Piston problem...Need help

[fohnjetzer]

Ok, there is a picture attached, but I am pretty sure that I blew my piston. The engine size is .15 and I was wondering what I should do. The sleeve is still in good condition as well as the rest of the motor, but I don't know if I just need a new piston rod or what. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Oh, and please don't tear me a new one for still being a new-b. :hammer:

 

[olds97_lss]

Sorry, it's to blurry to tell.

Are there any scratches in the side or top? Is any of the piston skirt chipped away? How did you break the con-rod?

 

[fohnjetzer]

Well, its a story that involves a few beers. First, I have now found out that the person that put the car together messed up the servos. So it went straight into WOT. There are no scratches on the piston or the sleeve. Its the arm that comes down that has broken. You can kind of make it out at the bottom where its fractured. I am wondering if I can get away with just a new arm or what? I appreciate your help man.

 

[olds97_lss]

That's called a connecting rod (con-rod for short). You might be able to get away with just replacing that, but you will need to completely flush the engine out with fuel to get any reminants of the con-rod dust out before firing it up again.

I did notice in the pic that the con-rod was shattered, but I couldn't tell if the piston was ok or not.

Any idea on the brand/size/model of engine that it is? Or, what the vehicle it is that it came off of?

 

[fohnjetzer]

The engine is a 15CXP by SMT. I bought the kit RTR. Its my first one, but I have plently of experience with 1:1 cars. I am starting to learn how sensitive these engines are. Any help will be greatly appreciated. Thanks again.

 

[R/C Madman]

I say clean the engine buy a new Con-Rod and give it a try. Other then that I would just buy a new engine as those engines are not really worth re-building as you can almost buy a new for the cost of a re-build.

 

[olds97_lss]

Well, after some digging, I found your engine... it's a smartech which isn't all that great. You may save your self a big headache if you replace that engine with a good OS 15 cv-r(x). From all that I've read, smartech are low quality and low prices. But what you save up front, costs you an ass load to maintain down the line.

Personally, I don't think I'd fix it, and I try to fix just about everything...

Is it one of these rigs? http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=19168&item=5926416510&rd=1

 

[fohnjetzer]

No, its just like this one: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=19168&item=5926680717&rd=1

I figured it was a low end one, but how bad off am I? And what engine would you reccommend as a direct replacement? I really appreciate everyone's help.

Oh yea, I forgot to ask what would happen if the seller had switched up the servos? Cause this thing hit WOT like a bat out of hell.

 

[olds97_lss]

It depends on what "switched up" means. If the little wires are plugged in backwards, it can ruin the servo's... but may not ruin them. All you can do is try to correct the problem and see what it does. It also might just be a linkage problem or a servo horn mounting problem.

This is a pretty good and cheap little engine: http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LXBZ30&P=ML

I had the OS 15 cv-r(x), but it's discontinued. It was a good engine.

It all depends on what kind of crankshaft the engine you have has. I can try and dig around a little tonight and see what else is out there. But knowing what style of crankshaft you have would make it easier for guys to help with a direct drop in. Also, what kind of carb, rotary or slide.

I know your new, but a few pics of the engine without the flywheel on it would help a lot.

 

[fohnjetzer]

I will get on those pictures and try to have them posted by tonight. Thanks again for the help.

 

[olds97_lss]

Well, I found a site that seems to be smartech's home site and man is it slow... 10 minutes later... I got to look at the pics that they have of their on-road car that looks close to what you posted.

Anyway, the engine in their photo's looks to be a typical rotary carb, standard shaft, side exhaust, pull start, 15 engine. The OS engine I linked to up above should fit with minimal head aches. Also, from digging all over google, I don't know if I would spend a whole lot on that car. Although, you get a good engine and you can use it in a different car down the line. From everything I've read tonight, the smartech looks to be a POS that will be hard to get parts for and to maintain. This could be due to the fact that it's so cheap to buy that any dufus on the map is buying one thinking they can play with nitro... I was a dufus once, but I bought a xxx-nt, good car, but I was still an idiot. Blew it up in a couple gallons. (WHO NEEDS A STINKING MANUAL!!! )

Anywho, here's the link to the photo of the engine I found: 15 cxp and here's the smartech site I found it on Smartech On-Road Be prepared, the site is ungodly slow.

The wierd thing I noticed is that the picture of the car without the body has an engine with a different head on it than the picture of the engine they have on the site.

 

[Rolex]

I deleted this, because my reply was not for this thread.......
I don't know how it ended up here.

 

[fohnjetzer]

That web site has opened my eyes. Smartech can really BS. The engines aren't even the same as the ones listed too. Thanks olds. Damnit. Now I think I've thrown a hundred bucks down the drain. I live in East Texas which has some pretty rugged terrain. I was wondering if I was to get a starter truck which one you reccommend? I wish I would have found this site before I purchased the POS on Ebay. Once again, thanks for all of the patience and help Olds.

 

[olds97_lss]

Rugged terrain? How rugged? Anything more rugged then hard packed dirt, I'd suggest a monster truck. Then if you want a monster truck, I'd suggest a savage. It's not necessarily a starter truck, but it's a good truck. I thought the way you did when I started and I wish I had started with this instead of a stadium truck. Then about 6 months later I bought a maxx. Then about a year later I bought a savage. Now the stadium truck has been sold and the maxx sits on a shelf and the savage gets the crap beat out of it every weekend.

You can check the for sale/trade forum here and see if someone is selling one, or you can check ebay as well. I think there are a few guys selling them at Savage Central in the for sale/trade forum there.

I bash my savage around at a highway refinery here and at a local skate park. It has higher ground clearance and a larger engine than what you have.

You can also get parts all over the place on the web for the savage and at most hobby stores that carry RC. And, there's tons of help here and at savage central for the savage.

 

[fohnjetzer]

Good deal. Thanks for the info Olds.

 

[nitroking14]

yah

yah if the piston and sleev looks ok then just put a new connecting rod on that piston!

new connecting rod I'm sure thats all you need

 

[charliejp]

I made the mistake of buying a cheap roadcar for my first nitro and now that I've gone to MTs the only time I'm on the street is for break in or tuning. Get yourself a good truck and do'nt look back. IMO that would be best.

 

[Cupooterluvr]

You realize this thread is 4 years old right?

 

[ajames942]

You realize this thread is 4 years old right?

And i just read the WHOLE thing