Enrique,

I'm very sorry to hear about your troubles with the YS. It is definitely finicky and picky, and wants a certain set of conditions in which to run. It is very purpose-built. Which model of YS was it if I may ask? What brand of fuel? I will tell you that the YS DZ160 is a very solid great running engine, and normally trouble free, but it demands exacting set up and conditions or it is simply unhappy. Flexible, it is not. Do not read this as saying you are/were doing anything wrong. The drilling of the holes in the piston makes me think it may have been an older 140L perhaps? Just guessing.

As to your comments above, this is my opinion only: ditch the Mintor and go with the OS 160. In my experience the Mintor is even more finicky than the YS. Beautiful, well made engines, and they are getting better, but the break in on these engines is crucial and extremely difficult. They overheat easily and the fuel metering system is somewhat suspect. That said, if you can get it properly broken in, they make good power. But you may be much more pleased with the OS 160. And this is just my opinion from what I have read so far.

If you do a search on some of my older posts, you will see how anti-YS I was in the past. I simply could not see any advantage to these engines, and they were more of a liability than an asset for me. Last year I had to make a choice between the YS 160 and the OS 160. I had been running the OS 140RX for years exclusively, but I felt I was finally reaching a point in my flying where I needed more power. My decision to go with YS was based on first hand experience with a couple that had run very strong and consistently for 2 years straight. As in, no service whatsoever except a glow plug occasionally. This was dead opposite of what I had seen from the older versions, which were a crap shoot in this part of the world, from what I was seeing. I did not see the same behavior from the DZ160 so I decided to try one. I was instructed very closely and thoroughly by Jim Ivey, one of the best YS gurus in the southeast. I learned fast that this engine is fanastic, but initial set up is crucial. Once it's set, forget it. Mine is in the same place it was last August and has many cases of fuel through it, and I love it!!! For me it is a great solution, but I would be fast to say it is NOT for everyone. It is the best engine out there right now for doing what I want an engine to do.

What level/class of pattern do you fly? If you are not flying FAI, I certainly would say it is more important to get a reliable engine that works for YOU. In the states we have lots and lots of YS "experts", so it is easy to recommend this beast to almost anyone....almost. For anyone on thier own, I would advise them so seek out someone to help them get this engine set up properly and teach them the subtle habits of this engine. Once set, you do not touch it. Anyone who feels the need to tweak a needle before every flight can expect this engine to blow up in thier face...because it sounds different on the ground on the first run almost every time. You have to trust that it is set up right and fly it. it can try and trick you into fooling with it.

In your specific case, I'd strongly recommend the OS 160, for what it's worth. if you don't quite need that much power, the 140RX is about as simple as it gets, and is probably the easiest engine to set up and run of them all. All of the engines we use have specific things you have to do to them that are beyond what the manual says, and you have to search out the info sometimes. Jon Lowe's "OS 160 cookbook" article for the K Factor we did last year was the best I have ever seen. The DZ 160-170 needs an article like this, but it might take 5 parts to cover everything as thoroughly as Jon did with the OS

Since I was the editor at the time, I have his article and his updates in PDF form. if you want/need a copy, email me at [email protected] and I will gladly send you the file if it's ok with Jon. in fact, if jon doesn't care, I will organize it and put it on my site for download. I want to do one for the DZ as well over the next few months, I think it would benefit people greatly.

Good luck,
-Mike