Information Provide By HPI Racing

Nitro Car Maintenance

General Cleanliness - Use a spray like HPI's Nitro Car Cleaner or undiluted Simple Green to clean the car of grease and road grime, and keep a natural bristle brush handy to clean dust off the body and chassis between races.

Engine - The powerplant of the Nitro car and most of its weight. The inside of the engine should be checked for excessive wear by an experienced Nitro racer every 2 gallons of fuel or so (or 100 hours of running time on the engine). You may have to put in a new piston and sleeve, but after that the engine will run like new! You also should use After Run at the end of each day's running. Do NOT use WD-40 on the inside of your engine! After Run will absorb the water in the engine, not just displace it. Just follow the directions on the After Run bottle.

Ball Bearings - Make sure they are clean on the outside. Wipe them free of any grease from the exhaust and 'road grime'. Check the bearings after each day of running.

Nitro Two Speeds - The #B080 one-way bearing in the spur gear needs to be checked and lubricated every ten to twenty runs. Use the blue cap grease that comes with the front one-way diffs or some good quality lithium grease. Just a light coat is required to properly lubricate the bearing, so don't use too much!

Brake Disc - The only way you can stop your car, unless something bad happens to your brakes (in which case, a wall is the only thing that will stop the car!). Before each day of running, you need to check the condition of the brake disc itself, the brake linkages, screws and spacing of the screws holding the brake pads.

Screws - Since they hold the car together, you should check all the screws every couple of days of running the Nitro car. They should be tight and not stripped out. Replace the plastic bulkheads if the screws are loose and won't tighten. Use Loctite on all metal-to-metal screw connections (the motor mounts, etc.).