Roger, Very sorry to take so long to reply but I did not see the post. Removing a lifter is done by simply compressing a rocker that is not "on a cam" then remove the push rod and with your fingers just pull out the follower. Thats it!


To all; Last sat evening I took the Robin Hood with the 9-90 (which I now call "Old Reliable") out to the field and flew it 9 times! Some observations.........
1) The fuel cost for these engines is just not really a consideration. OK a gallon of Wild Cat fuel with 16% oil and 15% nitro costs about $18/gal and an additional gal of methanol is $4/ gal so 2 gal costs $22.00. Now with a 20oz tank (but not run empty totally for each flight) I flew nine times for about 10-12 minutes each and used just over 1/2 gal. Now that is a bunch of flying for about $6.00. Remember this is evo's biggest glow engine! No I was not at full throttle all the time but who is???
2) The events happening in the engine after the end of the session. Many of you have read about my 9-90 getting "crunchy" overnight regardless of using much after run oil the previous day. Well last evening i did my usual oiling with the engine still pretty warm and then I thought hey remove a bottom follower and catch the oil and inspect using a white bottle cap I had. The oil was full of water globules! So, I added more oil until it ran clear. Then I did the usual cleaning of the plane and went home. While driving home I thought Hot engine cooling down to 70F=more condensation. So At home I pulled the bottom follower again and yep! more water globules. So I oiled even more till the oil drained clear. This morning the engine turned over slicker than ever. So do we have to jump through this many hoops??? I propose at the end of flying wait till the engine is cold, drain the oil from the bottom, add some fresh oil like usual till running clear, replace both followers top and bottom and hope this does it. Followers and push rods are easily removed even from most cowls. I will report on the effectiveness of this procedure. This engine now has 70 flights on it and shows no wear or other troubles. -Tom