Thanks for the reply.The piston still locks up at TDC,do you recommend i lean it out now or wait till it loses the pinch?

If you got a gallon on it, go ahead and lean it up enough to get some decent power. Just don't over lean it, make sure to see plenty of smoke.
With a gallon on it , you should not hurt it.

Will do.Thanks for the help! :)

+1 Ya, lean it out you are just way to rich.

Lance
RcRenew

I just went through my10th tank and encountered issues. The engine at first worked great, with lots of power, low idle, and fast starts. Usually I could get about 10 to 11 min per tank.

However, problems started to occur with holding a tune. I tried to re-adjust the LS and HS needles except now the settings were out of whack. The HS works at 1/2 turn and the Ls works at 2&1/2 turns. Initially the needles were working fine for the LS at 4&1/2 and the HS at 5&1/4.Now after 6 minutes of driving the engine gets excessively lean and as a result it stalls.

After some thinking I believe that the front bearing is out allowing for an air leak especially after the engine heats up and the metals expand (that is why it gets worse at 6 min). Look at the video on YouTube and please tell me what you think. I believe that I have a massive air leak at the front bearing (soap water pressure bubble test). Is this something common with Argus, go and Alpha engines or I just got a dud. I do not mind replacing the front bearing, but it seems strange that it would happen this soon.

(type w w w. before the youtube address to see the video)
youtube.com/watch?v=S_UcwnGQ0-Q

sounds like you are too lean, re set the needles, high-flush, low 1.5 turns in from flush and go from there.

Yes, reset the needles it sound slike you are too lean and when the engine is out on the track and the temps get high from being too lean it starts to act up.

Like the ohter post said HSN flush and LSN 1/12 turn in from flush shuould be close to factory settings.

Lance
RcRenew

ARGUS A52 BREAKING GROUND IN PA, N.J. and N.Y.
 

Ive been overdue to thank and acknowledge Jonathon Jenkins(distributor) for allowing me to introduce the Argus A52 .21 5port to the N.Y.,N.J. and P.A. area. Not to my surprise these mills have impressed me and other drivers at my home track and abroad on the power these millshave and the easy tuning and break in process. I have been running my Argus with about 3/4 of a gallon on it during qualifiers and have tq'd the last four out of 6 races and the others two took 3rd. The only reason i havent used itn the mains because the mains are 20-25 mins and only getting 7 min run time so far however i still have plenty room to lean the engine and not a whole gallon thru it yet. Also other drivers who purchased these mills from me have thanked me for lookin out for them and too are surprised how much power these mills have. In my opinion these mills can out perform many of other engines on the market. My name is Glenn Mendoza owner of ProhobbiesRc and im giving out a big THANKS to Jonathon Jenkins:nod::nod:. Pics and race results soon to follow> p.s John pm me i am in need of more mills:tire::tire:.

Hmm. OK I will try the carburetor settings, but last time when I did just that I could not even start the engine. Once I did it gargled so badly that it would shut off. Only way I could keep the motor from shutting off was to keep on pinching the fuel line every second to lean it out and then keep on turning in the LS needle to the point that it would hold a rich idle. This is not my first rodeo with engines. Over 25 years of dealing with rc engines- now this engine could be something different that I have not dealt with.

Did you even see the video on youtube? There were no comments on your posts. I already bough a bearing and I will try it to see if it makes a difference.

I also measured the crank shaft with a dial to see how straight it is and it shows to be off by 1/1000th. I assume that is nothing as with larger engines that is nothing to worry about, but I'm not sure for something this small.

If vibrations are the problem that is what probably destroyed the front bearing.

Any way, as soon as I will replace the bearing we will see. I want to make clear that I am not trying to bash this engine as it has shown plenty of power, response, quick starting and reliability up to this point. I am just trying to take care of the problem so that I can go back to enjoying my hobby.

Any comments on the video?

There are a lot of engines that come with a single-sided sealed bearing from the factory. We have had a handful of engines that have had the front bearing cause an issue within the first few gallons. But only a handful out of many hundreds sold here in the US. If it turns out to be a bearing problem, just let me know and I will be glad to send you another front bearing. In you vid the front bearing is definately leaking. This will cause tuning issues.
Let us know how it goes once you have replaced the bearing. Sometimes these things can happen. Argus, of course, does not make their own bearings.

Hope this solves your problem. Please keep us informed, but I do believe the new bearing will fix the tuning issues you are having. Plus make sure to also put the needles back to the factory positions as mentioned and tune from there.

Jonathan Jenkins
Argus-USA.net

Thank you Jonathan
I appreciate your honesty and reply. I bought a SKF bearing from a local supplier and I will put it in today. I also ordered a ceramic set from rc-bearings.com which I will put in after I go thorough the first gallon and ½.

Hopefully this will get me going & I understand that some times you can have bad parts.

Any comments on the crank shaft being off by 1/1000th? Is that within specs?
Let me know if not so I can straighten it before I reassemble the engine.
Thanks.

Definitely a leaky front bearing. These things can happen. I wouldn't let it put you off the Argus.
Great to see Jonathan as the disti for Argus in the US back up the product with great service and offer to send you a new front bearing.

My front bearing was leaky after 1/3 of a tank.. The beginning of which was so rich on the LSN that it wouldn't even stay running without the ignitor. I'm just putting that down to overly rich settings.

I think I am just going to finish break in without heat. Too much of a PIA to pre-heat in my particular case(live in the city in a 4th floor flat, and don't even know if the local track is open and have no car the one day I'm free this week, etc..) F' it... Just gonna hope it's warm out and go for it..

The single biggest problem with any brand engine is the idle gap being too wide. Almost all engines come with the idle gap wide which works well for break in. After you start race tuning a motor it needs to be set. Take the restrictor out and while the carb slide is closed it should only have a .7mm or .030 gap. On the Argus this is almost a full turn with the idle screw. With the idle gap being set the low speed needle will determine the idle speed, if the idle is low lean the lsn, too high richen. Try not to change the idle screw after setting it but it may be nessecary once in a while.

Rex

Well, got it strapped into my SC8 now, and it's going much better. Used the hair-drier in the flat, got it up to 225, ran down across the street, with temps still 150-ish.. Best I could do. Taking FOREVER for the fuel go go through though.. Just had it idleing, with the occasional blip to clear it out, for a good ten minutes, and there's maybe a cm gone from the tank.. Temps in the 220-235 range.. Did a slow figure-8 and it was quickly at 275.. Decided to shut it down and heat cylce the rest of the tank. At this rate I should get a good 3-4 cycles from this first tank(had a 1/3 of a tank through in the DM-1 on Sunday..) After that I guess I'll run complete tanks through at idle or really low, and wait for temps to go down.. (I'm assuming here.. Not too used to breaking in these high-pinch engines... So I'm assuming that eventually the temps at idle will have to go down as pinch decreases... Then I can start giving it some gas and driving around a bit - lightly, of course...) Hopefully by tank 7 or 8 I can start having fun. Though I remember with my Caster Grenade it took a LONG time til I could drive it half-way aggressively without it hitting 300...