RE: TROUBLE WITH NEW AXIAL ENGINE
Absolutely, and yes, especially during break-in. Always run the engine at operating temp during brak-in. The instruction manual says to break-in the engine at a lower temp, but they only lie to like that so that you ill have to either buy a new engine or replace the piston & sleeve soon.
ALWAYS break-in the engine at the operating temp that the engine will run at when it is fully broken in. If you break it in at lower temps, you will only take away from the engine's life. Where you could have got 15gallons from the engine, the engine manual break-in instructions will only allow the engine to live for 5-10 gallons!