Freezetron

Man, I am just not having a good day today. About the only thing that went RIGHT was my O.S. .18TM arriving which I promptly installed onto my Revo and headed outside to break it in. My LHS hobby shop said to run a full tank at idle speed and then do gradual increase in speeds and go full throttle on the 6th tank.

Man, it was a real PITA to get the sucker going, but I finally managed to get it to fire and it ran for around 12mins at idle speed until it cut out and the factory settings. I checked the temps frequently and they bounced between 125-155 and the exhaust was dripping excess fuel for awhile so I know it was getting plenty of lubrication. So I tried to fire it up again, and it wouldn't start no matter how many times I pulled the pull start. So I took a break and tried again and managed to get it to fire but it wouldn't idle. I fitzed around with the HSN, LSN and idle but just adusting like 1/8 of a turn leaning and richening to try to get the engine to fire. I finally managed too, let it sit for another 5 mins and decided to give it some light gas. So I went around in slow circles at 1/4 throttle and it cut out when I let out the gas.

Hmm ok, so I started it up again and I had to start giving it some gas so it would actually start and then I did a good 5-6 minute low speed lap where I gave it no more then 1/4 throttle and I saw exhaust coming out, when I pulled it in to check the temp, my meter registered HI and my engine started making this gawdawful wailing sound and I immediatly shut it down. I kept an eye on the temp meter and it finally gave me a reading of 300 and dropping. SOB, what happend. I rushed hope to take off the cooling head, and this is what I found.

What in Gods green earth happened??????

frizzlefry99

looks to me like your head got loose. should hae checked al the bolts before putting it in your truck, when the head or glow plug got loose it works like an air leak and causes it to lean out. you got lucky and shut it down right away if you would have gone any longer it would be a paperwheight.

Freezetron

Do you think the engine is ok? I mean, I didn't move any of the needles more then 1/8 of a turn and I was only going 1/4 throttle for a little while. It was just taking forever to burn through the first tank at idle speed and it's still not completely done either.

bgfireman

My Feedback: (13)

Take it to the LHS and tell them they were wrong!!!!!!!!! That is deffinately not the way to break in a motor. That is the old way letting it idle. Here is a link to the heat cycle method. This is what I did with my OS .18.
http://www.cooperfuels.com/Break-in.htm
Did it still have any compression when you turned it by hand?
Good luck getting it fixed if it will not run when you put it back together.
Let us know what you find out.

Freezetron

Yeah, I cranked it over after putting everything back on and it still makes a nice pop sound if thats what you mean

flaminheli

Not sure but the first heat and cool cycle may have loosened some bolts such as head bolts? and caused an air leak, which will cause it to run hot? Nice to check all bolts between tanks when breaking in an engine. These are just assumptions, just guesses.

bgfireman

My Feedback: (13)

If it still has good compression (pop) I would stop using the old school break in and go with the one above. Maybe it will be OK.
Good luck

cashstacker

I just got my os .18tm too... i installed it friday and ran it a little, really hard to get started. I could not get it to stop overheating to like 350, id shut it down let it cool and again right back to 350. I now am not able to get it started. I wonder if it's a bad batch of engines or what?

Edi: it still pinches up top but just wont stay on. it stats to turn over and then hits the pinch and quits, so i gotta push the flywheel the rest of the way myself and try and turn it over again.

Nitr0-is-Deadly

what the hell kinda heat cycle break in is that?? full throttle right after you start it for the first time??? damn i thought it was supposed to be a 1/4 - 1/2 throttle ..would full throttle break a con rod or something??

anyways ice ur luck sucks..brand new engine and its friend like the 3.3..the piston looks horrible..did u put smaller screws in the head again? j/k lol u learned from that right?


but really tho that sucks..i would be pissed too if my brand new o.s did this..send it to O.S for a new engine is what i would do!

Nitr0-is-Deadly

is it a good idea to thread lock screws that go on the head?

cvikes80

Doesnt make sense to threadlock it. Blue is what you would want to use and it breaks down with very little heat. And red threadlock is very aggressive which actually locks the threads and unless you apply extreme heat you wont get them out which would toast the motor.

cvikes80

If you still got pinch it will work but man that thing is brand new. I would call tower or who ever you ordered it from right away in the morning and try get it replaced because wether it runs good or not afterwards there was some life taken away from that unfortunate incident. Wow man unreal.

bgfireman

My Feedback: (13)

OK here is another link this is from the OS answere man here on RC Universe. He is called Bax. He says almost the smae thing. Just a little different.
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/m_5631979/tm.htm
If it still has pinch and the retailer want trade it for you this is still how I would do the break in.

IOWAREVO

Do NOT use locktite on your head screws.

Check this site out for some scary stuff...... http://www.hpiracing.com/engines.php

Love the pile of dirt one

Freezetron

Sigh......guess i'll be calling O.S tomorroo.

gkcontra

I would say more damage came from running it at 125-155 for 12 minutes than the overheating. If you look in the OS manual it even states during break-in to drive it around slowly and then continue to increase with each tank.

Freezetron

Allright, i've had it with this mis-information BS. I have just about had it. Either you guys are misinformed, im being misled or most people on this forum have no idea what your talking about.

My LHS has been in business for over 30 years and Brian the gentlemen that has helped me ALOT since day one would not steer me in the wrong direction. I took all his advice and used White lightning 20% Nitro as its good quality stuff. I ran the thing for idle speed for awhile and then proceeded to drive it around USING O.S.'s break in method and then this accident happend.

I call up Towerhobbies this morning and of course, they can't do anything, I have to call O.S. Fine, so I call up O.S and tell them my plight and they said that White Lightning isn't a good fuel at all, not enough oil content, your engine fried because lack of lubrication. They said I should run 14%-18% oil content. Then they say that the LC3 plug is to hot for most applications, they only reason they put it with the engine is for use with the EZ start wiring system, everyone else needs to run an O.S. 8 plug for cooler running temps. ***???

He blamed the fuel leak on "the poor quality" fuel and says to run O-Donnell fuel for best reliability or even Trinity Monster Horsepower. OMG, so they dont' even suggest that it might be a factory flaw?

I took it to my LHS and showed him the car and told him out flat what O.S said less then 15 minutes ago and he tells me the following.

"Damn, unbelivable, those guys will say anything to keep from doing warranty work on their engines. The only reasons they say O-Donnell is because they stick with their warranty specifications and any deviation from that they refuse to acknowledge it and blame it on you"

"I ran my .18TM with 20% White Lighting for over a year during proffesional races and I NEVER had a problem with it, so for O.S to say this is just utter warranty denial work BS. Alot of other racings have use WL in the passed with a good track record, so O.S. is just in denial. O-donnell fuel is only 10% oil content, and yet 8% is to low? Explain that to me. The only fuel that has higher then 16% oil is aircraft fuel which won't work crap in car engines"


"And why the hell would they give the wrong plug from O.S. that runs to hot for the engine? That is complete utter corporate coverup BS"

"Running the engine at a cooler temp at rich settings is what you WANT for break in initially and then lean it up. You don't need the engine to run at 200 degrees just so that the "cylinder" can expand enough. Damn some of these people telling you this info need to chill the *bleep* out, relax and stop worrying so much."

His words, not mine. 8 year nitro veteran who raced professionally for 3 years.

He then takes apart the engine's header and cooling head and says right off the bat...

"Wow, they didn't screw down the cooling head all the way down at the factory, so the fuel leaked all over the place, look you can even see it where it leaked passed the glowplug seal. This is the factory's fault, not yours, you should never have to check this when you purchase an engine but apparently O.S quality standards of dropped"

He reassemblies everything for me, checks the compression, locktights the engine cooling head screws to which I say that people say thats a bad idea from forums and he replies...

"Then they can worry about their cooling heads coming off, you won't. i've done this for years, its a simple and effective insurance policy, absolutely no reason not to do it."

So we head outside and after some angst with the pull start, it fires up, he then richens my engine up and i've been doing slow loops and leaning the engine since then and it looks like my engine will be ok.

Sorry guys, but i've had enough of this confusion. I"ll stick to my LHS for advice on proper engine use. Some of you seem to be ill-informed, biased or just incapable of giving decent advice and I nearly ruined my engine because of it. Sorry to come across as an ******* but im really sick of getting 4-6 different "opinions" and "expert advice" on one issue and then im the one who suffers in the end, both time and money wise.

If you have a problem with this, go and run your R/C's your way then, and i'll do it my way.

beelzebubishere

My Feedback: (1)

Id have to say, more power to ya, Bro. You go for it....you don't need nobody here....if I was you I'd sign out, and just program your hobby dealers phone number into your cell.
Yup.....get on wit yo bad self! I know I don't know squat, and after a rant like that, I' never be inclined to share what little I do know....not with you, anyway.....wheeeew....gotta love those rants! LOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

imnew4321

well everyone has their ways and stick to them. but i would listen to a person i am talking to directly like the guy at my lhs, you should have listened to your guy. it is the most reliable source. dont get bumed out it will happen to the best of us. glad to hear your engine is good. i would polish it up a little

foltzy90

i have my lhs # in my cell, ya kno if i ever need a tip when im out thrashin around thats just me tho

rcnitrohead

Actually I have found that BOTH of my LHS owner are biased and especially one of them just tries to steal my money. One of them is ok but he is very old school and stubborn. I mean he is extremely biased towards anything but his policies and somtimes he just does it wrong. The other guy is a flat out jerk. I see young kids coming into the LHS for repairs, they charge $35 per hour on repair work. The kid needs a drivebelt changed and a pinion on his onroad. They charge him $173 and they have been notorius for doing stuff like that. The most help I have found is on this forum and I dont care how long someone has been into the hobby, that doesnt mean they havent been doing it wrong for their whole lives. Id call O.S. an tell them to shove their accusations up their @$**s and ask them why they dont screw down their engines before selling them and ask why they put the IMPROPER plug for engine break in. Any douche knows that anything about 15% oil content isnt even remotely suitable for an rc car engine. 8%-10% is ideal[sm=48_48.gif]

69eyes

i have the same problem ice, my lhs is exactly like yours, hes a great guy and would never steer me wrong. i always get 3-4 or more different opinions.[:@][&:][:@][&:].

BTW, that pic of the engine with all the sand in it is scary, HOLY CRAP!!!!!!! thats horrible.

dirt101

I also have my lhs in my phone. my lhs has a very cool mechanic he will do anything that takes less than 10 mins for free even if you dont buy anything. then they charge a flat $15 for any other labor.

I also just boaght an os 18 and i love it. I havent had any problems with it it started running about 190 then i tuned for about 205(7 tanks in) and have left it there. once i get to about 15 tanks i will probably tune to about 235 and leave it there the engine already has more power than i need. maybe im weird but the engine feels like the 2.5 on top but it has toque everywhere else. no more lag. dont get discouraged. A lot of the members here are very well educated i never doubt them.

tommythecat

My Feedback: (2)

It is very clear form the pics, that your LHS owner is correct. The head was clearly not properly secured.

That should be a clearcut warranty replacement. I would push the issue with O.S.. I would email them pics of the engine and the fuel staining under the head. There is no question, that head was loose, and unless you unscrewed it and didn't tighten it back on, it is a warranty replacement issue...period...

I wouldn't bother with the loctite on the head screws, doing so will not hurt anything, but it shouldn't help much either as loctite releases with heat. But if it makes you feel better, then there is no harm, so go for it.

Good luck.

I do agree with you to some extent on these forums. There is a whole whole lot of misinformation thrown around here, but once you learn to wade through it, it isn't a bad forum.

cvikes80

Wow lol. There is more then 1 way out there to accomplish the same things. Several types of break in methods, all of which seem to work just fine. thread lock or no threadlock whoopy do. Mines never had it and no probs. Read the directions on a threadlock bottle and its intended use and how to remove it. And then you can draw a conclusion why its usless on a heatsink. Even with all that. Where is the misinformation that your freaking out about. the first problem you had was with the 3.3 when you didnt tighten the head properly and destroyed it. Running it just to use up the fuel when the sound it was making was clearly bad. Thats your bad decision not ours. And then OS does the same thing to you by not tightening the head properly and you didnt check it. Again not our fault. Not really sure where your going with your rant but you might want to look in the mirror to find the mistakes made that are costing you money.