.020 Pee Wee sticking at top dead centre (Solved)

thomaslowery Thu Jun 16, 2022 11:21 am

(Solution in comments)

Newbie here I'm afraid!

I recently bought a cheap .020 Pee Wee on eBay and am trying to get her running but with no luck so far.

Basically once I start throwing it over it with fuel in it and the glow plug connected it will begin to intermittently stick at top dead centre. I will get consistent pops and even short bursts, but these always end with the engine sticking and causing the engine to stall.

It looked fairly clean and tidy when it arrived, it turned over nice and free with no sticking and good compression. I took apart the entire fuel system and soaked it in the fuel for a day, cleaned it off and reassembled it, however I did not touch the crank case and piston ect.

If anyone has any ideas as to what could be causing this I would greatly appreciate it!

Marleysky Thu Jun 16, 2022 12:02 pm

Does it turn-over freely with the glowhead removed? Do you have a copper headgasket (or two) installed underneath the glow-head? It's possible that it's overcompressed when the glow head heats up with power applied, or the head needs the clearance of an additional copper gasket.

thomaslowery Thu Jun 16, 2022 12:42 pm

It actually turns over freely just with with no power supplied to the glow head, which would imply it is sensitive to the heat. Unfortunately I do not have the correct tool to remove the head, as I cannot seem to find any here in the UK, and shipping one from Canada would cost almost as much as the engine itself! I could try a pair of pliers or something to get it off, but I am worried I will damage the head? Or is it worth biting the bullet and paying the £23?

Levent Suberk Thu Jun 16, 2022 1:07 pm

Engine flooded?

thomaslowery Thu Jun 16, 2022 1:33 pm

Levent Suberk wrote:Engine flooded?

I don't believe so, as the issue is intermittent and the engine won't start if I set the needle to a leaner mix

sosam117 Thu Jun 16, 2022 1:43 pm

thomaslowery wrote:It actually turns over freely just with with no power supplied to the glow head, which would imply it is sensitive to the heat. Unfortunately I do not have the correct tool to remove the head, as I cannot seem to find any here in the UK, and shipping one from Canada would cost almost as much as the engine itself! I could try a pair of pliers or something to get it off, but I am worried I will damage the head? Or is it worth biting the bullet and paying the £23?

It is always good to purchase "two" wrenches.
One for the glow head and the other for the cylinder (which slides into the exhaust ports.)

With the two, "if" you try to remove the glow head, the cylinder might loosen from the crankcase.
Now "if" that happens, you can insert the 2nd wrench into the exhaust ports and unscrew the glow head from the cylinder without damage. Then you can screw the cylinder back onto the crankcase and tighten it with one of the wrenches.

One hint to remember is to heat up the cylinder and glow head and it will come apart a little easier. (remember to wear gloves!)

thomaslowery Thu Jun 16, 2022 2:09 pm

sosam117 wrote:

It is always good to purchase "two" wrenches.
One for the glow head and the other for the cylinder (which slides into the exhaust ports.)

With the two, "if" you try to remove the glow head, the cylinder might loosen from the crankcase.
Now "if" that happens, you can insert the 2nd wrench into the exhaust ports and unscrew the glow head from the cylinder without damage. Then you can screw the cylinder back onto the crankcase and tighten it with one of the wrenches.

One hint to remember is to heat up the cylinder and glow head and it will come apart a little easier. (remember to wear gloves!)

Oh interesting, I'm glad you said otherwise I would have shipped one all the way cross the pond just to discover I needed two! In that case I think I will stock up on spares and tools from cox's website, as then the shipping will be a bit more reasonable in the grand scheme of things. Any other essentials I should get? Also do the spring starters actually help?

cstatman Thu Jun 16, 2022 3:28 pm

Thomas,

If you like, I will mail you TWO cox .020 Wrenches.

A feller on this very board is sending me something I need, I figure I should at least try to pass the goodwill along.

If you will PM me your mailing address? I will tape two wrenches to a card, plop 'em in an envelope and send them your way.

Charles

thomaslowery Thu Jun 16, 2022 3:47 pm

cstatman wrote:Thomas,

If you like, I will mail you TWO cox .020 Wrenches.

A feller on this very board is sending me something I need, I figure I should at least try to pass the goodwill along.

If you will PM me your mailing address? I will tape two wrenches to a card, plop 'em in an envelope and send them your way.

Charles

Hi Charles,

That would be amazing, but don't feel you have to! I know how expensive international shipping can be!

Oldenginerod Thu Jun 16, 2022 4:45 pm

You could try Den's Model Supplies.
https://www.densmodelsupplies.co.uk/index.php?b=&t=&c=cox_020_spares&s=&p=020_wrench&pid=379

Ada99 Fri Jun 17, 2022 2:30 am

thomaslowery wrote:It actually turns over freely just with with no power supplied to the glow head, which would imply it is sensitive to the heat. Unfortunately I do not have the correct tool to remove the head, as I cannot seem to find any here in the UK, and shipping one from Canada would cost almost as much as the engine itself! I could try a pair of pliers or something to get it off, but I am worried I will damage the head? Or is it worth biting the bullet and paying the £23?

The Cox 020 wrench is avaiable in the UK from Dens Models for £3.70:

(https://www.densmodelsupplies.co.uk/index.php?b=&t=&c=cox_020_spares&s=&p=020_wrench&pid=379)

Best Regards,
=Adrian=

Oldenginerod Fri Jun 17, 2022 3:35 am

Ada99 wrote:
thomaslowery wrote:It actually turns over freely just with with no power supplied to the glow head, which would imply it is sensitive to the heat. Unfortunately I do not have the correct tool to remove the head, as I cannot seem to find any here in the UK, and shipping one from Canada would cost almost as much as the engine itself! I could try a pair of pliers or something to get it off, but I am worried I will damage the head? Or is it worth biting the bullet and paying the £23?

The Cox 020 wrench is avaiable in the UK from Dens Models for £3.70:

(https://www.densmodelsupplies.co.uk/index.php?b=&t=&c=cox_020_spares&s=&p=020_wrench&pid=379)

Best Regards,
=Adrian=

Hey, is there an echo in here? lol!

Ada99 Fri Jun 17, 2022 4:30 am

Oops - Sorry. I really should read to the end of the thread before posting!!

=Adrian=

Oldenginerod Fri Jun 17, 2022 5:38 am

Ada99 wrote:Oops - Sorry. I really should read to the end of the thread before posting!!

=Adrian=

Hey, no problem. We've all done that before. "Great minds think alike".

sosam117 Fri Jun 17, 2022 6:28 am

Another hint on using the "heat gun" for covering a plane is to use it on that old fuel line inside the fuel tank.
"If" that fuel line is rather old, it is hard to remove from the backplate.
Using the heat gun, heat the fuel line (not too much) and it will soften the line to where it will come off easy from the backplate.
Also, it will straighten the line to make removal of the spring inside the fuel line easier as well!

As for things you'll need:
The Cox .020 Pee Wee Overhaul kit should do it?

.020 Pee Wee sticking at top dead centre (Solved) Cox_0210

It has everything you will need to get your little .20 Pee Wee running again.

As for the starter spring.
It does help starting the engine on those smaller props, compare to flipping the engine with your finger.
"IF" you can spare the extra change I would get it. Makes things less frustrating on starting the engine!

.020 Pee Wee sticking at top dead centre (Solved) Cox_0211

Coxfledgling Sat Jun 18, 2022 3:33 am

Yes, densmodelsupplies is very good and helpfully.

It was very good of Charles to offer two wrenches, shows the "family" of this excellent forum.

I'm based in Snowdonia, caernarfon area Wales UK.

I dislike using the wrench via the exhaust ports...a little heat on the crank case and leather protective layer using a small pair of pliers....

Take your time with your little jewel of an engine. I have one that at some time will be going into a model, probably a cl one.

Enjoy...

cstatman Mon Jun 20, 2022 12:29 pm

im not good. Im a grumpy old man

BUT!!! MarleySky helped me out with some unobtanium, and I figured i HAD some wrenches, I might as well pass em along.

After I returned form post office, I saw someone posted a rebuilt kit - gaskets, bits, etc.. (like the one sitting on my bench)and I was thinking I SHOULD have sent that too...

thomaslowery Tue Jun 28, 2022 9:26 am

Marleysky wrote:Does it turn-over freely with the glowhead removed? Do you have a copper headgasket (or two) installed underneath the glow-head? It's possible that it's overcompressed when the glow head heats up with power applied, or the head needs the clearance of an additional copper gasket.

I think you were right about the over compression, I fitted a new glow head and gasket but it was still sticking. I then simply fitted a second new gasket and it went away.

After properly cleaning out and rebuilding the fuel system and needle I finally got it running!

Thanks for everyone's help, I am very grateful!

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