cleaning up a nitro motor that has been sitting????

[jetboat]

A buddy brought me his GS Storm 1/8 scale to work on and get running. He bought it about 4 years ago, had it for 2 weeks and broke something in the front end so he shelved it. I think all that it needs is a new gear set but... he put it on the shelf with nirto in it. The motor is an os .21 and still truns over wth plenty of compression. The tank has about 1/4" of sludge (old fuel Im guessing) on the bottom. I have heard to just fill it up with wd40 and let it sit over night. Suggestions?

I am not a nitro person, I had 1 boat and a T-maxx and I converted them both to electric years ago.

 

[K_B]

That sludge is mostly oil, so any sort of degreaser works well on cleaning that gunk out. I would then take the carb off and do the same with it. The LHS should carry nitro-specific cleaner that's handy for blasting out gunk. What I do is spray the carb with a liberal amount of Goo-Gone, let it sit for a bit and then blast it with the nitro clean. The same could be done with the tank. It might be a good idea to just tear the engine down and do the same.

 

[supercrawlerfreak]

most people dont get as anal as I do about it, but I completely disassemble the motor and carb and clean everyhting. it only takes me about an hour and it is well worth it. carb cleaner or nitro spray works well for cleaning. Pull the carb off and remove all the needles (take note of the settings) ans spray everything off and out with the carb cleaner. then remove the head and backplate/pullstart, and pull the sleeve out (put the large end of a small zip tie in the exhaust port and turn the motor over, the sleeve should slide out). again clean everything off, and spray out the crank case. when you put everything back together be sure to put a light coat of wd40 or similar oil on evert moving part especially the o rings on the needles in the carb.

 

[jetboat]

how bad would it be to pull the servos and receiver and throw the whole thing in the dish washer before I get started?

 

[K_B]

I've heard of people doing that... the bearings are gonna be screwed unless you take them all out afterward and spray em with nitro cleaner or something to displace any water. Got an air compressor? That's the easiest way to blast most of the crap off...

 

[Tupers]

Providing it hasn't got rubber sealed bearings I would recommend stripping it down and putting it in a tub of gasoline for 24hrs. I've done it few times now had great results every time.

 

[Offroader5]

most people dont get as anal as I do about it, but I completely disassemble the motor and carb and clean everyhting. it only takes me about an hour and it is well worth it. carb cleaner or nitro spray works well for cleaning. Pull the carb off and remove all the needles (take note of the settings) ans spray everything off and out with the carb cleaner. then remove the head and backplate/pullstart, and pull the sleeve out (put the large end of a small zip tie in the exhaust port and turn the motor over, the sleeve should slide out). again clean everything off, and spray out the crank case. when you put everything back together be sure to put a light coat of wd40 or similar oil on evert moving part especially the o rings on the needles in the carb.

Same here...there's not much to one of those buggers...so might as well start with a clean slate.

 

[jetboat]

well I simple greened the buggy (electronics removed) and that cleaned up the outside. I removed the tank and pour simple green in it and its been oozing out this nasty mix for about an hr now. I pulled the air filter and plug out/off the motor and dumped in wd40 and pulled it over several times, that has really helped smooth it out, the rough spots are gone.

Im thinking Ill take the suggestions and pull it down and clean everything.

On a side note, all that I found "broken" was a loose set screw on the front drive cup (boy is he going to feel stupid)

 

[Duuuuuuuude]

I got ahold of a used OS engine a while back that had been sitting for a fairly long time. It felt like it had good compression, but once I took it apart it was almost completely full of goo. Turns out that the goo is what made it feel like it was in good shape. Needed a total rebuild.

I'd pull your buddies apart and give it a good cleaning. If you don't and there is a bit of crap in the wrong place, you could toast that motor if you run it.

 

[slobin3d]

strip the motor bare and clean as others have said, when you reassemble it, lube everything with after run oil so you don't have a dry start or you will destroy the engine in a heartbeat.

 

[BJoe]

I've gotta agree with the blow it apart and let it soak method, then oil the hell outta those bearings before you rebuild it. If that don't work, OS, HPI, and Axial make some motors that'll work really good in that"thumbsup"

On a side note, all that I found "broken" was a loose set screw on the front drive cup (boy is he going to feel stupid) <!-- / message --><!-- sig -->

Wanna make a bet the first hting out of his mouth will be something to the effect of "You gotta be $#!tting me!":lol:

 

[jetboat]

actually it was "cool"

Basically if I cant save the motor, it goes back on the shelf. He has 2 small kids and a stay at home wife. He doesnt have allot of money to throw into RC stuff. I was trying to convince him that it would be cool as a brushless....

 

[curve]

You can save the motor, just disassemble COMPLETELY, clean very well, reassemble, and drive the $h!t out of it.

 

[jetboat]

the motor actually ended up being clean... I guess soaking it with Simple Green before dissasebly helped. As I cleaned the parts I put them in a wd40 bath. Took me a little longer than most people though, about 1hr 30mins or so. I dug thru and found a new glow plug and a couple glow ignitors in my boxes. Now just need to hit the hobby shop an get some 20%. He is extremly excited.