Savage tuning advice
05-24-2011, 10:23 PM
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Savage tuning advice
Ifinally broke down and bought a temperature gun. So Itook my savage out today and what Iwas wondering is, whats the ideal temperature it should idle at from just sitting and idling the temp rose up to 230 plus good or bad? Itried richening it some on the lsn and it dropped some but there it quite a bit of oil on the ground coming out the exhaust good or bad?. Inever drove it Ijust let it sit and idle I dont know if this would effect anything the book says the temp should never go over 250 and it was nearing that at idle so Iimagine if Iwas actually driving it the temp would have went way over 250 thanks for any advice.
05-25-2011, 02:38 AM
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RE: Savage tuning advice
Not all temp advice is good. Maybe mine's not as well, but here goes:
1/ Yes, an engine can get over 200degF at idle, especially when it's not broken in yet. In fact the heat cycle method requires the engine get over 200degF before you shut it off, although it's not meant to idle all the time either.
2/ 250degF is very conservative. Most of my engines run around 280degF if I measure the temp after a quick WOT run. I pick 300degF as my safety limit as I once had an engine that would detonate around 325degF.
3/ Temperature is more than just how lean or rich the engine is running. I was running on grass and was peaking about 285 and then switched to pavement and it wouldn't go over 225. When an engine works harder, it gets hotter.
4/ High temps won't hurt the engine by themselves (unless it starts to detonate from the heat). They are mostly metal. The worry is that a high temperature indicates running too lean, and that means a possible lack of lubrication which can cause damage.
5/ I still use a temp gun, but the key is to make sure you can see smoke at WOT (not always easy as it dissipates over a longer distance at speed...damp days makes it easier to see), dont' lean the engine out so much it screams like it wants to blow up, and make sure the idle rpms stay fairly constant over a 20 second period. This is the basics for tuning. As you get better, you'll find you can improve the performance a bit by varying slighty from these suggestions.
1/ Yes, an engine can get over 200degF at idle, especially when it's not broken in yet. In fact the heat cycle method requires the engine get over 200degF before you shut it off, although it's not meant to idle all the time either.
2/ 250degF is very conservative. Most of my engines run around 280degF if I measure the temp after a quick WOT run. I pick 300degF as my safety limit as I once had an engine that would detonate around 325degF.
3/ Temperature is more than just how lean or rich the engine is running. I was running on grass and was peaking about 285 and then switched to pavement and it wouldn't go over 225. When an engine works harder, it gets hotter.
4/ High temps won't hurt the engine by themselves (unless it starts to detonate from the heat). They are mostly metal. The worry is that a high temperature indicates running too lean, and that means a possible lack of lubrication which can cause damage.
5/ I still use a temp gun, but the key is to make sure you can see smoke at WOT (not always easy as it dissipates over a longer distance at speed...damp days makes it easier to see), dont' lean the engine out so much it screams like it wants to blow up, and make sure the idle rpms stay fairly constant over a 20 second period. This is the basics for tuning. As you get better, you'll find you can improve the performance a bit by varying slighty from these suggestions.
05-25-2011, 04:50 AM
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RE: Savage tuning advice
^^+1! agreed, my savage's run around 240 and hit 300 easily when doing speed runs, to be honest i dont even use a temp gun anymore, i tune more with sound and smoke, actually thats all i tune with. my lrp30 has the temp probe (dx3s). i also definately see the temps rise significantly in grass
