So I got my new engine :)

[PaulC]

My new Picco .21 Eco w/ Stainless steel tuned pipe arrived last night.

So break in will begins again on Saturday. I hope to assemble it into the buggy tonight or tomorrow night.

First question of the day

The engine comes with the carb off, there is a rubber O ring in the casing where the carb fits in and an other O ring around the carb body fitting.

Should I go ahead and add a bit of high temp sealant anyway or will the o rings be enough?

I also acquired "Green slime", but... should I go ahead and note the factory needle settings (appears flush and flush) and seal the needles or assume they will be factory sealed and fine for now?

Paul

 

[Extreme RC Mods]

In my experience if you place pressure with your thumb over the carb forcing it inwards while tightening the pinch bolt, very rarely will they leak from this spot. If you were to seal it up, I would remove the top O ring so the sealant has more surface area to stick to. Just a question about the pipe, are you sure it's stainless? That would add quite a bit of weight for racing over the conventional aluminum, just curious.

 

[PaulC]

It might just be polished aluminum.

I'll let the O rings do their job for now

 

[Metalhead Matt]

Add a drop of fresh fuel to the o-rings. Just get em wet. This will help them seat and lesson the chances of distorting/tearing one.

 

[PaulC]

Well I got it assembled into the buggy and got it to start with relatively little pain in the back yard.

I ran it through a tank, occasionally varying the revs, but generally just idling.

It ran the whole tank fine from one start.

I shut it down, made sure the piston was at BDC and packed it into the car to take out to a parking lot 2 miles away.

However, the engine had decided to jam at TDC now, so much that the start box didn't have a chance of turning it over, nor could I turn the fly wheel by hand, had to bump it with the plug wrench, eventually starting to damage the teeth on the flywheel

It started after about 5 minutes, but was running backwards. I stopped it and it jammed and it jammed and it flooded and it jammed for an hour, starting only one more time... backwards.

Eventually my glow ignitor battery went flat and I had to retreat.

I'm going to start it in the back yard again, having heated up the cylinder head with a hair dryer first. I think as it's only about 40*C outside it's too cold for the new piston pinch and my starter box hasn't got the torque to push past it. It's alright if it's turning over without the plug, but if it stops at TDC it can't move it, even with the plug out.

So, now the question...

Is there anything I can do to get it to NOT start backwards? Don't worry it is in the right way and the start box is going the right way, it started the right way the first time, I'm assuming it's just that as it comes off the flywheel of the starter box it fires early at TDC and reverses itself.

Hell I had the other engine start one day the right way, then cough and immedaitely reverse!

Emmm.. Plugs are OS No. 8's brand new. I think I only have one other plug to try if the No.8s are too hot or something.

Paul

 

[PaulC]

Grrr. Getting close to throwing it at the wall now.

Starter box can't turn it over anymore than once, even with the plug backed right out and the engine pre-heated to 60*C. WeeeeeePlop. Weeeeeur. Jammed. Unjam. WeeeeePlop. I can even occasion smell burnt fuel, but the box can't kick it over more than one turn and about every 3 attempts the engine jams at TDC. It's like pulling teeth!

Going to fully charge the 12V battery for the start box and try again, or I'll hook it up to the real car battery again with the engine running.

God how I wish for a pull starter now, strength of my arm, not some stupid chinese brushed motors.

 

[neobart]

Piccos are a bit "funny" like that. They tend to get a little tighter after a few tanks, before getting loose again. Best bet is to make sure the box is fully charged.

You wish for a pullstart now, but your best bet is the box. The pullstart would just leave you with blister and bloody knuckles.

 

[PaulC]

* Fresh starter motor battery.
* Pre-heat engine to 60*C
* Ensure primed
* Change tactic on the start box

It started. Forwards So I've put another tank through it, letting it idle at about 85*C, then lifting the revs for a while to get it to 100*C, then idle again. Not exactly heat cycling, but its too hard to start to stop and start it a lot.

My change in tactic with the start box was to give up on getting the box to do anything but stop when I pushed the car down. This time I just momentarily bounced the buggy down hard on to the start wheel and release it almost immediately, repeatedly,bump, bump, bump, keeping the box RPM running the whole time.

Seemed to work and with patience it can bump past the TDC jam, it takes it a few goes and sometimes it won't but it makes things a lot easier when it can.

Hopefully tomorrow I can take it out and get it to start somewhere the buggy can run and I can start leaning it out a little... not much with it hitting 100*C from a few 2 or 3 second rev ups, I don't think it needs leaned up yet.

 

[Metalhead Matt]

If your starting issues persist, give the car battery a go with the 1:1's engine running. This will give you a lot more starting power. We had the same problem with a picco a few years back. Went from a lawn mower battery to the car battery and then the car battery with the engine running. 3rd time was the charm. Best of luck Paul.

 

[PaulC]

Already did the 1:1 engine running

Actually I managed to flatten the car battery WHILE the 1:1 engine was running! Startbox started to lose power. Brother got into the car to rev it and the dash was dimming when I used the box... Few revs on the 1:1 and box was back to normal. Now that's scary!

Since I learnt my lesson 2 weeks ago, if the buggy doesn't start in the first few minutes, I start the 1:1. I know this little box will flatten a car battery in an hours trying to bring an engine to life.

 

[Metalhead Matt]

Holy cow.

 

[PaulC]

Remember I'm UK though. Our cars are half the size of yours and I expect our batteries are smaller too! My car is a Renault Clio 1200cc. They call it a "super mini" class Little 40A Hr battery.

 

[dave.540]

Sounds like your having a time with your buggy! hang in there and good luck, once you get use to everything its a lot of fun!

 

[PaulC]

Thats the frustrating bit. Last buggy was a dead loss. Fell apart at the first sign or fun. Got a good buggy and through my own idiocy I fried the existing engine.

This engine, I can feel it, it's good, but I can't get it to start on my starter box. I know when I get it running it will be grand and great So it's so frustrating that the engine is waiting for me to get it running.

It's not like something is wrong with it, it just that my starter box has so much of a hard time turning it over.

When it starts it sounds sweet, lov'in it, but getting it started takes patience and more patience and batteries and time and ... patience.

I know when I can finally start it with a few bumps on the box it will rock and it will all be worth it.... right now though, it's like pulling teeth.

 

[neobart]

Break in can be a patience tester. Two years ago I was breaking in a STS engine. Showed all the symptoms that your Picco is. It took nearly two liters of heat cycling before I could drive the car on the ground. Before that it would stall as soon as revs started to pick up. It was so tight, it couldn't overcome the mechanical resistance and moving the car.

Good news was it was worth the effort. That engine gave me almost 12 gallons of perfect performance. Only changed bearings after 3 gallons. And it was dirt cheap, 100$ actually.

 

[PaulC]

Well the tightness has now past!

This afternoon I just filled the tank, put the ignitor on it and bump, bump, BRrrrrrrrr.

Starts consistently on the second or third bump on the starter box now.

2 tanks idling got it through the tightness. Then 2 tanks of short 30 second blips up and down a car park getting the temps up to 100*C then knocked it off for 5 minutes.

5th tank I took it up to full speed and did a few jumps (well, still have the throttle limited to 75% and it's still rich) head temp is coming down nicely, so it's time to start tuning it I think Gave it a full speed run over 100 yards and took the head temp immediate and only 89*C.

Well impressed with the engine sound now it's freed up, the idle just purrs deep and stable.

Ran my Rx pack flat and blew a glow plug = time to go home.

Thanks for listening to me whine though

Paul

 

[leesy27]

whats the temp over there just now every one say wait till it get to about 50-60 f is it not in the low 40s just now over there

 

[neobart]

Glad to hear you got it past the critical point. That Picco should treat you well, they're well made engines.

 

[PaulC]

Today it was 5*C, thats 41F. You need to be careful reading forecasts as the temperature they give you is often not the actual ambient air temp, but a "modified" value. That added to the fact the temps are often from nearby airfields where it's very open and exposed.

The "normal" forecast from my phone for here was for -1C (31F), but aiming the temp gun at the sky showed 5C as the lowest. The cutting northerly wind sure made it feel like -1 though and why the forecast said -1.

 

[leesy27]

I was just asking because I am just over the water near Glasgow itching to get my new rig out and get it going but everyone on here is saying wait till the temps get up to 50f to 60f before running it