| Preparing your Nitro RC Engine only takes a few | | | | else the shrinking sleeve could cause a problem if |
| hours, but the benefits are worth the investment | | | | the piston is also there. |
| in time. In a nut shell RC 2-stroke engine use a | | | | Fuel Tank #2 |
| tapered sleeve to create compression, while most | | | | After the initial idle stage I'll run the car with as |
| full scale cars use piston rings. The process of | | | | little throttle as possible, but keep the car moving, |
| breaking the engine in is to make sure that the | | | | I make sure when I accelerate (not more than |
| piston and the sleeve have the best fit possible. | | | | 25%) I'll do it smoothly and consistently. It's |
| Like all things RC it just depends on who you ask | | | | important to start putting some load on the |
| about breaking-in an engine. | | | | engine, because when you race your RC Car |
| From experience I can tell you that all the | | | | there will be load on the engine. Try to match |
| methods work well, when in doubt refer to the | | | | your break in conditions to your expected running |
| manual, they will have break-in procedures specific | | | | conditions as closely as possible. The idea is to |
| to your engine. the only important thing to | | | | slowly build up the revs of your engine until your |
| remember is not to be too harsh on the engine, | | | | able to hit max speed by the end of the 7 th |
| break it in slowly taking your time. Remember | | | | tank. Run your car in a figure-8, as turning makes |
| your not racing yet... | | | | the engine work slightly harder. After the 2nd |
| The 7 Step Break in Procedure | | | | Tank you can start to lean your motor out a little. |
| While most people recommend running about 5 | | | | Fuel Tank #3 -#5 |
| tanks of fuel through the engine I generally like to | | | | Now we're ready to start getting some speed |
| run 7, I just like to make sure that I get the | | | | out of your RC Nitro Car. What I do is start to |
| engine broken-in correctly. If you look at the oil | | | | run the car up and down a long straight, with |
| that comes out the exhaust you'll see that by the | | | | figure-8 patterns at a low idle between them. I will |
| 5th or sixth run the tiny bits of metal will be gone | | | | run at max 25% throttle for about a minute, then |
| from the flow, initially you can see the engine | | | | rev the RC car flat out for at most 2 seconds. |
| breaking-in from the oil and unburnt fuel. | | | | then return to a the standard max 25% throttle. |
| Needle Settings | | | | Make sure you get your car to rev right through |
| Refer to your manual for the specific settings for | | | | it's range, but don't keep it at full throttle for too |
| your engine. The problem is that because each | | | | long. |
| RC Nitro Engine is different you can't just copy | | | | Fuel Tank #5 - #7 |
| your buddies settings, you have to work these | | | | I continue as above, but shortening the periods |
| out. Break in settings must be as rich as possible, | | | | between the bursts of full throttle. I also start to |
| this keep the engine cool and the excess fuel and | | | | work out the tune of my car, I only change the |
| oil will help flush out the tiny metal bits that come | | | | air / fuel mixture before the 5th tank if I'm |
| off during the break-in. | | | | struggling to keep the engine running. After the |
| Fuel Tank #1 | | | | 5th tank I start to lean the mixture by 1/8th turn. |
| I'll idle the engine for the entire tank, you often | | | | I still like to run it until there are no small metal |
| need to keep the throttle open about 10% during | | | | bits in the exhaust discharge. |
| the first few minutes, at least while the engine | | | | Once your done with the above break-in |
| warms up. Keep the revs as low as possible, but | | | | procedure I would still run my RC Car gently for |
| don't change the mixture needle settings just yet. | | | | the first couple of times on the track, this will |
| Once the tank is complete let the engine cool | | | | ensure that you get the most life our of your |
| down for about 5 - 15 minutes. Be sure to leave | | | | brand new RC Nitro Engine. |
| the piston at dead bottom center while it cools, or | | | | |