engines work best off of compression not pinch. if you cant get that threw your head then there is no help for you. this thread is about pre heating engines which is best no doubt. but a heat gun is the best way to do that not a cooling fin condom. saying someone makes no sence when they clearly have a grasp on how things work and telling them to post somewere ealse when they are on topic MAKES NO SENCE
and to say someone doesnt like it cuz they cant afford it is a cheap cop out

Blacksunshine.. Please Take your Keyboard and Throw it away..your posts are based on a lack of understanding of engines and the concept of uniform expansion of engine parts. Have fun running through engines.

Also Speaking of freebies. I laugh at oxymoronic names.

It doesnt really matter how you do it.. You just need complete engine heat saturation without creating extreme hot spots.

:nod::nod:Your a idiot!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:weird:( Universal expansion of engine parts) Get your head out of your a** Newbie:nod:

My bad meant to put "Uniform"..

One thing i do understand is that your still an idiot.And that won't change no matter how long you stand in front of the mirror and tell yourself your not:D Let me guess you run traxxas stuff? .One thing's for sure is all my Novarossi's which is all i own run awesome.:sneaky:

My bad i didn't mean idiot i ment mis informed.What it come's down to is everybody's got there way and who really know's what works better and what doesn't.F it anyway it's all about racing and winning and having fun.Good luck to all you guy's with your racing.And maybe you'll feel the wrath of my Novarossi's someday on some track:sneaky:

So, which parts would be expanding at the same rates in your engine? The Brass sleeve? The aluminum block? The 4140 Crank? Aluminum piston? Brass conrod bushings?

All those metals expand at different rates and temps. As a matter of fact, the Brass sleeve expands first as it's thermal density is the highest. Next would be the aluminum bits, then the steel crank.

Explain to me why ONLY the Car guys preheat engines? Heli guys place MASSIVE demands on motors and they don't preheat. Giant scale guys with 1200 dollar motors don't preheat...Only Car guys.

Oh and Black Sunshine was White Zombie's second song on his first album.

So Wouldnt the Entire engine being saturated to about 200 degrees be beneficial Story? having the billet piston, the ABC sleeve and aluminum case,Steel bearing Races, expanded to running temp? Warming my engine make the motor very predictable upon start up.

Does Ringed Play anypart with not needing to warm some heli motors? I dont know.

I still love oxymorons and not a Zombie fan.

If you could saturate the entire engine without running it, yes. Too bad a heater will leave the head hot, the block warm, and the crank and conrod cold.
Heat dissipates from a larger concentration to a lessor one. Heat is also transmitted by convection, radiation or conduction. convection and radiation heat the engine with a "bulb" type or heat gun type heater. Conduction by a wrap type. This heat travels from the outside into the motor. Because the sleeve is in contact with the block, it starts to heat after the block. then piston and crank(through the bearings) and finally conrod.

I'm talking ANY Heli motor. I have NEVER seen an air guy preheat ANYTHING but a cup of Irish coffee.

Only car guys preheat engines. Air guys just start them and run them...

Like I do, have done for 20 years and still do. I have running engines from companies not even in business anymore. Very Early ABC engines. Like from 1981.


And to answer your question, any race team interested in instant raw power do NOT preheat engines...IE Any Top Fuel engine. Longer time at the line heating engine=less power is made from that engine. Old bracket racer trick. Stage late to make the other guy gain a few * in engine temp and produce a tiny bit less power. ;)

does cold 4 strokes have more to do with Cooler air after running through cold motor(more dense not getting heated by blowers and manifolds), Colder Fuel (more dense/more power per Oz). But isnt starting a Cold 4 stroke where most of the damage is done?

anyhow im done I preheat my engine some ppl dont. end of story.

Serious question here. With no glow plug my Reedy turns over easily by hand, and with the glow plug in I of course get compression that makes it harder to turn over.

So I must ask, if there's no pinch restricting the piston, why does my engine turn over on the box easier after heating it?

Tolerances open up on sleeve/piston fit from expansion and any oil/grease in bearings flows easier.

I'm not saying preheating is good or bad, just wondering why everyone claims it is needed for longevity. If the motor NEEDS to be heated to reduce/eliminate damage when new, the pinch is too tight and the engine shouldn't have passed QC checks at the factory...IMHO. The Pinch is needed to produce compression due to the sleeve expanding more than the piston at operating temps. The "pinch" is more noticeable when new because the sleeve and piston must wear together, making a sealing surface.

I can see heating reducing the "felt" pinch, but I look at like breaking in a new dirt bile motor..Without a load placed upon the new piston and rings, it won't seal correctly and you'll have problems down the road. I know an ABC engine doesn't have rings, but the theory is the same...Without a load placed on the piston,. it won't wear in correctly.

Again, my opinion and worth what you paid.

its the CONROD that takes the ABUSE when new!...if you dont relieve some of the pinch by preheating it FIRST,then you will just tear up the conrod and it will show signs of wear ALOT quicker then if you were to pre heat the motor while it still has mechanical pinch!:nod:

Well i could be wrong here but to answer ur ?, All of the heli/air motors are ringed and that is why the preheating is not done. Now if there are any that are abc motors for them and you are getting many years of use out of the, the only explanation that i can think of that is different from car guys is, car guys run consistence tanks at a time, for example a car guy will run 1-2 gallons practicing, 20 - 45min at a time, then on race day pratice/qual/main.
Some which will run 1-2 gallons on a race. so they will compare the amount of gallons they get on a motor and not time.

I think air guys are not running tank after tank without shutting down the engine, they mostly fly 1 tank stop flying sit around with others talk/warm up their coffee, drink beer lol and have fun. Some may jump out and fly more then others but some dont, it is a little different then cars because when u are driving at a long period and get tired they keep going, if the crash no big deal, with the heli/air you get tired and mess up u crash "Big deal".

Now with preheat it is all to do with abc motors and ringed motor are not as critical for this method, but would not hurt to do it!

Most air motors are now ABC or ABN or ABL(wtf ever OS is calling it now) some heli motors are ringed I'll admit. The last Cub I had had a 2Qt tank in it. It had a 60 in it and would eat it in about 20 min. I'd do 4-5 tanks a day if I could. Old KB motor(one of the first ABC motors without rings) and it still runs and will swing a 8" prop all day long.

Maybe motors have changed in the last 10-15 years, but I haven't seen any degradation of performance in my engines by not preheating.:nod:

Well now thats all cleared up, a newbie like will.......um......err.........

Not a good comparison, air to surface engines. Air engines spend most of their life at less than 12,000 rpm's. They operate in a loaded condition. Most flyers don't use high percentage nitro. Engines are toleranced for higher oil levels. Need I go on? Ever here of the Saito 100 gallon club? To get in it you have to run your engine for over 100 gallons just like the club name states. Try that with ANY surface engine.


as far as the heater not getting the crankshaft, rod and wrist pin hot......... when the bottom of the chassis is hot, the rest of it is hot also.

Dragsters run without preheating for max power, plus look at the rebuild frequency. Nascar on the other hand hates cranking a cold engine, especially a used cold engine. Ever see a crew cheif cross his fingers hoping the engine is fine after a long red flag?

Drag race motors have the Blocks filled so they cant be preheated and they only run for 8sec at a time so they get all the Heat they need with the Burn Out.

All so when i run Late Models it was the same way we Crossed are fingers each time we started the motor after a Long Stop and the motor cooled down and we could not get back to the Pits to hook up the Block heaters.