My Nitro RC aircraft engine won't start

by James TTupper
(Surrey, UK)

My Nitro engine for my RC plane won't start, the fuel seems to be going into the carb and into the chamber and when I spin the prop it drags more through but won't seem to catch.
It sort of ignites but then stops instantly. I have noticed that the prop is VERY stiff at a certain part of the cycle, so much so that I require quite a bit of force to turn it round. Any advice would be of great help. Thanks.

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My Nitro RC aircraft engine won't start

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Jan 02, 2010
 Re: Nitro engine won't start
by: Pete

Hi James - if the prop is that hard to turn over then it sounds like the engine is flooding, in other words too much fuel is entering the chamber. Either you're over-priming it or the mixture needle valve is open too much. Which engine have you got, and which glow plug are you using? Is it a new engine or second hand?
Jan 21, 2010
 Reply
by: James

It is a new engine, a GP-42.
Sep 03, 2011
 Engine run in process
by: lee shearson

Hello there, I've just tried turning over a brand new engine earlier today. The engine's never been run and has been sitting in a loft for a couple of years and I am having exactly the same problem.
I removed the glow plug and found that as the piston reached the top of the cylinder head it was getting very stiff to turn and locking up, it took a fair bit of force to get the piston past TDC (Top Dead Centre) and then would move freely until the piston came back to TDC.
I removed the cylinder head by loosening the allen key bolts on the top of the head and inspected the piston and sleeve... I found that the sleeve inserts into the bottom end of the engine and is easily removeable once the cylinder head is removed.
This sleeve when sent from the manufacturer's of some engines are sometimes such a tight fit around the piston that the piston gets very stiff towards the top of the sleeve and this is what is causing the severe stiffness of the prop.
The solution however I don't know, lol. But what my next step will be shall be to oil the barrel well and turn the prop for half an hour or so. Hopefully this will loosen the piston enough to get the engine started so I dont have to keep turning the prop by hand lol.
I will be sure to be gentle when running this engine in and spend 10 times longer than usual and really take my time. Hope this helps someone.
I think the idea is to slowly re-shape the piston to fit the barrel perfectly. As you can imagine, this may take some time. Good news is by the time you finish you will know your engine inside out lol

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