RC Cars HPI Dash

Thursday, September 22, 2005

NITRO ENGINE TUNING TIPS

Tuning of nitro engines for racing is very essential activity that is essentially required for deriving optimum performance of the engine. If the engine is cleaned as well as if bottom end and top end are tuned properly then nitro engines give maximum performance and longer run time.

It is important to clear the engine of debris in preparation for race tuning. This debris or contaminants cause blockages in air flow or fuel intake. This may result in too rich or too lean mixture. Such an irregular flow of the mixture in to the engine does not give optimum performance. It may also cause stalling or starting problems of the engine. In order to clear the engine a step but step guidance is useful.

Raise idle to 1/4 turn. This will help prevent engine from stalling. This is the idle screw and not the low-end needle. Next you would need to check on the engine temperature. An engine temperature up to 150 degrees is required. A rich fuel mixture is required. In order to achieve this richen top end by a full turn. This should be done by holding the carburetor wide open and richening should continue till engine nearly stalls. This flushes out dirt, residue, or after-run oil from the carburetor and the engine as well.

After this tuning of the bottom end is required. It is essential to get acquainted to the sounds and humming of the engine in order to tune your engine to the best. Listening to the idle is the first step toward tuning the bottom end. If the idle slows and engine stalls then the bottom-end needle needs to be stalled. But if the idle speeds up then bottom needle needs to be richened out. The engine needle should be set to idle for at least one minute before the engine starts to stall.

Once the idle is consistent for one minute then idle screw should be lowered as much as possible until engine stalls. Then the idle screw should be opened up to the setting of one-eighth of the turn. Engine should be idle at least for more than forty-five seconds consistently.

After the bottom end is tuned in the top end needs to be tuned. To begin tuning the top end full throttle needs to be opened for at least two to three seconds and then the same should be returned to idle position. The top end needs should be leaned out after listening to the engine until a nice clean sound is heard. Then the carburetor needs to be opened to full throttle for two to three seconds and closed for the same amount of period. This should be repeated one or two times. This should make rev nice and clean after the repetitions.

If the engine hesitates after this it is an indicative of too lean mixture. In order to resolve the same the top needle needs to be richened. A proper tuning of the engine should resolve the problem of stalling of engine or if the engine is giving shorter run times. If the problems persist then trouble shooting of the fuel system may be required. But the best shot would be to take an expert’s opinion.

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