Pull start problems

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate
links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
Hey Tim

hey, so i went to the hobby shop, they didint have the P/S for my .18 engine mines was just to big...they were asking if it came with a "spring" not the long piece of sheet metal that coils . I was carefull when i frist opened it but i guess it flewor it didint come with one? do you know if P/S come with that spring hes talking about? am guessing that spring is for the off road rc cars?
 
there is a spring in the pull starters. if you used the pullstarter b4 to get the car running, then yes the spring was in there. it must have came out when you took it off the first time. its actually surprising that you may of missed it. it probably popped out with some force and unravelled and most likly looks like a long pice of wiggly steel about 1/8th in wide, with a hook/bend at each end.
 
I cannot remember what brand of engine has the tiny spring he is speaking of, but i think its ofna or losi. Its in the center of the crank shaft and it presses on the center of the pull start rope wheel. i think to keep pressure on the flat wound metal coil. they sometimes make the hex in the rope wheel too deep and when you pull it will move towards the engine and let go of the flat wound coil behind the wheel and then the rope doesn't retract. They drill in the end of the crank shaft and place a spring to keep pressure on the rope wheel to keep it from moving and letting go of the metal coil.
 
i was mistaken on the placement of the spring but it does keep pressure on the metal coil when starting the engine. Actually most engines do not have this design. its usually the cheaper models that use this design. its not flawed and works fine but you must make sure you get all the parts back in there or it will not work. Click on this link and scroll down untill you see Duratrax and there will be pictures of the spring im talking about. Also you can search this website for a possible pull rope to replace yours. Great website for hard to find stuff they list the measurements so that you can make sure it will fit before you buy it. http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/WTI0095P?FVSEARCH=start+shaft . if you need anything else. just ask ill see what i can do to help or if i can direct you to someone better suited.
 
he has the Himatoro car from Ebay. so its hard to say what it uses. gator can you take and post some pics of the spring?
 
ok, yup thats the spring im speaking of. it coils in the back of that hex piece in your ps and is what pulls the cord back into the ps so you can start the motor.
its a hex oneway. so maybe an HPI/Cen/ possilby OS or even Kyosho or the like may have a ps you can buy. but as long as the ends on that spring are intact, you can rewind that spring and put it back together, its a female dog but can be done.
maybe the guys at your LSH will reassemble it for you for a few bux.
 
yeah i will give it a try again, since one of the end is not intact. One thing i asked the guy at the shop if i can use a shaft starter and he said no becuase

i don't have the "spring" (not the one i have, it didint come with one), So you guys think if i buy a shaft starter, which is alot cheaper than a starter box..will it work or do i need that "spring" hes talking about? I am a bit confused i tought the reason you would a get a starter box or shaft starter is to get rid off/replace the pull start?
 
what you need most likely is a one way bearing and a shaft starter backplate that will mount to that motor. if you look around, you should find a backplate that is setup for a roto start, and use a spinner to start it. its just a matter of finding the shaftdrive backplate that will mount to that motor.
 
figure out the reason why the engine didnt start after just a few pulls. an engine thats running the way it should will start with just a few pulls. if you need to pull anymore than say 5 times then there is something wrong. usually a bad glow plug, discharged glow ignitor, improperly primed engine, bad fuel, or improperly adjusted carb or throttle linkage.
 
good news/ bad news

well after a couple a minutes i got the hang of re-assembling the pull start i got it to work 100%.

Now as luck would have it since i never broke in the engine its new it does not wont to start..you guys know what could be wrong or do i need what suspect, to break in the engine if so what are some good steps to follow?
 
Will take a video of me trying to use the pull start. As soon as can then i will post it here, to see if you guys can guide to what/if doing wrong?
 
is the ignitor wand charged good. does it make the glow plug glow nice and bright orange? what fuel you using. 20%?
sometimes these can be just a bit finicky to start up.
could be its flooded, remove glow plug, turn whole car upside down, pull on the pull starter to rotate motor, and expell any excess fuel in it. replace glow plug and pull over again. should fire if your needles are close.
 
Back
Top
AdBlock Detected

We get it, advertisements are annoying!

Sure, ad-blocking software does a great job at blocking ads, but it also blocks useful features of our website. For the best site experience please disable your AdBlocker.

I've Disabled AdBlock    No Thanks