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Prince Rapopy

Prince Rapopy

Active Member
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Location
Greene County, NY
Hi everyone,

I'm looking for info and recommendations on nice aftermarket pull-starters, and technique for starting my engine with a bit less reliance on elbow grease. The one I have now works fine, but my G320RC's compression feels so high that I have to hold my truck down to properly pull the starter. My startup process consists of setting the choke to open, holding the throttle open a little, and my engine typically starts in 3-5 pulls.

Additionally, I wanted to find out what most people prefer starter-wise. Is there a brand for durable pull-starters with sturdy cords? Should I stick with the traditional flywheel or gut my engine and get an easy-start kit?
 
Prince Rapopy said:
I'd seen these, but I've been a little hesitant due to how big the size profile of the housing is. Besides, I dunno if it would make pulling against such a resistant engine any easier. Do I need to prime the engine more to make the pulls less stiff?
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Honestly, not really i have a esp 34 and that has a lot of compression and i prime my engine and start without the choke and still has compression. But to put into consideration that a esp 34 is different than a stock 32 so honestly i am pretty sure the starter makes it easier.
 
Technique is everything, ez pull starts are not necessary... I too have an esp 34cc and it's nowhere near what a 71cc big bores compression is, your just going to have to practice.
 
Rep732 said:
Technique is everything, ez pull starts are not necessary... I too have an esp 34cc and it's nowhere near what a 71cc big bores compression is, your just going to have to practice.
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I must not have perfected my technique, then. I figure it should be much easier to pull my 320's starter, but that must only be when I do it correctly. I've never slow-pull primed it or closed the choke, I was just shown holding the throttle open a little and giving it a few pulls with the choke open until it spins up.
 
@Prince Rapopy . So with an esp engine since it has more compression i find them easier to start. So prime the bulb, close the choke,pull slowly 2-3 times till you hear a pop, turn off the choke,give it 1 or 2 good tugs and it should start. Holding the throttle open a bit to me just hides a bad tune, If you have the carb tuned right you should never need to give it some throttle to start, if anything that should indicate that your low end is rich as your opening the throttle blade a bit which is allowing more air in than needed to idle.
 
Rep732 said:
@Prince Rapopy . So with an esp engine since it has more compression i find them easier to start. So prime the bulb, close the choke,pull slowly 2-3 times till you hear a pop, turn off the choke,give it 1 or 2 good tugs and it should start. Holding the throttle open a bit to me just hides a bad tune, If you have the carb tuned right you should never need to give it some throttle to start, if anything that should indicate that your low end is rich as your opening the throttle blade a bit which is allowing more air in than needed to idle.
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Tried this after getting home from work, and it went flawlessly despite my engine's strong compression. Honestly, I was afraid to try the slow-pull priming start method since it had never worked for me in the month I've owned my truck.

The open-throttle method is what the guy at the hobby shop used when I brought my DNT in to be resuscitated from my inexperience, so I kinda latched onto that as being the safe and fool-resistant option. Thanks for talking me through the process! It feels way better to have more know-how when it comes to looking after my truck. I'm a total beginner to large-scale RC, but this truck of mine already means a lot. It's nice being able to keep it healthy on my own as I learn more.

PS: Is it normal for the front/rear axle diff cups to develop indentations in them from driving the wheel axles? It looks odd, but I wasn't sure if that's just part of the newbie effect.
 
No problem, glad to help you with learning!
So the guy at the hobby shop held the throttle and no choke because it was most likely flooded which is ok if you know it's flooded. Yea as you drive the truck more the diff cups will start to show wear which is perfectly normal.
 
Rep732 said:
No problem, glad to help you with learning!
So the guy at the hobby shop held the throttle and no choke because it was most likely flooded which is ok if you know it's flooded. Yea as you drive the truck more the diff cups will start to show wear which is perfectly normal.
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Okay, that's about what I figured. Good to hear that it's an anti-flood trick! I've been getting more confident with my ability to wrench very quickly; that may come in handy if any rescue-worthy cars come up on Marketplace or something 😅

Right now I'm trying to figure out if I want to change anything gearing-wise. My 30DNT came stock with 19/62 and I've been liking it a lot, but it feels like even the stock Zenoah 320 I have in it now is having way too easy of a time running it. I was thinking of switching up to a 21-tooth pinion, but I'm not sure what the stock 320 can handle while still staying responsive.
 
The spring inside the easy start definitely makes starting easier. I've also broken the springs on both types of easy starts with 43+cc motors. So I've been considering trying out the Taylor in hopes that it's internals are beefier. Although from the description it seems it's only a flashy case with normal easy start internals.

Gearing depends on the surface you run, because tall grass will bog down the motor more. I'd personally go for the 23t pinion first, then go for a smaller spur gear if you still want more speed.
 
HXRC said:
The spring inside the easy start definitely makes starting easier. I've also broken the springs on both types of easy starts with 43+cc motors. So I've been considering trying out the Taylor in hopes that it's internals are beefier. Although from the description it seems it's only a flashy case with normal easy start internals.

Gearing depends on the surface you run, because tall grass will bog down the motor more. I'd personally go for the 23t pinion first, then go for a smaller spur gear if you still want more speed.
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I use a Rovan billet aluminum standard pull-starter, mainly because it looks very nice and does the job well enough despite my Hulk strength. It also has no vent holes, which is nice for me since I often worry about debris and stuff getting in through the stock puller.

I tend to drive my DNT less like a basher and more like the Baja race truck I want it to be, so typically it's charging around following whatever I think would make for a varied and interesting course. Grass, gravel and asphalt are my standard fare, yeah.

Also: I checked the info and I was wrong; my spur gear is 58-tooth. The 19-tooth pinion on the stock G320 feels like it's holding the engine back almost, but a 23-tooth may be worth a shot. Is there anything I should do tune-wise to offset a larger pinion, like a richer/leaner carb setting?
 
No you don't change the tune for it, so a 19/58 is a ratio of 3.05 and 23/58 would 2.52.. you may find that your acceleration is going to suffer with the 23t pinion and you may not reach top speed in the same distance as once before.
 
Rep732 said:
No you don't change the tune for it, so a 19/58 is a ratio of 3.05 and 23/58 would 2.52.. you may find that your acceleration is going to suffer with the 23t pinion and you may not reach top speed in the same distance as once before.
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I see, that makes plenty of sense to me. Would it be wiser to split the difference and jump up to 21/58? I've seen it mentioned as a thing some folks have done and it sounds like the best balance between acceleration and top-end speed for a stock 320.
PS: I just remembered that I chose to stick to the 6,000 RPM clutch my Zenoah came with, instead of switching back to the 8,000 RPM clutch that came with the stock engine. Could I reliably keep good performance with the lower engagement speed if I geared up to a 21-tooth pinion?
 
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Mm acceleration may still suffer with a 6k spring tbh. I opt for the 8k springs as it helps with getting the truck off the line faster as well as re gaining speed if you slow down or take a turn that bleeds off some speed. The 8k clutch will help with increasing pinion sizes also. I went and checked my 2 v1's and I run a 20/58 ones a 30.5cc esp and the other is a 34 esp and they are both great off the line and top speed but their setup for a small on road course. I'd personally opt for a 20/58 as your .5 off from a 21/62 I did in my 2.0 that got 50mph with an esp 34.1000009364.webp
 
Rep732 said:
Mm acceleration may still suffer with a 6k spring tbh. I opt for the 8k springs as it helps with getting the truck off the line faster as well as re gaining speed if you slow down or take a turn that bleeds off some speed. The 8k clutch will help with increasing pinion sizes also. I went and checked my 2 v1's and I run a 20/58 ones a 30.5cc esp and the other is a 34 esp and they are both great off the line and top speed but their setup for a small on road course. I'd personally opt for a 20/58 as your .5 off from a 21/62 I did in my 2.0 that got 50mph with an esp 34.View attachment 95443
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Interesting, thanks for the info! I do plan on swapping my unmodded 320 out for a modded OBR 34 at some point in the future, so 20 sounds like it would be much closer to what I'd want speed-wise without sacrificing acceleration.
 
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