Check Your Equipment

Glow starter.

Before you do anything, make sure you have a freshly charged glow starter, and if your glow starter uses a nonrechargeable battery, ensure that a fresh one is installed. Check the glow starter by taking a new glow plug and sticking it into the end of the starter to make sure it glows. If your car has an electric starter, ensure that you have a freshly charged battery pack to run it. The pack has to have enough power to turn the engine over quickly. If you have the Traxxas system, the same pack is used to heat the glow plug.

Glow plug.

If your engine was running when you shut it down, then chances are that your glow plug is good to go. When in doubt, remove the glow plug and check it using your glow starter. If it doesn’t glow brightly, replace it.

Fuel.

If you’ve got fuel that’s been sitting a while, give it a good shake to remix the oil, nitromethane, and methanol. If the fuel appears to have thickened or is otherwise weird, skip it and get a jug of fresh fuel. The same goes for fuel left over in your car’s tank. If it’s been sitting a long time, drain the tank and refill with fresh fuel.

Place your vehicle on a block, stand, or starter box for easier starting and tuning. Once you get the engine fired, make sure you blip the throttle to clear out the carb and combustion chamber and get some heat in the engine.

Make sure your glow plug and glow starter are both functioning properly.