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Engine Cleaning
I will be shortly getting my hands on a new (old) engine. It is a Super Tiger .45 ABC. It is covered with years of glow fuel, and dirt. It is pretty well stained too, but I am not too worried about that. Mostly I just want to get the "loose" dirt off the engine. Apart from just brushing it down with a toothbrush, is there any type of cleaner you would suggest.
I have read about things like boiling in antifreeze. I am looking for some less toxic. I am also not interested in taking the engine apart. Mostly I am looking for a nice simple surface clean. Any suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks |
RE: Engine Cleaning
I have recieved a few of these type of engines over the past couple of years. At the beginning of this year I decided to try to get 4 dirty, rusty, siezed up engines to run.
The first thing I did was get some machine tool oil and put it into the motor, I put a couple of drops in the carb it I could turn the prop, if not I took off the muffler and droped it right in. After a few turns things get loose. I then tried to run the engines on my test bench, 4 of 5 came to life very easily! I then turned to cleaning the engine up. This was pretty simple WD-40 and a toothbrush. Spray the WD-40 on the engine and let it set in for a couple of minutes, then start scrubbing. The result for me was a bunch of old engines that look almost like new again. The WD was good at getting the old fuel off and all of the other crud on the engines. The one engine I could not get going I cleaned up and took to my club, where a guy who really knows engines helped me get it up and running (took all of 10 min for him) I now have: 1 OS .61 1 OS .30 1 OS .25 1 MAGNUM .46 1 MAGNUM .25 None of which were running when they were given to me, all of which are now good to go into any plane that they will fit. It took a couple of hours over a weekend. |
RE: Engine Cleaning
Dawn Power Dissolver. Check out this thread I did on it:
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/m_5929584/tm.htm Granted, the thread is only when I used it on the muffler, but I know someone that did it on an engine like you are describing - very old, lots of staining, etc., and was very pleased with the outcome. |
RE: Engine Cleaning
ORIGINAL: manks7477 I have recieved a few of these type of engines over the past couple of years. At the beginning of this year I decided to try to get 4 dirty, rusty, siezed up engines to run. The first thing I did was get some machine tool oil and put it into the motor, I put a couple of drops in the carb it I could turn the prop, if not I took off the muffler and droped it right in. After a few turns things get loose. I then tried to run the engines on my test bench, 4 of 5 came to life very easily! I then turned to cleaning the engine up. This was pretty simple WD-40 and a toothbrush. Spray the WD-40 on the engine and let it set in for a couple of minutes, then start scrubbing. The result for me was a bunch of old engines that look almost like new again. The WD was good at getting the old fuel off and all of the other crud on the engines. The one engine I could not get going I cleaned up and took to my club, where a guy who really knows engines helped me get it up and running (took all of 10 min for him) I now have: 1 OS .61 1 OS .30 1 OS .25 1 MAGNUM .46 1 MAGNUM .25 None of which were running when they were given to me, all of which are now good to go into any plane that they will fit. It took a couple of hours over a weekend. somegeek |
RE: Engine Cleaning
ORIGINAL: somegeek ORIGINAL: manks7477 I have recieved a few of these type of engines over the past couple of years. At the beginning of this year I decided to try to get 4 dirty, rusty, siezed up engines to run. The first thing I did was get some machine tool oil and put it into the motor, I put a couple of drops in the carb it I could turn the prop, if not I took off the muffler and droped it right in. After a few turns things get loose. I then tried to run the engines on my test bench, 4 of 5 came to life very easily! I then turned to cleaning the engine up. This was pretty simple WD-40 and a toothbrush. Spray the WD-40 on the engine and let it set in for a couple of minutes, then start scrubbing. The result for me was a bunch of old engines that look almost like new again. The WD was good at getting the old fuel off and all of the other crud on the engines. The one engine I could not get going I cleaned up and took to my club, where a guy who really knows engines helped me get it up and running (took all of 10 min for him) I now have: 1 OS .61 1 OS .30 1 OS .25 1 MAGNUM .46 1 MAGNUM .25 None of which were running when they were given to me, all of which are now good to go into any plane that they will fit. It took a couple of hours over a weekend. somegeek OS .46 FX - Mounted on a PT-40 trainer - waiting to move up to a GP Corsair OS .25 LA - Mounted on a Sig MK II OS .91 Four Stroke - Will be mounted on a Unionville Norseman (on floats) I am thinking of mounting the OS .30 into a trainer I converted to a tail dragger, and the .61 will go into a Sig 4* that I will buy this summer. I have another plan for the .25 - SPAD combat planes! Fast, cheap, durrable and fun - how could they be put to better use! |
RE: Engine Cleaning
Getting back to the original question, I've had better luck using alcohol than WD-40 to clean off old fuel. Every time I've tried WD-40 for things like degumming a stuck carb, it ended up stuck again a couple days later. The alcohol seems to do a better job dissolving the oil. I've had good results with ordinary rubbing alcohol from the drug store and denatured. Rubbing alcohol is significantly cheaper. Try to get the stuff that's over 90% alcohol. When I clean a really old engine I will usually remove the carb and back plate. This lets me see inside the engine to determine if it's rusty. I usually leave the head on unless I need to do a complete disassembly, such as replacing the bearings.
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