Anybody out there seen a Saito 56 rip a 10 mm square chunk out of the chrome cylinder? I purchased the engine second hand, with 15hrs on it supposedly, so I really can't comment on its use or storage. When I got it home, I lubed it with after run oil, ran one tank of Coolpower 10% through it and it ran fine. A few weeks later I ran another tank through it, and about 1/2 way through the tank, it stopped, and I thought the fuel was empty. I turned the prop, and no compression. I stripped it down, and saw the mentioned damage. Could this be caused by poor storage methods by the previous owner? I am not sure as to why this happened. The remaining chrome in the cylinder looks fine. Any clues as I don't want this to happen again when I buy a new one.

Thanks.
daphi[&o]

From the Saito Manual

Fuel should be 10 - 15 percent nitro with 20 percent oil, preferably fully synthentic

From the Morgan Fuel web site, CoolPower 10 percent airplane fuel (Not the heli blends) only contain 17 percent oil.

Now if you consider that you only go 1.5 tank fulls then it is unlikely that the oil content caused the problem so I would not be afraid to bet that it was either run lean and overheated pretty bad or over it's short life span it was run on fuel that did not contain enough oil. I also beleive the damage was done loing before you got it.

It also simply could have been a bad sleeve.

Now I have had several Saitos and if the price is not a big problem the CoolPower 30 percent Heli blends are the way too go with any Saito. They are 30 percent nitro and 24 percent fully synthetic oil and it will make these engines purr like the preverbial kitty cat. At one point I ran the same fuel as you are and it did well but I could never get the engine to run consistently well, since I switched to the 30 percent I have never looked back.

Sorry about having to give you the bad news...

I guess we have different manuals and ideas. First you say the fuel should contain 10-15% nitro and 20% oil. Then you comment that since cool power only contains 17% that it is somehow unacceptable. Then you go on to recomment 30% nitro even though the manual clearly recommends 10-15%. You also suggest that only fully synthetic oils are acceptable.

My copy of the manual says does say that 10-15% nitro and 20% oil is the first choice. It does not say the oil needs to be fully synthetic. In fact it states that "a mix of synthetic-castor oil is acceptable". It does say that only castor is not recommended. It further states that Hangar 9 Aero-Blend, Omega, Cool Power, K&B, Power Master, etc are acceptable. Given this information, I'm having trouble determining why one would need to run 30% nitro, 24% synthetic oil fuel. My Saitos have always worked quite nicely running standard airplane fuel, 10 or 15% usually Omega or Cool Power.

Chuck,

I guess I should have worded it a little differently. Yes you are correct on what the manual states, I was giving the first items listed and doing it without using the exact wording, then I gave what I and allot of other people are doing without giving us any problems. Yes 15% will work and a castor/synthetic blend is acceptable, but I found that fully synthetic seems to be a little better and the 30% nitro mix will make the engine "purr like a cat" at least with my engines.

I just wanted him to see that his problem could have been a lean run along with serious overheating, as well as maybe using a fuel that may have had not enough oil content which could also casue the overheating. The otherside as I stated is it simply could have been a bad sleeve to start with and no one did anything "wrong". In any case, I feel the damage was done prior to him making his runs since he only ran a tank and a half when the problem came about.

I even tried to cut and paste from the pdf file I downloaded on the Saito Singles and it is locked, at least Acrobat Pro 5 will not let me do it. Maybe version 6 will. So since I am at work and today my time is somewhat limited I simplified my response.

Basically, I gave him my opinion on the problem, gave him several different things that could have caused it and then provided an alternative.

Sorry if I gave confusing info. I do stand by my opinions on the oil type, content and nitro recommendations I gave

I run saitos as well, and use a mix of 15 % nitro with about 17% oil and have had no problems whatsoever. In my .56, I prefer to run 30% heli fuel as I feel it gives me a more consisten run, but in my larger saitos, I just use regular 15% airplane fuel. I don't think the oil content was the problem, especially given the one and 1/2 tanks he ran through it. Now, the previous owner may have ran it lean for quite some time, causing cylinder damage. However, I would point more to just faulty sleeve. BTW, I didn't realize saitos had chrome sleeves--guess you learn something new everyday. I thought they had cast cylinders with aluminum sleeves.

Nope, I hit the same brick wall with version 6.
NP. I just wanted to make sure that people understood that these engines should run ok on regular fuel.

Saitos have a "jug," a 1-piece cylinder and head just like all the small industrial 2-strokes, weed eaters, chain saws, etc. Some of the earlier ones had a brass sleeve inside, but all the newer ones use the chrome plated bore. This is the reason they are the lightest weight of any of the 4-strokes.

As for fuel, check what the guys at Horizon use and it's mostly 30% heli fuel. In tests, Saitos tend to gain considerable rpm from a higher nitro content, whereas OS 4-strokes gain very little. I tend to run regular 10% Omega, castor blend fuel in mine.