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Nice looking upgrades all around! Sorry to hear about your run away issue, glad no one was hurt and nothing was damaged.

If you already contacted [email protected] about your servos I can definitely take a look at them. I may do a tutorial soon on a potential fix to make our stock 100kg servos more reliable.

And yes the sway bars will be changed for Grave Digger. You can actually bend the ones you have now if you want to fit reservoirs.

McMaster part# 5537K14 may be the stuff to try to fix the interference issues. Something else that is an easy fix is adding a hose clamp around the spark plug boot. Somehow this fixes the interference issues for some people. It basically clamps the boot down tight to prevent it sliding off and touching the frame.

I'm still testing these electrical issues myself as well. I've never suspected the kill switch to be the culprit but I can test it out. This probably isn't the case for you, but sometimes the electrical issues are just simple things like end points or people turn the ABS on and burn out servos in seconds... but assume its a wiring issue instead. Definitely not the case in your situation, you seem to be pretty knowledgeable on electronics. I would be interested to see what you do to fix the issue when you have time. :)
 
owen_primalrc said:
Nice looking upgrades all around! Sorry to hear about your run away issue, glad no one was hurt and nothing was damaged.

If you already contacted [email protected] about your servos I can definitely take a look at them. I may do a tutorial soon on a potential fix to make our stock 100kg servos more reliable.

And yes the sway bars will be changed for Grave Digger. You can actually bend the ones you have now if you want to fit reservoirs.

McMaster part# 5537K14 may be the stuff to try to fix the interference issues. Something else that is an easy fix is adding a hose clamp around the spark plug boot. Somehow this fixes the interference issues for some people. It basically clamps the boot down tight to prevent it sliding off and touching the frame.

I'm still testing these electrical issues myself as well. I've never suspected the kill switch to be the culprit but I can test it out. This probably isn't the case for you, but sometimes the electrical issues are just simple things like end points or people turn the ABS on and burn out servos in seconds... but assume its a wiring issue instead. Definitely not the case in your situation, you seem to be pretty knowledgeable on electronics. I would be interested to see what you do to fix the issue when you have time. :)
Click to expand...
I have not contacted customer service as of yet. I will do it soon. May include the Triton Kill switch as well.

I was looking at the copper shielding at McMaster Carr. The tin-plated copper may be a better solution as it is more conductive than Stainless Steel. I got this instead: McMaster part# 1478T2 as it will hold up to corrosion better. May end up getting the expandable copper shieling if the Stainless does not work out.

I am an Electrical Engineer and have to deal with EMI issues from time to time. I also work on some Mechanical Engineering projects at the same time. This will be fun to figure out and get a fix. Was not expecting it but, oh well, it was bound to happen sooner or later.

Correction to the issue will require a digital oscilloscope so I can see what is going on with signal lines and power lines. I believe the issue is the ignition coil and lack of EMI shielding on the long wire runs.

A few items I bought to see if this will correct the issue:
  • Clip on Ferrite beads for the wire harness cables just before entry into the battery box and one at the other end where the leads terminate for the servo connections.
  • Braided Stainless steel tubing will replace the plastic tubing. May consider adding a drain wire to run with the cable harness. I bought several different sizes. I can also add such to the spark plug wire if needed.
  • Alternate engine kill switch that I am familiar with and use on my other 1/5 scale vehicles. (does not tie into the throttle signal line).
Things I will look at before I make any major changes:
  • Benchmark evaluation in its current form to verify if the issue is ignition system or other.
  • I will also check the engine case, Cylinder head, and fan cover to confirm there is an electrical connection.
  • Check the chassis assembly for ground issues as well.
  • May consider connecting the battery box to the chassis ground.
I made a mini-EMI filter at work so I can use that on the receiver power connection. Two ceramic 0.1uF caps rated for 100VDC and a small common mode choke. I can easily cut a power cable in half and solder the mini-EMI filter in place. heat shrink and wrap it with copper foil and heat shrink that. Short form of a 2nd order filter. I will take pictures of it and list the components used if it works out. I did not look online for any such items.

The receiver is shutting down for some reason or another. Not sure why at this point. Other than that, things were looking promising on getting the truck running more than a few seconds. I do live about 5 miles from an airport that the Military uses to practice touch downs. Perhaps there was some signal gamming of sorts. Hard to say as this is the first encounter of this sort of issue. The 2.4GHz band is rather crowded.

May change the wire harness and use single runs for each steering servo, Brake and throttle. Eliminating the signal jumper may improve or make it worse. Some of this will be trial and error. Do the simple stuff first before going to town to make unnecessary modifications. Many things to look at and see what works.

It is a sub-project. If I can get resolve on this issue, I will post my findings and solution if this will help others having a similar problem.
 
No offense there mate, but your thinking this way too hard and trying to reinvent the wheel. Take the kill switch you have and throw it in the bin and get a decent one. A quality plug wire and cap will help just as much as your shielding wire. (Stainless steel will work just fine. We have extensive vfd and stepper drives at work and all the cable shielding is stainless. The drive controllers we use are very susceptible to emi/rf interfere and for what they are being used on failure is unacceptable.) Also the chances of another 2.4Ghz stepping on your specific signal is very extremely slim. I didn't go back and reread what for radio set up your using, but the lower tier radio gear just isn't as good as futaba or spectrum. I'd personally rather the futaba over the specy for gas powered, land based rigs.
 
It almost sounds like your radio is giving you the intermittent problems
If you have a different radio try it out and see if it helps
I have two primal trucks and so far haven’t had any issues with the kill switch or radio
It’s possible there is an issue with the wire harness or the plug wire
I removed the metal case around my stock engine plug wire as it was close to the cross brace and this way I can get at the plugs easier. If that metal case rubs on the metal crossmember it could cause interference
Taking it off has not affected anything on my truck
You can try to reroute the wiring in the radio box so power wires are not close to the kill switch or receiver
As was said above it could be a bad kill switch too
Should be able to figure out the problem by process of elimination
 
I have found a few problems that would cause the issue. It is not interference but ESD resulting in a lockup of the receiver and the remote kill switch.
Most of this issue is related to the ignition system and lack of sufficient ground from spark plug to engine case. Very high resistance from metal shank of the spark plug to any metal surface of the engine case, steel bolt, etc. Continuity test ranged from 1k ohms to 30k ohms. It is surprising the engine will run. I have not tried the oscilloscope yet as I found the ground issue to be more important to fix first. I have more to share and will report back when I have more time. Already late for work.
 
You replaced the plug with an ngk right?
Did you get the right plug? I know some plugs have an internal resistor in them but am not sure if that engine needs one with the resistor or not
I would also get a new plug wire and cap and try that
If your concerned about the ground you can prob run a separate ground wire off the engine
Another thing to maybe try is to bypass the toggle switch on the frame maybe it is bad and has an intermittent connection
 
Seandonato73 said:
It's a resistor plug, or at least it should be to help suppress radio interference. Your ohm readings are being taken wrong going from plug to engine case. You test them from the wire end to the threaded base, out of the engine. And 1k ohms would be on the low side.
https://www.ngkntk.com.br/site_ingles/direct/p8.html
Again I doubt rf interfere is your issue.
Click to expand...
I was measuring the from the threaded metal base of the spark plug to the engine case, or bolt or any other metal surface that would be considered the ground to the spark plug. I was not concerned with plug resistance as I already know it is a resistor plug. I purchased the NGK CR7HSA from Primal RC. It is the replacement for JIDICH A7TC. I looked up the specs on both, they are resistor plugs, 5K ohms.
I am not going to shotgun this issue. If you are not familiar with the term, it is often used with root cause analysis that only creates extra work with no resolve. I am sticking to the basics.

Back to my story:
What I know and have observed thus far:
  • Engine runs but is very difficult to get started. The engine quit during my first run on the ground. Sure I was having issues at that point too. Assumed it was battery voltage dropping too much due to steering servos draining the battery and the Kill switch was shutting down the engine. I assume the Triton Kill switch does this. I do know the Killer RC kill switch will trip on low battery voltage. However, last time the engine shut down, I could not get it started again even with a fresh charge on the battery (assuming that the kill switch trips on voltage level). Even tried unplugging the brake and steering servos. No go. Checked for spark, none. Replaced spark plug with NGK, had spark but engine would not run. Discovered the fuel lines were connected to the carb incorrectly. Swapped fuel lines and got it running again.
  • Steering servos are overheating (original servos). Replaced those with AGFRC A280BHLW with good results. Assumed the voltage drain on the battery was resulting in engine shut down.
  • Last operating test on ground, engine shut down a few times. Being lazy I did not want to toe the truck to the garage, so I fired up the engine again and slowly drove the vehicle. Lost all radio communications. No steering, no throttle or brakes, was unable to kill the engine with remote on radio. Light on the Triton kill switch was green. When reaching for the kill switch on side of truck it went full throttle and slammed into a parked car (had the throttle on the transmitter in the brake position).
Sure, one would think try this and that and see what works. I want to understand why the vehicle was in an unsafe condition, engine running and no radio function. I did change the receiver so I can use a different transmitter that I run with my other vehicles. Flysky Nobel Pro. Never had any such issues with that running my other vehicles. I kept getting notified that signal was lost whenever the engine was running. Triton kill switch did not shut down the engine and the status indicator remained green. Could not cut engine using remote. Very characteristic of a CPU latch up.

Measured continuity around the engine to determine if it has proper grounding to direct the spark energy to return back to the coil was where I started. The only area of concern was the cylinder cap. Resistance measured from 1k ohms up to 30k ohms from the spark plug metal threaded shank to any engine metal. This is not correct. Compared to Taylor RC 35cc engine, Zenoah-ESP G340RC, or other engines I have. Resistance measured from spark plug metal threaded shank when installed on the engine was 0.4 ohms. Not 1K ohms or more.

Found a few videos on the Raminator engine tear down or rebuild and the answer was in plain sight. Cylinder cap is made of two parts. Both parts are fully anodized. Anodizing creates an aluminum oxide insulating barrier on the aluminum surface that can be colored with dies in the process. Well sure enough that was the issue. Aluminum Oxide is often used as an electrical insulator. That explains why I could not get low resistance measurement from the spark plug ground to engine chassis metal. If the discharge energy on the spark plug has to seek a different return path, chance that this would create a problem is high. Removed the cylinder cap off of the engine. 20220804_180009.jpg

20220803_131839.jpg

If the inner cap was not anodized, I doubt I would have this issue.
Measured the surface of the inner cap, open circuit was the end result. That oxide layer did its job, it insulates quite well. Sure the other side was scored by the spark plug but that did not do much. I did find the area on the other side of the cap where there was arching since there was an area that had been discolored along an edge. There is also an area on the outer cap where the anodizing is thin, characterized by a rainbow color.

Took a gamble and decided to remove the anodizing on selected surfaces that would be easy to address. Used 320 grit to remove most of the anodizing, followed with dry and then wet sanding using 600, 1000 and 2000. I did measure the lip thickness before any sanding of the surface. 0.217 inches thick (average) In some areas it was 0.220 and others it was 0.116. After sanding the difference was only 0.005 inches. Not much of a change so I doubt this will affect squish. The cylinder seal is a 0.020 thick copper ring.
20220804_174952.jpg

20220804_174904.jpg

Reassembled the engine and parts and measured the spark plug ground to engine case. Measured 0.2 ohms. Now that is where it should be. Spark will have an easy means to find a low resistance return path to the coil. Have not fired up the engine yet as it got late last night to run it.
20220805_065215.jpg
20220805_065223.jpg

I will see if this improves things. I still plan on using the stainless steel wire looms and will replace the Triton Kill switch with the killer RC unit. Hopefully I will have resolved the receiver latch up issue.
 
Last edited:
I did check things out after work. The good news is that I did not need to pull the cord 20 times to get it started. Just three short pulls with the choke on and it will fire right up. First 1/5 scale engine I had start up and run with the choke. The removal of the anodizing helped considerably with engine starting. After the issue (loss of receiver or kill switch function) I looked for the spec on the two spark plugs. NGK was easy to find. JIDICH was not a brand that has any search results. JIDICH does not come up but other brands do. No mention if it is resistor or standard.

Bad news is the issue is still an issue. I have the NGK CR7HSA in the truck at the moment. This is when I noticed the issue with radio locking up and Triton kill switch not doing anything to shut down the engine. Just for S&Gs I checked the original spark plug JIDICH A7TC with an ohm meter and compared that to the two NGK plugs not in use. The NGK plug measures 4.47K ohms from electrode tip to tip. As for the JIDICH plug I got only 18 ohms. I would guess that is not a resistor plug. I may end up ditching the NGK plugs especially if the original plug still works. I could not get spark from it so assumed it was bad, even after cleaning out the oil and carbon. Stock setting on the engine is rather rich.

It was either the Jidich plug or the NGK, so I opted for the NGK from Primal RC. I only got three. I had assumed it was correct plug. My bad, did not know any better. Next time I will look for the C7HSA it usually has the 4629 below the part number. The Primal RC plugs were the CR7SHA with 4549 below the part number.

https://www.primalrc.com/product-ngk4549

Historic relevance?
  • The truck was shutting down in stock trim but that may have been due to battery issue and overload of the steering servos. Note that I said shutting down, engine stopping and no fun time. Triton kill switch was doing what it was supposed to do.
  • With the NGK spark plug, only thing that happens and it does not seem to be distance related between receiver and transmitter is that the receiver locks up along with the Triton remote kill switch. Time to swap spark plugs and see what happens. Not sure if the stock plug will still work, could not get it to spark but will try again.
 
I removed the NGK resistor plug and tried the JIDICH A7TC. I was able to confirm spark with it this time since it was still dark out and the garage lights are not very bright. Installed the A7TC and fired it up.

The truck is on a dolly as that made it easier to take it outside and keep the wheels off the ground so I can move away from the truck and check if there is an issue with distance. As it seems, distance did not make any difference, radio signal gets lost at 1 ft to any other distance.

The result of the JIDICH A7TC.... it did nothing to resolve the issue. It was worth a try as that would have been an easy fix.
I was hoping for an easy fix. Now it is more of a puzzle to solve.
Time for process of elimination.
  1. I will need to remove the braided wire cover so I can remove the Triton kill switch. Since the braided wire tube does nothing to suppress EMI it will not make any difference if I remove it. I can the Triton Kill switch it to work this morning and size up the terminals so I can put the right ones on the Killer Bee kill switch. Need to get some other stuff, drain wire (non-insulated wire) and some crimp terminals, tools and the oscilloscope). Measure a bench line view of voltage and current in the current setup.
  2. See if the issue occurs without the Triton Kill Switch installed.
  3. Test the setup without the battery box cover.
  4. Since the battery box is not connected to ground, I may try grounding it with a jumper wire.
  5. May go back to the original radio system and verify if that has the same effect or not.
  6. This will be the opportunity to try out some snubbers on the power feed (if you do not know what a snubber is, it is a passive filter made of a film type capacitor and resistor generally used to reduce EMI issues. I have a surplus at work. They do a good job of reducing any spike voltages that may be on the power line, will work with DC or AC so no issues with that).
  7. I will also add the supply wires to the small EMI filter I made (Common mode choke and filter caps comprised of surface mount components. I did consider adding a TVS diode to further clamp any voltage spikes.) That can be used on the power feed to the radio.
  8. Also have some clip-on ferrite beads from Killer RC.
I can apply what I know works with EMI suppression if it is needed (adding snubbers and EMI filters). However, I need to observe the voltage and current waveforms on an oscilloscope in order to evaluate what components I need to fix this issue. Also, this will help to see if the changes will make a difference. Hopefully I can resolve this over the weekend.
 
Made some progress today. Raminator on a gurney. The small slide port on the switch for the voltmeter has plug on it. I used a Y cable I had for running lights that I did not use so that worked to get access to the battery supply connected to the receiver. This way I was able to keep the battery box closed. Oscilloscope connected but only monitoring the battery voltage. Had the engine running and froze the scope screen before shutting the engine off. This was with the JIDICH A7TC spark plug. No mods yet. That is a lot of noise to filter out. Yep, the radio cut out a few seconds after I captured the screen.

20220806_103312.jpg

Here is what the captured image looks like in more detail. This is with the Triton Kill switch wired up and the A7TC spark plug. I had the throttle at half way when I stopped the scope.

RAM-A7TC.jpg

Changed out the spark plug for the NGK CR7HSA and well same damn thing. Amplitude may seem less than the other plug. I had the throttle at a similar position, lost the radio signal at this point.

RAM-CR7HSA.jpg

Let's find out what happens if the Trion kill switch is removed (disconnected at the engine toggle switch). I did not pull it from the wire harness at this point and it was still connected to the receiver. Noise is still the same, however, I could not get the radio to drop out. Walked away and had full radio control. Just no kill switch. Also, this is with the same resistor plug NGK CR7HSA that I have been having issues with.

RAM-CR7HSA1-NKS.jpg

I brought some snubbers with me to see if it would do anything on the power supply. I soldered it to the switch terminals just above the cable that feeds the servos. I thought I took a picture of it but guess not. Will do so when I address the wire harness and remove the Triton Kill Switch. Here is the end result of the snubber installed. Still have the CR7HSA plug in the engine.
RAM-RPNKS-SNUBER1.jpg

This was a huge improvement. That cut the RF down a few dB. So far, no issues with the radio dropping out. Decided to try a new NGK CR7HSA plug to see what happens. Back to square one with a different plug. Radio kept dropping out. Changed over to the original JIDICH A7TC plug and that was a different world.
RAM-A7TCSNUBFTNKS.jpg

I forgot to reset the status, so it still has the 0V as minimum. Frequency content also dropped down by a few harmonics. Max frequency at 6.57kHz. This is much better. Image was captured at full throttle. I did not see any noise like previous images. Radio remained active too. Did not shut down or loose function. Here is what the Snubber looks like if you are interested. It is a 600v rated part with 100 ohm resistor and 0.1uF cap.

20220806_112519.jpg

Part is also manufactured by Paktron. Same company as Cornell-Dubilier. For reference you can find it at digi-key, Mouser, or other places.
https://www.digikey.com/en/products/detail/cornell-dubilier-electronics-cde/104M06QC100/2503688

As for the mini-EMI filter I made with a common mode choke and two caps, it helped a little bit but was not worth the effort. The snubber was the better choice. Will see how things progress today. Need to address the wire harness and remove the Triton to install the Killer RC kill switch.
 
I installed the Killer RC kill switch. Since I had to open up the battery box, here is where I installed the snubber.

20220806_143249.jpg

Just wondering, will a standard coil from say a Rovan 36cc engine work on the 49cc engine? If it would fit, all I would need to find is the metal cap that screws on the end of the sparkplug. Sort of had a minor problem today. I was thinking of relocating the toggle switch to the other side but found that the exhaust would be in the way. Then I noticed oil splatter round the plug and on the boot. Removed the cross beam and pulled off the spark plug boot but this time the boot fell off the ignition wire. Cool, just one more thing to add to my excitement. Boot was drenched in oil as was the plug. Leaky ceramic plug seal on the JIDICH. NGK is much better. Since the boot assembly slipped off of the ignition wire, may as well remove the metal cover. Also noticed that the metal boot cover has 5K marked on it. So, what does that mean, plug wire is resistor or spark plug is resistor?
20220807_120318.jpg20220807_120341.jpg20220807_120359.jpg20220807_120413.jpg
I see they only sell the boot. No coils. Never replaced a boot before, it may be easy fix to see if I can get the boot reattached.
 
Last edited:
That is what I ended up doing, replaced the boot completely. I noticed it had a sheet metal like thread on the inside of the boot. I could not get it to thread onto the wire straight, poor connection to the small wire. I did pull the outer boots off, apparently it has a 5k resistor inside. Measured it to confirm. Since I was having some issues, I decided to try something else.

I stripped off the end, balled the wire up and installed spring and the boot from a Baja coil. Tried the NGK CMR7H 3066, has the same shank length, diameter and treads. Same heat range but is a resistor plug of 8K ohms. That should work. That stock plug boot was not what I would call ideal. Installed the toggle switch back to its original location. Routed the kill switch wire cable on the exhaust side. Also had to tie the kill switch to the plastic frame outside of the radio box. For some reason when it is inside the radio shits the bed.


20220807_201032.jpg
20220807_201040.jpg

Sealed the battery box. Engine sat for at least a few hours. Did not have to prime it or use the choke, Fired right up on first pull. Decided to take a walk around the house while I left the Raminator on its gurney. Punched the throttle, still working. I got to about 200 ft of walking distance. Was on the other side of the house and the Ram was inside the garage. Did not lose radio signal. Receiver strength was still good, battery voltage at 7.4V so I was still receiving data from the receiver. Hit the throttle a few more times. Still running. Pressed the kill switch button and returned. Engine was off, still have radio control. Fired right up and confirmed fail safe was working properly (turned off radio).

Hopefully I can get that opportunity to experience the truck on the ground for more than 5 seconds. Having to run after it or reach for the manual cut off switch. My confidence level is much higher now that it appears to behave as one would expect. However, may bring it to a field where there are no people, parked cars or other liabilities before I can trust it. I guess I could aways run it in the back yard, fenced in, a few trees and land mines. I will check for mines before I run the truck there. Wonder if I should let the dog out.
 
Sounds like you got it sorted out
Did you figure out what the actual issue was? You did a bunch of different things so just curious if it was one main issue causing the problem or a bunch of combined problems
electrical problems are the worst
 
deathrawt said:
Sounds like you got it sorted out
Did you figure out what the actual issue was? You did a bunch of different things so just curious if it was one main issue causing the problem or a bunch of combined problems
electrical problems are the worst
Click to expand...

It was EMI problem. Simple as that. However, the truck had several problems that contributed to the EMI.
  • Poor electrical ground on the cylinder head.
  • Location of the remote kill switch in close proximity to the receiver.
  • Long transmission lines make for efficient EMI pick-up.
  • Poor electrical connection between the spark plug boot and ignition wire.
Improving the ground circuit for the spark plug helped. Engine ran so much better with that mod.
Snubber helped with transients caused by ignition system.
Taking out the remote kill switch made it much harder to lose radio communications.
Moving the remote kill switch to outside of the metal battery box was the last fix.

Things I did that may not have been necessary: Using the stainless steel shielding. Since I wanted to separate the kill switch lines from the servo lines, had to remove the Triton wires. Why not replace the shield since I already bought the stuff?

Also routed the kill switch wiring separate from the servo harness. I did have it on the same side but noticed some issues with that. (had the remote kill switch inside the battery box, did not matter if Triton or Killer Bee was installed).

Simple diagram of ignition system. The ignition coil has the winding direction dots in the wrong place, it is just a symbol I used. Coil is actually two bobbins or a split coil of sorts. The portion of coil that connects to the toggle switch and kill switch would have less turns than the one that feeds the spark plug. There are air gaps associated with the tiny relay on the remote kill switch and toggle switch. Places where it will arc but not at the same level as the spark plug. Lowering the resistance to ground for the spark plug helped. Also removing the EMI source (remote kill switch) from the battery box was another fix.


ignition system.JPG
 
Holy s#!% dude this is awesome work, I'm sending you a PM :)

Also this is likely not the original issue in your case, but for others to know... please please please check your failsafe settings. It is one thing to have a functional kill switch on channel 3 or wherever you choose, but it should also be setup properly in the failsafe settings. On the stock GT5 remote, channel 3 should be set to -100% not OFF! "Off" just means it wont set channel 3 to anything specific and will keep whatever the last signal was when signal was lost (ie: the kill switch may still be active even when you loose radio signal). -100% will actually turn the kill switch off. I hope everyone tests their failsafe before running the truck, but I have seen some returned trucks recently where the radio settings were all off and could have caused a serious issue.
 
I would agree on the failsafe function. It just got puzzling what was going on and why the engine would remain running. I assume the small relay is a normally closed type so if power is lost it will short out the ignition coil and shut off the engine.

All of the functions for the failsafe are programmed into the receiver once you establish that. I had to reset the function and even re-bind the receiver a few times. I am now using a FlySky FGR4B receiver and Flysky Noble Pro transmitter. Also tried the FGR8B receiver. There are some small differences other than number of channels. The FGR4B has two antennas (one external and one internal). I could have spent more money for other gear like Futaba 4PM, 7PX or 10PX. I used to run with Futaba long ago. SSDR. The Noble Pro was ok to start with. About the same price as the 4PM.

Based on product information, the Flysky FS-BS6 receiver has limits on operating voltage. The label states 4.0V-8.4V but the website indicates a maximum of 6.5V. So, which is it? The FGR4B can operate up to 9Vdc. Thought that would be better with a 2S lipo.

I would have had the same issue with Futaba or any other radio system. The transients from within the radio box were enough to stall out (latch-up) any receiver. Also, with both Triton and KillerBee, both of them remained in the green and left the engine running when the radio locked up. I would have assumed the Triton or KillerBee would use a watchdog on the signal line to trip the engine kill relay since the signals are a PWM, it will always have a pulse when the radio is working properly. I will admit that it was assumed the radio was locking up as I did not monitor the signal line for a stall out. I also did not check for current spikes as that can occur even if the voltage is stable. I had the probe to do so but figured just voltage would be a good place to start with.

If I could not get resolve on the EMI/transient issues, I was getting prepared to ditch the aluminum radio box and go for the V1 or V2 setup as this keeps the remote kill switch device outside on a plate vs right next to the receiver. It looks good visually. Triton has an aluminum case. It should work. Not sure if all was operating properly from the start. Had similar issues and other glitches going on. It happens. A simple process of elimination by removal of one thing at a time or one change at a time will help with debugging EMI issues. That is all I did. All I wanted was to run the vehicle like I have seen in the videos.

Note that I am uncertain if I have full resolve on the issues. I have yet to get a good run with the truck on the ground due to weather. :(
 
Last night I was able to build my confidence in the safety of this 80lb beast. It ran without any issues for 30+ minutes. Awesome! :D

Now to do some finishing touches and install a better fuel system. Tank needs to breathe better. Was wondering why it would not start, oh yeah, I screwed down the gas cap last time I ran the engine. I have been leaving it loose during the noise debug issue.

Now I can break-in the engine and get it tuned up. May change the gears and see if it will bog down.
 
Make sure the vent hole in the gas cap is open and not clogged ( you can even drill it out a bit bigger)
Also make sure the rubber valve in the cap is working properly
Some trucks had an issue with the cap not letting air into the tank as the fuel was being used up thus causing the engine to die out
 
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