjustment needle |
| Nitro Engine and how it works, if not please see my | | | | dialed in it's time to start getting the power out of the |
| other articles which you can find on my website, see | | | | RC engine. This is done with the high speed needle, |
| the resource box for details. | | | | which adjusts the air to fuel mixture of the engine while |
| The Idle Screw | | | | it as high RPM (about 40% and up). Keep an eye on |
| I always start with the idle screw, I adjust it so that the | | | | the trail of smoke as this is your first clue about the |
| car will idle high when I'm first dialing in the engine. Once | | | | tune. You want to have a lot of smoke coming out of |
| I get the engine up to temperature and with a tube that | | | | the engine at all RPM, if at some point there is little or |
| can keep it running without stalling I slowly adjust the | | | | no smoke then you are running too lean. |
| idle down to the point where it's about to stall, then I | | | | Hints, Tips and Tricks |
| turn it back about 1/4 to 1/2 turn depending on the | | | | - Turn the needle clockwise to lean out and |
| temperature. If your car stalls often it can be worth | | | | counter-clockwise to richen the mixture. |
| while increasing the idle to prevent this, it's only a | | | | - A lot of smoke means you tune is rich. |
| temporary fix while you sort out the other tuning issue, | | | | - The sound can tell you about your tune. |
| but it helps keep frustration levels down. | | | | - Reading your glow plug after a run will tell you a lot |
| Low Speed Needle. | | | | about your tune. |
| One of the great debates is which needle to adjust | | | | - Make sure to run your engine on the rich side, this will |
| first, if your carburetor only has one needle adjustment | | | | extend it's life. |
| screw then it's not a problem, but if like most glow | | | | - A lean engine will always put out more power, but it |
| engines you have two you need to decide which to | | | | will shorten the life of your engine. |
| tune first. I always start with the low speed needle, this | | | | - Temperature, air pressure and humidity play if big |
| is because when you adjust the low speed needle | | | | part in the tune, different days will need different |
| you change the high speed needle. Once the low | | | | settings. |