Picco 26 with TSAIS Side-pipe (review and ?'s)

[e_brown]

I have the Werks Tuned Picco 26 in my savage. I broke it in and tuned it using the HPI Ribbed pipe that comes in the SS kit. That pipe made my BB.21 run like never before and performed awesome w/the picco as well. I recently bought the TSAIS side-exit pipe for the truck though, cuz it looks really cool. Today i put it on and fired it up.

1. Motor will not rev higher than about 10k rpms.
2. This motor was absolutely "awesome" before the TSAIS install.
3. I had to turn the needle a good half a turn in before i could get the picco to open up at all.
4. I still wooped up on 2 T-maxx's and a Savage 25, but delivery was very very different.

Has anyone else had this same experience? Does anyone on here know if running the Picco with this pipe is potentially harmful to motor life? Also, why would i have to lean out the needle so much just because of a different pipe? (after extensive lean-tuning, temps were only up to 180 degrees)

 

[pissant]

TAKE THE PIPE OFF NOW 8-0, it toasted my .21 engine!! Those pipes are THE WORST!! my saying goes "if something works and is doing fine, leave it alone." :whack:

 

[SkyMaxx]

The reason you have to lean the engine so much is the back pressure down the pressure line to the fuel tank is most likely too much. This causes an artifically rich situation that you compensate for by leaning out the engine.

As for harm to the engine, aside from thinking it looks cool, I can not speak on it from personal experience, but it sure looks like Pissant had a bad experience with that pipe.

 

[killahbz]

So Sky in this situation the engine is being tricked into thinking its getting more fuel than it really is, therefore by leaning it out equals less fuel less lubrication. So why are the temps remaining stable at 180 degress? And also since the environment in the engine is receiving less lubrication could there be damage at 180 degrees? I'm just trying to figure out that since the engine had to be leaned but temps are remaining constant at a cool 180 then this could be a good thing...more power.

e_brown are you still seeing smoke exiting the pipe and/or oil from the stinger?

 

[e_brown]

The engine is blowing a ton of smoke, and is running super rich.

How could it be though? The ribbed pipe was tuned almost perfectly! With the TSAIS on there it will barely rev? This Werks motor is an animal. I can't even imagine over fueling would bog it down as bad as it seemed when i cranked it up with the new pipe.

For now, I've emailed TSAIS for further info, but i'm switching back to the ugly performance animal ---->HPI Ribbed Pipe!

 

[SkyMaxx]

Originally posted by killahbz
So Sky in this situation the engine is being tricked into thinking its getting more fuel than it really is, therefore by leaning it out equals less fuel less lubrication. So why are the temps remaining stable at 180 degress? And also since the environment in the engine is receiving less lubrication could there be damage at 180 degrees? I'm just trying to figure out that since the engine had to be leaned but temps are remaining constant at a cool 180 then this could be a good thing...more power.

e_brown are you still seeing smoke exiting the pipe and/or oil from the stinger?

I think he answered this question with his statement that it is running super rich (see below).

Originally posted by e_brown
The engine is blowing a ton of smoke, and is running super rich.

How could it be though? The ribbed pipe was tuned almost perfectly! With the TSAIS on there it will barely rev? This Werks motor is an animal. I can't even imagine over fueling would bog it down as bad as it seemed when i cranked it up with the new pipe.

For now, I've emailed TSAIS for further info, but i'm switching back to the ugly performance animal ---->HPI Ribbed Pipe!

A few clarifying questions that need your answers:
1. How long is the fuel tubing between pipe and tank? Should be between 8 and 10 inches long for best performance.
2. How long is the fuel tubing between tank and carb? Should be between 8 and 10 inches long for best performance.
3. Have you messed with your LSN? If not, verify that it is set properly for that engine. I recommend the factory preset.
4. Have you checked your temp guage against a known temp reference recently, ie boiling water or something frozen, or the inside of your oven when it is set to a specific temperature? If not, you may want to. It might be giving faulty readings or need new batteries.
5. Have you tried to reset the needles to the factory presets and tune from there? Factory presets are typically on the rich side, but they are a great place to start tuning from.

 

[e_brown]

1. Tubing to carb = 7" Tubing to pipe = 9"
2. LSN has not been touched since i took the motor out of the box
3. I have not tested my temp gauge precisely, but it has given close numbers to my friend's duratrax gauge.
4. I have not reset the needles to factory presets and let me explain why.

The day I put the tsais pipe on, my truck would pull a wheelie in second gear going through the parking lot. It was loud and obnoxious, but extremely potent. Then i installed the tsais and fired it up to see what it sounded like. With a few buddies standing there watching that had just seen the beast in action earlier, the engine would barely rev at all. Needs tuned? Yeh, i would imagine a little fine tuning is in order, but this super-hyper engine would barely rev! I've never even seen an engine perform close to this one and that pipe alone caused it to barely rev.

Anyone care to add? I'm lost.

 

[SkyMaxx]

A pipe can easily suffocate an engine. If it is not the right size for the engine. I'll let El Pirata elaborate on this one if he happens across the thread. He is kind of becoming an expert on the subject and experimenting with some interesting stuff.

As for the solution, I would dump the pipe and go back to what you had. Looks are not worth the sacrifice in performance. If the old pipe shows the same symptoms, then it might not be the pipe at all and might be some other problem.

That might be a good troubleshooting idea. Switch back and verify that it is indeed just the pipe and not some coincidental issue.