What method are u guys using for the .21 motors (break-in)?

[RustlerDood]

For .12 I just run the first 4-5 tank fulls of gas very rich and never exceed 1/2 throttle and keep the temps around 200.....besides that I just let the mill idle and adjust to get a good idle while putting the truck around at a nice easy pace.............I plan on using 30% in my buggy mill unless someone presents a good reason to use 20% as I have a couple gallons of O'Donnell 20% in my garage...race blend of course.

Oh yes and I have been told I need to get a heat gun such as the following:

http://www.homedepot.com/prel80/HDUS...gmk.0&MID=9876

or if that link does not work a heat gun from home depot @29.99 with temp. range of 750-1,000 degrees....I think that should do the trick ehh plus a fully charged starter box.

[bigfreak]

There are two ways your can do it.

1) follow the instructions in manual that comes with your engine. A lot of Pro level drivers break in their engines in this mannor (or something that yields the same results). Does this mean that because the Pro's do it that you should? Well... would you like to run your engine for more than a day?? That may sound like a weird question, but Pro drivers have "race motors" and these motors are supposed to last one day -- race day. These guys do WOT breakins or they idle X tanks though at cold temps. This frees up the piston and the sleeve in a hurry so they can get 100% power right away. Now they can race the whole day and get all the power they need to win. But don't expect them to ever run that engine again.

2) If you'd like to get as many gallons as possible from your engine, you can do what a lot of club racers do. It's called the Heat Cycle method, but Stephen Bess's name has somehow been stuck to it. I'll let you look that one up. The heat cycle break-in does not make the engine produce 100% power immediately. This is why Pro racers don't use it. As you run the engine over the first gallon of fuel, the engine breaks in the rest of the way. At the one gallon mark, you finally see all the power the engine has to offer. The disadvantage is a delayed breakin, but the advantage is longer engine life. If you buy a quality race engine, you can get 7-8 gallons of fuel through it (as long as you have good air and fuel filtration.)

One last word of warning is that it's dilly cold in mass right now. Any sort of attempt to break in your engine in these temps will result in shorter engine life. As much as you don't want to hear this, it's best for your engine to wait for spring.

[cobra198]

For both of my engines break in i used the heat cycle process. I wanted to get good engine life out of it and didnt mind the longer process. So far it has worked great. One of my engines is pretty new (less than 1 gallon through it) and the other has about 5 gallons through it and still runnin strong. Anyhoo, just my 2 cents.

[Buggyracer28]

I just used the heat-cycling method for my novarossi and it worked great. man what power that engine has.... Anyway... I would also recommend waiting till spring.Its worth it to save your engine....

[Mayhem]

A head gun with that radius, Why If you plan on running temps in the 750-800 range at the lowest thats nuts. I recommened tempgun.com they have nice handheld guns at a nice price.

[RustlerDood]

I already have a $100 temp gun to measure the temp....I was actually referring to a heat gun...not a temp gun sry for the mix-up

[bigfreak]

RustlerDood, if you know anyone who owns an Exergen ($300 tempgun), ask if they wouldn't mind checking your temp gun. My Radioshack temp gun temped an engine at 280. We stuck the Exergen on it right after mine and it was more like 236-238. Best I can figure, most tempguns are 10-20% off.

I don't mean to derail the topic, but the reference to the "$100 temp gun" got me fired up. Personally, I'll use my temp gun for heatcycling (so I know it's getting up past 200), but outside of that I leave it at home. Sight and sound are the only two tools needed to adjust your carb needles.