I bought a PST 600R used with 7.15 hrs run time.

I re-set the TEMS to factory default and did the Setup R/C then purged the tank ("prime pump.")
I hooked up the butane and attempted a start. I set trim to full, thottle closed and the starter motor went. After a few seconds it failed with a "step fail."
The glow plug was never lit and the gas solenoid was never opened. We confirmed this witha volt meter and tried another solenoid to confirm.

Reading the manual I believe the RPM sensor is not working. I will check the extension on this tomorrow in case that is all it is. Am I right that this is the likely cause? The batterey is new and the starter is working and certainly hitting 7,000 RPM as per the manual. My display does not look like the one in the manual but tomorrow I will check if the RPM should be displaying.

If the RPM sensor is not working is there something I can check/do to fix and/or confirm this is the issue?

In case anyone else get this is was the RPM sensor - the extension I used was bad. It fired up fine today and appears to running stong. Test flight next week

ok..please let us know if we can be of any help. Just for the record, what is your J600R serial number?

Cheers,
Kraivuth S.

I'll get the serial number off it tomorrow - I bought it from Phil Meredith in Mayerthorpe, Alberta, Canada. He had a couple of these for sale.
It sure seems to run well - I did my range testing and taxi testing today.

S/N 254660268

Original owner Dean Wichmann, then Phil Meridith, then me (Chris Hammond.)

The engine is now not working and the front bearing is not smooth after only 5 flights. I may have been terribly unlucky and picked up some FOD or have some other issue.

I had 3 good flights (from clean tarmac, no FOD screen.) After flight 3 while taxiing the plane got stuck onthe runway in a crack. I powered up and there was a big compressor stall but no flame out. I moved the jet and it ran up fine after that.
The next day I installed a FOD screen (Tamjet) and flew from grass.
The first flight I noticed less power (maybe 10%); after landing the RPM would only reach 152k.
I ran the Auto-set full throttle again and it was back to between 159K and 162K.
I made another flight an noticed a big drop in power that got worse. At 3 mins I was landed and the engine flamed out on touchdown. The engine would only do 138K when we restarted it. After we let it cool down some more the compressor was hung up.
I let it cool more and the compressor turned okay with a fresh battery charge. I then found crud in the fuel filter after the shutoff valve and cleaned it. It started fine but the engine flamed out at 1.2 throttle. The front bearing is not smooth at all now.

I am wondering what the history is on this engine? Has it ever been serviced? The 2nd owner claims he got it with only a few hrs on it and doesn't think it was ever serviced.

It now has 9:05 on it (it had 7:15 when I got it.) I did fair bit of gorund running and range testing. Shutdown temps have all been low in the 400c to 450c range.

I'll email you but I guess I am in the unfortunate position of sending it back. Assuming it does only have 9:05 on it and no FOD damage would there be any warrantee at all? I am trying to find out if the original owner had problems with it... I did not know it was 3rd hand - that might indicate the others had issues with it too.