Hello,

I was winterizing my Magnum XL .40 by flushing it with Varsol when i rotated the crackshaft all the way to the top of its stroke. My shaft is now locked and wont budge at all. I tried draining it but no luck.What should I do????.

Thankx

I would put after-run oil on the top of the piston and let it seep down between the piston and the cylinder. I would heat the side of the engine a bit with a heat gun to try to get the cylinder to expand a small amount. Then try to rotate the crank the opposite way from the direction you were rotating when it got stuck. If that doesn't work, you might even try removing the head and try pushing down on the top of the piston while heating the cylinder some. Be very careful to not apply too much force as you can bend the connecting rod or puncture a hole in the piston. If you do push on the top of the piston, try to use something that will spread the force out over as much area as possible so you won't puncture or dent it (maybe a wooden dowel of the appropriate diameter). And, of course, you don't want to get any kind of "pushing" tool stuck inside the cylinder.

Keep in mind, this is what I might try to do. I would get other, more experienced fliers to give their opinions before proceeding.

Thankx for the quick response,

I dont have after- run oil with me now. can i use bearing oil or something to that nature

Thankx

I think you can use something called "Marvel Mystery Oil"- I'm not sure I've got the name exactly right. I've heard that automatic transmission fluid will also work.

Sounds like you rinsed all the oil out of the poor thing then turned it over and it grabbed at top dead center.

Give it a good squirt of oil through the glow plug. You could remove the back plate and get some in there too. Mount a prop, and turn it over.

Heat will help, as noted. Careful you don't use flammable oil such as wd-40

... at least that's what I'd do.

Then get some after run oil from the hobby store and douse it well.

If you do manage to get the piston to go down, check the sleeve to make sure it didn't get scored. You'll see this as very shiny vertical lines or gouges in the sleeve.
I don't see the need to flush a engine completely before putting it up for the winter. On your very last flight, simply drain the tank, keep trying to start the engine until all of the remaining fuel in the engine has been burned off and pour on the after run oil. Pour it into the carb and into the plug hole and spin the engine until the oil is everywhere. Periodically spin the prop during the the winter to move the oil around and keep everything loose and you should have no problems come spring.

Jesse

Are you sure you didn't simply "hydro-lock" the engine? If you got to much of any liquid above the pistion it won't turn over all teh way because the liquid can not be compressed enough. Remove the glow plug, and carefully try to turn it over.
Dennis-

Do you have a prop on the engine? Many good ABC/N engines will lock at TDC when cold due to the tight piston-liner fit. This is a good thing. You don't notice it much on the plane, because you usually turn the engine over with the prop. With the prop off, you have no leverage. Bolt on a prop, shoot in some oil, and turn by hand. I'm not familar with Varsol, is that a cleaner that will remove oil? That's not what you want, you want a good coating of oil in the engine. Airtool oil is some of the best for this, Automatic Transmission fluid works, Maryvel Mystrey oil (as mentioned above) is very good too. I wouldn't use WD-40 because Wd-40 will gum up over time. I have used WD-40 in engines to help blow out dirt and get something unstuck though, it won't hurt anything in the short run.

Ok ,

Im going to try and mount a prop tonight and see how it goes. Varsol removes all the gunk inside and outside of the engine. After this i was going to put transmission oil in.

Thankx for all the help

Mounted the prop and it unlocked. A new tip learned. Thankx to all that helped.

BTW: Is there anything else i should keep in mind when storring the plane for the winter like charging the batts once a month?

Thankx

When I store an engine, I fill it with marvel mystery oil and don't try to rinse anything out of it. If I clean it first, I clean it with Alcohol and then soak it good with marvel. Never had one seize in over 27 years of doing it this way.

Yes, cycle the batterys about once a month, or better yet, put skis on it and fly it once a month. It is a blast.

I don't have a cycler. Can i just charge it then run it till its dead with an electric motor?

you shouldn't run an electric motor with your reciever batts, it will draw to much current and overheat them. I was told to just leave the radio/reciever on for a while, but not let it completly die, then recharge.

I'm sure you could just put them on a standard wall wart charger for an hour or two a month and they'd be fine. Try to get a cycler before too long though. It's just good practice to cycle your packs a couple times a year.
Dennis-

Ace makes a nice cycler for about $80. I got mine on ebay for a bit less than that. I really like it. Got the trickler too that can charge and trickle 6 batteries at one time.