Originally Posted by
F4u5
James, while I appreciate your resourcefulness, and talent.....and believe me I do apreaciate your info, I just disagree that for a $3k+ engine, we modelers should have to rebuild it. I did replace all of the clips on the rocker arm shafts, as you say, but I do not plan to disassemble the engine for internals. Nonetheless, I now have issues with the brass fittings that retain the cam rod lifters. This appears to be another poor mfg area. You really should have at lease 2D thread engagement into aluminum, and the 2 of mine that stripped out, I just don't see that amount of engagement (not close). I have the skills to pull this engine apart and go thru it, but, for me, I will send it back to Horizon and make them sort it out. If the engine does not run satisfactory, live and learn, I will simply move on to a 2 cylinder opposed. This experience has convinced me that radialsare not worth the hassle. Best of luck to others runnings this engine. Too bad,because when it is running, it is running good and strong.
Jeff
Hi Jeff,
Don't get me wrong, mate, I totally agree with you that you should not have to "fix" a $3k+ engine. If my engine was still in warranty, and/or I lived closer to Horizon HQ, I too would have sent mine back. However, I did not have this luxury. I had the engine sitting in a box for the first 6 months or so after purchase. And during the last half of the warranty period I didn't have much flight time on the engine, and none of the issues had appeared at that stage. So my only choice was to either send it back for repair at my own cost, or repair it myself. I chose the latter. I guess it all depends on what you want out of a model airplane. To me a horizontally opposed twin 2-stroke engine is the last thing I'd want to strap to the front of my model, especially a radial engined airplane. The sound would be terrible! However, that is just my opinion. Everyone is entitled to their own, of course.
I hope you have some luck with Horizon, as they are a great engine when they are running well.
Regards,