Bartman3

I purchased a US engines 41M around christmas direct from the maunfacturer. I have finally installed it in the plane and am having trouble getting it started. Stupidly, I fiddled around with the needle settings and have lost the base setting. Could anyone give me some help on the settings and getting it started. I have it installed in top flite giant P51D. I am Australian (please dont hold that against me) and I have very little info from the local hobby shops. Thanks in advance.
Ric

Dr1Driver

First of all, your engine's upside down.

At a guess, set both needles at about 3/4 turn out. Gas engines are not really picky about needle settings, as long as gas can get through to the carb.

Choke the engine until gas is dripping out the throat of the carb. Do this by covering the carb throat with your thumb and pulling the prop through several turns. If you have a choke butterfly in the carb, then use that (obviously). I don't what type of starter system you have. If hand-starting, flip it hard over TDC until it fires. You may have to vary the amount of prime until you hit the right mixture. If it's hard to start by hand, you may want to consider a B&B spring starter or even an electric starter.

Good luck with it and keep us posted.

Dr.1

abacro

Factory needle settings for the US 41 are as fallows.

Low needle is 2 turns out from fully closed

High needle is 1.5 turns out from fully closed

rcbill

My Feedback: (1)

I am not very familiar with US Engines but I would think it has a magneto without auto spark advance which would mean that the spark is set somewhere between 15 and 25 approx degress advanced. Leaning on the side of safety I would use a spring starter or electric starter to fire up the engine untill you at least get the carb properly adjusted. A good slap in the knuckles is not a thing that thrills most of us. Good luck.....Bill

Bartman3

Thankyou to all for your help. Excuse my ignorance, which needle is the bottom? The one closest to the velocity stack or the other way around? I cannot seem to get the engine to even look like firing. This engine seems to have a magneto and a spring starter. I have tried for an hour with no luck.

jw637362

My Feedback: (1)

Do you have a kill switch attached to it, If the switch is bad it will never start. Bypass the switch to get it to start. If you do not have the wire grounded it won't start either.
Drove me nuts till I figured that out. 100 - 150 flips and almost tossed the engine.

Jeff

rcbill

My Feedback: (1)

Of course check for spark and if you have spark consider just priming the engine by removing the spark plug and giving it a small shot of gas. If you have spark the engine will at least fire. The needle closest to the engine is the low speed. Have the butterfly open about 1/8 or 1/4.
Try this http://tech.flygsw.org/walbro_tuneup.htm

NM2K

My Feedback: (14)

Thanks for sharing. You're never too experienced to make a stupid mistake. BTDT. <G>

NM2K

My Feedback: (14)

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Check all of the things that everyone else has suggested.

It is difficult, not impossible, but seriously difficult to flood one of these engines if you are used to running glow engines.

Brand new engines can be cantankerous to start, even with the carb set up perfectly.

If you have access to the equivalent of a Standard Sullivan electric starter (most house brand starters are the same) and can get your automobile close enough to your engine running place to hook the starter up to your car (while your car is running), you have an excellent chance of getting it started fairly easily. When everything is ready to run, i.e., the amount of choke, the ignition switch "on", etc., you will not have to spin your engine for prolonged periods with the starter. So keep the starter runs fairly short. Maybe a couple of seconds long. Then wait a little bit between trying it again. Starter motors need to cool off between tries, or they will melt their innards. None of this will hurt your car's battery.

Make sure that your engine/model/bench it is attached to are secured from moving. This engine is quite capable of removing a hand.

Once the engine has some running time, hand starts will be possible, but the secret to hand starting one of these engines is to accelerate the prop through the previous 90 degrees of counter clockwise rotation BEFORE encountering TDC. This is kind of counter-intuitive for those used to hand starting glow engines. I guarantee you it will work, but it does take a while to master. It is also made much easier by having an engine that is well on its way toward being broken-in and set up properly.

Me, I just use the starter these days, or I have electronic ignition. It doesn't take too many flips of a prop to wear me out.

Bartman3

Thnks a lot, you guys have been really helpful. I will try all the suggestions you have given me and get back to you with some results. Once again, Thanks.

Bartman3

Hi all, well I have had SUCCESS, it was the rotten plug supplied with the engine - faulty. Replaced it and bingo started first time. Thnks againf for your help. BTW I know that the US engines is not the most powerful engine for this plane however it fits into the cowl of my Top Flite Giant P51D without need for mods. If at some stage later if I want to buy some more performance, what engine/muffler combo would you reccomend for this plane?

rcbill

My Feedback: (1)

Glad to hear that you got it running and it was a simple fix. As far as engines go I'm no authority but I have a Zenoah G62 and FPE 52cc and now my newbie is the DA 50. All have electronic ingnition and can be hand started easily. The G62 and the FPE have had for about 3 years now and have never failed. The DA 50 seems to be running great but still needs break in time. I love all 3 of them. One nice thing about the FPE Engines is they have a nice special made muffler made specificly for that engine included with the price. Sold by Sig or Chief Aircraft. I don't know what would fit your plane but the 2.4 FPE or Zenoah G45 or next size down would probably fit your aircraft......Bill
Quesion: Do you need velcro on your shoes so you don't fall off the earth down there???

Bartman3

Hi Bill, thanks for your reply, I will certainly look into those engines. You got it all wrong! All of our atlases are up side down compared to how you look at them! We always thought that you wre the ones that needed velcro

jimwson

I would like to know if anyone has had a gas engine that will SURGE? I can bring up the power to half and the unit works fine!! But go over that and the engines will surge and back down and do it over and over all the time.

This engine (thor) has a Walbro carb and is set as directed, (i tried to put MORE fuel same thing, less fuel same thing. My boat engines don't do this!! What do I try?? Help