I would get someone experienced to look at your engine before you buy a new one. I am guessing that it can be started with a little know how.

Simple things like removing the cylinder head are not recommended for a beginner. It is obvious from reading this that you do not have much glow engine experience. Don't take this as a criticism. Everyone has to start somewhere.

Get someone who knows what they are doing and I am sure everything will become clear. There must be knowledgable person near you (you managed to get a starter pretty quick, ask the guys there to help).

It will probably save you a lot of money too.

Is the engine firing at all?

What needle settings have you tried?

What fuel are you using?

hi siclick, no it did not even run by itself and sometimes the engine would get stuck when I tried to crank it again. So a new one only cost $54.00 from Tower Hobies and it is the same OS engine.

Getting stuck sounds like it could be flooded. If this is true then all you have to do is remove the glow plug, close the throttle and spin it over with a starter.

You don't really need to prime when using the starter either.

A new one from tower may only be $54.00 but getting someone to look at it is free.

Yea I fiqured the primming part out when I saw the fuel flowing through while using the starter , but I just notice Im using 10% nitromethane and 16% oil . Thia engine requires 20% oil minimum. Does this matter ? 4% less oil ?

With my .46LA, it will sometimes get stuck using an electric starter and the starter will not get it spinning. Like I said, it is tight. The advice about flooding is right, if that's the problem. If it's not flooded, what I do (after priming) is turn the prop by hand so the piston is at top dead center (all the way up in the compression stroke) before I apply the starter. Then when I apply the starter it is on the down stroke. That way I build up some momentum and it starts spinning. Just be careful about hand turning the prop with the glow igniter on, as it can pop and take out a finger (not your problem right now).

Thanks Jag , I changed the glow plug and still didnt have any luck so Im taking it back to the LHS I bought it from and the dude said he will get it started . He also said the last time the engine was ran was in the summer. I think this is the reason why this engine is having a hard time starting , it has been sitting for so long and probably has'nt been cleaned .

I have an LA 40 that I got when I bought my Avistar RTF. It's to a point right now (well was when it was installed) where it would start in two or three flips cold. I followed the manual settings exactally to start with, from there it was a matter of experimenting with numbers of flips when I primed it, etc etc. It was a bear at first, especially since I didn't have an electric starter, but eventually it came around and became the reliable little monster it is today.

Follow the directions... if you don't have a manual, download it, read it.
18%-20% oil content shouldn't make that much of a difference.
And don't worry about the fuel running back down the line, when you figure out the prime the engine will run long enough for the fuel to flow. Bothered me at first, but not a prob.

Andy

Well guys I finally got the O.S. 40 LA motor running . It is amazing how easy it starts when the glow igniter is charged properly. YEP thats all it was. I only used the electric starter one time and then I was able to just flick it twice and then it would turn over . I definitely need to fine tune it because it cuts off when I give more throttle and , I'm not sure if it is normal for it rattle the entire plane so vigorously. Some times it was running smooth as a bowling ball down an alley . So thanks a million without all of the info in this post I would have definitely gave up on fuel powered engines.


PS does any body have a sound bite of how the engine should sound when tuned properly ?

20% oil isn't very common. Most fuels come through with 18%, and although 16% isn't great, it won't hurt anything as long as you run the engine on the rich side.

Do NOT remove the head unless you have to rebuild the engine or something. When you put it bak on, did you tighten the bolts in the proper order? You can warp the head if you don't.

snug one down about finger tight, then do the same to the "opposite" bolt. The move to one of the loose ones and do that, then the last loose one. Start back at the beginning and tighten the first one some more, and repeat the order you folloed the first time around.

Don't overtighten them either, it's not too hard to strip the threads.

I'm guessing that someone with experience would get that engine running pretty easily too. It's pretty hard to damage them to the point where they won't run.

Good luck,
Dennis-

thanks DB but I did get it started , man did it feel great to accomplish that ! so now on to tunning then flying .
thanks a651 I did find the manual online and it helps alot

The vigorus shaking is because the prop that is on the motor isn't ballanced.
If you have access to a prop ballancer, use it. Put the prop on the rod and watch which direction the prop falls. That shows which blade is the heaviest. Then you can either sand the heavy side blade till it stays perfectly horizontal, or you could use paint. I use contrasting paint on the tips of the blade (easier to see when its moving).

The vigourous shaking may also be simply because it's not tuned properly. From memory the OS manual is pretty good at explaining how to tune your engine.

If you follow the instructions you will be a able to tell when the needle is in the right area. If you start rich (a couple of turns) and slowly screw the needle in the RPM will rise and eventually drop. You want the needle set a little before the RPM drops. Don't go for peak RPM either you want it a little before this to keep the engine rich (and cool).

With the OS 46 you should be able to hear the RPM. You shouldn't need a tacho.

Reply to an old post in this thread:

Some engines start by hand easily when new.

My Magnum .46 (an almost EXACT OS .46 FX clone) starts in one or two flips when started by an experienced modeler.

Hi guys . Today I had my first flight using the engine mentioned in the beginning of this post. Before giving the play by play I would really like to thank all of you guys from the bottom of my heart , because if I didn't get help in here I probably wouldnt have experienced the beautiful 2 succesful flights I had today.

I was very nervous , all I could think of is getting the Megatech Skyliner in the air and then click' the engine cuts off. Although I practiced this scenario numerous times using real flight G2 , I just didnt want his to happpen . To begin I had to re-tighten the prop , for some reason it loosened up when I was tinning the engine last week. Then , using only my hand I got the motor started. On my first take off approach I noticed the engine was stuttering a little so I broke ground and then landed quickly . While on the ground I reved up the engine and to no surprise the engine cut off . So then I started it back up and let it idle for 2 minutes to let it warm up and then my second take off I gained about 15 feet then heard the engine just stop, it wasn't a big deal because I had enough momentum to land but did a tail over front. Then I thought to myself let me give it one more chance but I would adjust the needle valve to run a tad bit richer. ( more open). Before taking off I pushed the throttle completely open while holding the tail and it didn't stall [X(] .
So off it went with out a struggle climbing into the sky I didn't go high just in case I had to land immediately I could . The one thing that amazed me was how easy it was to turn the plane using the ailerons and elevator vs just tail and elevator also the flight is much more smoother than some of the electrics I have flown .
The second flight was even better . I went up higher about three hundred feet or so, and neglected to do any stunts , I just wanted to get the feel of the engine. Landing the second time was very nervous because of the height I had to slow the plane down enough to hit my mark. I was off but still managed to land with out flipping the plane over .WHAT A BREATH OF FRESH AIR ! I have flown my first glow powered plane.

Its funny I wasn't going to buy anymore planes until I moved, but now I know how to deal with these fuel engines I'm going to look into buying a plane that uses a .10-.15 size engine.

That's great news! Sorry about that previous post, I think I responded to the last post on the 1st page.

One thing to consider, smaller planes generally aren't as stable in the air as larger ones, so you may find a 10 to 15 size pretty "squirelly" to fly.
Dennis-