Leaking fuel??

[davidz58]

Hello,

I'm currently breaking in my Align 55 motor. Around 8 tanks now. Settings at around 1.3 turns on the main, and 1.35 on the mid needle.

Heli flys great, and motor transitions very well.

Only problem is there seems to be a leak somewhere. I see fuel at the bottom of the heat sink fins and where it meets the head. Not a lot, but enough to bother me.

The guy at the LHS said fuel could be spitting from the carb and spilling down the heat sink fins.

Just wondering if there is anywhere else I should check for?

It's not from the glow plug area I checked.

Thanks in advance.

[Bob O]

Mine is the same way. Although I haven't looked that closely to see where it's coming from, I suspect it's from the mouth of the carburetor.

What I do know is that mine isn't coming from the backplate. I used RTV High Temp Copper on the muffler where it attaches to the exhaust manifold and the bolts have maintained their torque since day one. I also know that my glow plug is tight.

What I don't know is the state of the head bolts since I can't get to them without removing the engine. But I have to believe they are tight since the engine is running great. If they were loose, there would be some major indications of it I would think, like poor running, excess noise, excess mess, inability to get a consistent tune on the mixture, etc.

The next time I fly, I'll take a closer look to try and see where the oil is coming from.

[davidz58]

Well I crashed it today.... lost orientation for a minute doing a low flyby,, and crashed into ground.

V-blades, boom, seasaw, main shaft, feathering shaft... done.

Since I am taking it apart, going to take a look at the motor.

[Bob O]

Awhh man, that's terrible! Maybe a good time to replace/upgrade the motor bearings?

[davidz58]

Awhh man, that's terrible! Maybe a good time to replace/upgrade the motor bearings?

Took the motor apart, I think I found the problem. One of the screws fixing the heat sink to the head was not screwed in, it actually fell out of the heat sink as soon as I yanked the motor from the frame. I check the 5 other screws, and they were all lose too. Hmmm, I guess factory did not have it assembled tight when packaged.

Main bearing.... hmmm..... I might change it later on.....

everything else looked great inside the motor, 1 gallon through it now.... within a day.

[Bob O]

Of the screws that fix the head to the cylinder, five were loose and one fell out?

That doesn't inspire any confidence at all. I might have to tear into mine now, or drill access holes in the fan shroud so I can get to the screws from the front of the heli.

[pril250]

One way to fix a leak:YeaBaby:sorry to hear sure she will rise to be better :hug:

[davidz58]

Of the screws that fix the head to the cylinder, five were loose and one fell out?

That doesn't inspire any confidence at all. I might have to tear into mine now, or drill access holes in the fan shroud so I can get to the screws from the front of the heli.

It seemed one of the screw had locktite on it, this was actually the one that fell out.

As we suppose to loctite this? or the heat will just melt the glue?

[kumar2494]

you should use red high heat thread lock on all engine screws

[jjvwg]

my vote is against any thread lock on the motor. blue will melt and red will make it a real PITA to take apart to service it. My advice is that any new motor should have the bolts removed and cleaned with alcohol, both bolts and bolt holes. Im sure you noticed when the engine was brand new that it was smothered in oil, well that oil is everywhere bolts included and will cause the screws to back out. just clean them all up and tighten them down and you will be fine. good luck with the rebuild!

[lolramen]

My vote is against loctite as well. Just torque everything down well and call it a day. Never a bad idea to check on the screws, but I've never had any come loose just hand tightening them.

[smontesdeoca]

Yep, used to put some red locktite, and yes, PITA to unscrew or do some maintenance on the engine. As clearly stated more than once, yes, clean all bolts (head and backplate) and tightem correctly, do not over do them or you'll find yourself in a tough repair.
I did some holes on the fan shroud based on an old thread from The Bum, even had a little layout I printed on a laser and it was a breeze to do. This way, you can tighten them up as if you were just simply removing or installing the plug.
And as on the muffler, when putting all parts back to it's place, after the first flight, when the engine is warm, retighten.

[Rc Norway]

I use blue locktite 243,it's very important to wipe of all oil on screws. The same thing happend with my hyper 50, this method fixed my problem:bacon