Picco .26 break in?

[Bkyd Basher]

Hey guys i recieved my new picco today and got it all sealed and fitted in my revo. I was reading about the needle settings and it says Set needle to flush. Now is that flush with the outside of the pivot ball arm on the carb? Seems kinda weird it would be 3-3.5 turns out but thats what it works out to when flush with the outside of that arm. Any ideas?

 

[dub c]

the instructions that come with that engine are terrible. I remember with mine I gave the LSN a half turn lean for the first start up and tuned it from there. The best thing I ever bought was a Competition Heat engine warmer. Makes break in a breeze.

 

[Bkyd Basher]

Ya i have one.. A Heat gun lol.

 

[hulkmaxx]

Just make sure its runnin rich and you will be good to go. I remember helping my buddy break his in. we heated it to 215 made sure piston was at BTC. Let it cool then heated the second time it started way easier that way.

 

[2revo1maxx]

The high speed needle should be flush and the lsn at about 7.5 turns out. You have to be careful with the lsn, sometimes the o-rings will break if you play with it too much.

 

[chickenman242]

it is a little bit confusing about the needle setting on these things,one place i read said the lsn was flush with the slide then i checked the ofna website and they said 7.5 turns out which looks like its about to fall out
pre-heating is the key for sure with the picco

 

[Zdragon71]

Yeah 7.5 to 10 turns out is what my past research shows for the LSN. Was having all kinds of problems tuning it before i found the specs and went back to 7.5 turns out on the lsn and thats where it has stayed every since.

 

[Bkyd Basher]

The high speed needle should be flush and the lsn at about 7.5 turns out. You have to be careful with the lsn, sometimes the o-rings will break if you play with it too much.

7.5 out huh? Wow thats crazy. It was probably at that before i turned it in cause like mentioned it looked like it was gonna fall out. The paper with it says 3.5 out from closed on the high speed and set needle to flush on the low speed. Flush from what the engine mount?lol.

 

[Zdragon71]

Yep. My lsn sticks out from housing almost 4mm it seems. Looks like if i back it out any more then its gonna fall out. But my .26 will not run with it in flush. Wont even crank! 3 gallons into it and it dont skip a beat with 7.5 out and I'm almost flush on hsn. Depending on fuel and weather of course. Today 80 degrees and low humidity running 20% odonnells with 8% oil I'm pretty much flush on hsn.

 

[Bkyd Basher]

Well i got about 5 turns out from closed on the lsn. and about 3 turns out on the high speed needle. Anymore than that the truck didnt even want to move!! But it was only about 45-50 degrees out today. when i stop it was high idle for just a split second then idle right down real fast. I did a pinch test at the end of the third tank and it would speed up and shut down in about 2-3 seconds. How does that sound to ya?

 

[2revo1maxx]

In cold weather you should have the hsn a little bit out from flush. I think it may be lean at 3 turns out, but you'll have to decide that on your own. Hopefully you're covering the head with something too.

 

[Childresshunt]

Personally i wont even run my nitro unless its over 55 degrees out and until it gets above 65 i usually put a sock over the head just depends tho

 

[Bkyd Basher]

I actually did end up backing the low speed out a little bit more to 3.75 turns. But today i went to start it and the one way bearing was free spinning on me. So i pulled the motor quick and decided to check for air leaks a little bit with some soapy water. Thats when i discovered the outside crank bearing is leaking like my 3.3 with 6 gallons through it. Is this gonna affect my tuning and what should i do about it?

 

[Bkyd Basher]

I'm ready to pull my hair out!!!!!!! I can't get this engine to perform good at all!!. It doesn't even sound good and crisp until I'm about 1 turn out on the hsn and i know thats not right. Any suggestions guys would be greatly appreciated. It idles good and does not race anymore as i pull up and stop. It just doesn't seem to have any power. I've broke in like 10 3.3s with no problems at all thats why i dont believe it was anything i did. It is still very tight at tdc. Could it be the type of glow plug? and its weird because it doesn't even seem to get that hot running at 1 turn out. Only thing i can really see wrong is fuel running out of the front bearing. PLEASE HELP!! Thanks.Oh and i am running 20% fuel.

 

[hulkmaxx]

I have seen bearing problems with the Picco red dots before but not from a brand new engine. That sucks man. And yes if that bearing is leaking its going to cause an air leak. And pretty much impossible to tune with an air leak.

 

[Bkyd Basher]

well thats not real good first impression for the picco

 

[2revo1maxx]

A mild front bearing leak will not have any affect on tuning. Set your carb to 3.5 turns out hsn, and 7.5 turns out lsn. If that doesn't work then something else is wrong. Your hsn should be flush or just over flush in cool weather. Also make sure your idle gap is 1mm or LESS.
Next, be patient, relax. These engines take a long time to reach their ideal performance. You're running 20% fuel, so I would suggest using a hot type plug for the break-in period. Make sure the head is on tight, and make sure the carb is fully seated into the engine.

 

[Zdragon71]

Yes check your head bolts. They are known to come loose on piccos. Also the best plug I've found to run in my .26 is McCoy #59 hot with 20%. I had a real bitch of a time getting mine to stay running and hold a tune thru an entire gallon of fuel. After that its great. Starting into the third gallon is where the front bearing started leaking pretty bad but never effected it holding a tune. Keep in mind also that engine is never gonna perform at its peak unless you run an adaptor with a big block manifold and pipe. If your not already running one it would be a wise investment. Mine opened up and seemed like a whole different engine soon as i went with the 1/8 scale THS system. No more loading up and no more leaking fuel from around the carb slide and boot.

 

[Bkyd Basher]

well to start it was 70 here today. I tried those settings and the truck doesn't even want to move. i pulled the head and every thing looked ok. I put soapy water all around the carb to look for air leaks(even though i sealed it and the backplate) but found no bubbles, no leaks. I am running the Mccoy MC-8 med-cold plug,with 20% fuel. 3 shims on the head. just litterally has no power.And i now have 8 tanks through it. Not sue if it would have any affect but i also installed the M2C 3 shoe clutch setup with the red middle weight springs.

 

[Zdragon71]

It is a real disappointment having a leaky front seal on a high end italian mill. I just replaced my crank bearings with a set of boca ceramics i got from Dub here on rcnt and I'm really liking the fact of having a dry engine and chassis after 7 tanks. It looks like picco would correct this issue and start putting better bearings in the .26 engines from the factory. Then again I've read that they were gonna discontinue the .26 max and red dot all together and focus all on the .21 and .28 races engines. The bearing issue may be the reason.