How to take this 46AX apart?
 

Got the head off, piston and cylinder out, and carb off, and the crankshaft out. How to get the bearings out? Also, do I need to remove the piston from the connecting rod for cleaning?

Also I heard you can wash these things in soapy warm water, as long as they are rinsed and dried well, then covered in oil. Anyone say not to do this?

Thanks.

RE: How to take this 46AX apart?
 

You can use some sort of soapy water but be ready to use compressed air to dry it out. The bearings will need to be pounded or pressed out. If they aren't damaged, just leave them in place. The piston can also stay on the rod.

I would get a couple cans of automotive brake cleaner. It will blast everything clean, dry quickly and leave no residue. Then apply a a light oil.

RE: How to take this 46AX apart?
 

The bearings look dirty, although most of it might be rust (I use after run every time!)? Just blast them with brake cleaner?

Thanks Chuck.

RE: How to take this 46AX apart?
 

I'd try just blasting them out first. If that doesn't do it then you can think about taking them out.

RE: How to take this 46AX apart?
 

You can warm the engine up in a toaster oven, then bang it straight down on a piece of wood and they should pop right out.

RE: How to take this 46AX apart?
 

Thanks.

RE: How to take this 46AX apart?
 

Plus your wife will worry about your strange new culinary tastes.

RE: How to take this 46AX apart?
 

Yuck! [:'(]

RE: How to take this 46AX apart?
 

Don't take engines completely apart unless there is a real need to replace worn or broken parts. There is a high probability that you wont be able to place the liner back into the same exact position, even if it has a locating pin. There are microscopic wear patterns that get disturbed.
Like with surgery, the gain has to outweigh the risk.
If you want to do a super engine cleaning, fill a jar with Hoppes gun cleaning solvent. Take your engine with the head and backplate removed and dunk it into the jar. Put the lid on the jar and duct tape it to an orbital sander. I clamp the whole works into a bench vise, turn it on and go watch a ball game. It ias amazing what you will find after a couple of hours. Denture cleaners can be used the same way.
If you're a beginner with a late model engine that has bad bearings already, it might have some kind of warrantee?
When I began adding an oz of Sig castor to every quart of store bought fuel, rust has never been a problem.

RE: How to take this 46AX apart?
 

I crashed, completely burying the engine in farm dirt. There's dirt in every moving part. Also I've had castor oil in every fuel I've used so far. Actually, the brown 'stuff' (copper color) on the bearings might be from the castor, it appears to be coming off.

And no, Led Zeppelin is not old foagie music...yet;)

RE: How to take this 46AX apart?
 

.......closing the carb right before "ground zero" does wonders ;).
GaRcfield, If you've pulled the engine this far apart, a good rinsing at the sink with hot soapy water is an excellent treatment. Follow up with BrakeClean solvent and a compressed air blow out. Turn the bearings with your finger to feel for any left over grit, then slap in the crank and put a prop on. Now you should be able to forcefully rotate the crank and feel for gravellyness, roughness, catches, etc. It should rotate and spin freely with no sudden stops or sluggish behavior. A flick of the prop should send it spinning freely for a few seconds.

RE: How to take this 46AX apart?
 

K. Thanks. Don't have compressed air, so maybe it has to wait a couple of days.

Guys, really, thank you so much for the help. It's definitely time for me to turn it down a notch with this hobby/obsession. Of course I have a new plane due here tomorrow:D I wonder how that's going to work???

RE: How to take this 46AX apart?
 

Oh BTW combatpigg, you're saying to put the crank in the bearings in the case, without the piston/cylinder, and check the rotation, right?

Thanks.

RE: How to take this 46AX apart?
 

Yep, just the crank by itself to see how easy it spins and to also see if the bearings are properly seated if they were re-installed.
BTW, you want to have an immaculate engine before any baking or heating is ever done, you don't want to make oil residue "at one" with your engines' internal organs, especially in the bearings.

RE: How to take this 46AX apart?
 

So I should have cleaned them before using the oven to get out the bearings... Uh oh[:@]

RE: How to take this 46AX apart?
 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TuzEco3EDUM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OLSoXPLGzOI

RE: How to take this 46AX apart?
 

That's an AWESOME video, Thanks!!!

RE: How to take this 46AX apart?
 

As combatpig alluded to, there is no need to take the engine apart this far.

I have planted a couple of engines, where dirt has gotten into the crankcase.

I take off the carb, back plate and head cover and liner.

Wash everything in soapy water, again with soapy water, then flush with an old jug of glow fuel, followed by WD40, and again more old glow fuel.... compressed air, and then I lightly turn the bearings over looking or feeling for any resistance or grittiness.

If I feel ANYTHING, I will stop and repeat the whole process, gently moving the assembly as it is being rinsed.

Once done a new gasket is installed on the backplate and head, and the carb is also seperately cleaned.

With the carb I also remove the nipples to assure that there is no hidden debris under them and use compressed air to blow out all of the orifaces.

Doing all this takes about 15-30 minutes tops and the engines have run just fine afterward.

RE: How to take this 46AX apart?
 

Combatpigg and Opjose,

I believe that there might not be a need to take the engine apart this completely. I did read that you should, however, on posts in the past. I was also advised to do this by my local club, and I had it apart before Combatpigg informed me otherwise.

Oh well.

RE: How to take this 46AX apart?
 

Everything will be just fine no matter what, just as long as it gets clean. I've just been speaking in general terms, for common practice. I remember the ads that Fox used to take out to educate the consumers about their engines. They talked about this same thing, crash maintenance.
One of the most common things they would see done wrong on an engine returned for service from a customer was that the liner was in either backwards or some amount of degrees off :D. I think OS has allignment pins on all their engines now to make the probability of that happening much less ;).
Have fun with that engine, it should work out to be a great investment that outlasts several planes.

RE: How to take this 46AX apart?
 

Thanks!!! There is a pin for aligning the liner, with really no movement about that pin. She cleaned up BEAUTIFULLY!!! The difference is amazing; looks brand new again.

That video link is so perfect - disassembling and reassembling a Thunder Tiger, and similar to all the major brands. Talks about what, where, and when to oil, what not to do, etc. Big help.

Thanks for all the help guys - I really LOVE my OS46AX and want to take care of it the best I can. It is a great investment. After last crash (only needed to remove carb) she screamed even more than before! Can't wait to see what happens now.

RE: How to take this 46AX apart?
 

Hey someone just told me that reusing the gaskets might be a bad idea. Any experience with this? I've got 3 weeks and 3 gallons of fuel through the engine. It went back together really nicely, and when the engine is cold I can rotate through compression with a good deal of effort (has good pinch imo).

thanks.

RE: How to take this 46AX apart?
 

Replacing gaskets is obviously the best option. If they aren't very old though and didn't tear when you took the engine apart, you can probably get away with re-using them. I wouldn't make a habit of it though.

RE: How to take this 46AX apart?
 

Thanks Chuck. If they come out again they'll get replaced.