blw

My Feedback: (3)

Saitos seem popular and to sell well.

Owners like to work on them themselves.

The thread is very friendly with hardly any disagreements, so people feel safe asking many questions here.

The pricing of engines mean almost nothing except that marketing people set prices. Some of the cheapest engines are far better over the premium priced ones of the same type.

w8ye

My Feedback: (16)

At the many flying fields I have flown at in the last 10 years Saito four strokes are much more popular than the other four strokes.

retransit

My Feedback: (18)

You hit it on the head David with your third sentence about why this Saito thread is more popular. The product is simply more numerous than Magnums. They get the job done with the least hastle. Workmanship and construction are also supperior.
I have both engine products along with a few O.S.s.
I am currently running a 1.20S on a 19 lb. Nosen Trainer and fly it at one third throttle. It starts immediatly and never gives me a problem. The first Saito 1.20 I had in it wore out about two years ago. The plane was built in the mid-eighties and has gone through a few crashes, none which were engine related. The engine simply wore out over time. Great product!

Bob

Jeff Spicoli

Hi All. I'm not sure if this is the proper forum in which to ask this question, but it has to do with my two FA90ts that I originally intended for my TF Cessna 310 ARF. I bought the engines and had them professionally broken in, but the friend with whom I was going to build the 310 started working on the plane. I was so busy with work and a pregnant wife (then with work, a recuperating wife and a newborn son) that he finished the 310 without me. He has been in this hobby for 60 years and so I have no qualms about the quality of his work, but he did not think he could get the 90 twins to fit in the cowls without some major cutting to the cowls, and instead he installed a pair of OS 46's which I am going to replace with the newer OS 55's. In any case, I have two gorgeous Saito twin 90's and shy of installing them in my TF B-25 ARF that I have still in the box, (I don't thonk I have the skill or the patience for that, and I've got Saito 82s lined up for the B-25) I'd like to find a kit or an ARF that would be well suited to the 90 twin and would be clean or have a scale like appearance. My friend installed one of them in the Hangar 9 Piper Cub which is designed around an Evolution .46, but the cowl was so chopped up and roughly pieced back together in order to fit around the cylinder heads that it looked horrible. I just could not stand to look at it so I pulled the Saito 90 out and will replace it with an OS 70FL or something comparable.

Any recommendations as to nice kits or ARFs that might fully enclose the 90 twin and that would fly well with the motor would be greatly appreciated. Obviously I'm a member than the More Dollars than Sense club, but I'd like to build some nice airframes for these engines. It seems only right.

Thanks

w8ye

My Feedback: (16)

The 90TS was intended for a Cub the size of the H9 40 size Cub but with floats. There's hardly any exterior difference between the 60T and the 90TS.

w8ye

My Feedback: (16)

The 90TS was intended for a Cub the size of the H9 40 size Cub but with floats. There's hardly any exterior difference between the 60T and the 90TS.

H5487

Hobbsy,

Did you get a chance to look through your stuff to see if you had any manuals/literature on the open-rockered Saito 40?

Harvey
("5487")

boogermancan

saito to smoke or not to smoke. to make good smoke you going to need heat. you can putt thermo wrap on your header and pipe. this will make the pipe hot'er makeing better smoke how ever you will heat the head up to . you can find this thermo wrap in any hot rod magzine

slopoke

My Feedback: (16)

I have lost the check valve to my cline regulator. will one from the LHS work.

slopoke

w8ye

My Feedback: (16)

Yes if it is made for glow fuel

badfish

Hey guys. got a question on my saito 72. I'm running it inverted. when I take the valve covers off I have hardly any oil in there. none sitting in the valve cover. and just a light coating on the rockers and springs.
shouldn't there be more? I've had a valve stick and recently just replaced the valves, springs, retainers and cam.
just worried I'm not getting enough lubrication in there. I'm not running it lean either.

thanks steve.

BobMaine

Saito 100 still shaking. Badly. So bad it is destroying the electronics in the plane. Found the wire to the satellite receiver broken yesterday. Have put about five gallons through the engine. Shaking occurs only at 5000 rpm plus or minus a couple of hundred. Have adjusted/tweaked the NVs many times, (also burned my fingers on the muffler many times), switched props several times, changed glow plugs, tried different fuels, checked the O rings in the intake pipe, checked all bolts for tightness, pulled the "O" ring out of the velocity stack, considering burning incense to the Saito gods next, etc.

I'm not sure why one has to pay top dollar for an engine then have to spend another $100 plus on fuel, props, plugs to (try to) get it to run right...

Do you think I need to replace the bearings in this NEW engine?

Is there a "lemon law" for Saitos?

Is there suppose to be an O ring in the velocity stack? Why does the VS ship without one? Is the bottom of the VS suppose to sit tightly on the carb, mine has a gap? Make any difference? You can see I am grasping at straws here... Will consider any kind of advice short of throwing the Saito in the ocean even specific incense.

ChrisAttebery

My Feedback: (15)

Isaac,

Try the MAS 14x6 S2. It'll turn about the same rpm, but give you more speed than the 14x4W.



Chris

balsaeater

Not sure if your problem is similar to the problem i had and then I cured
My plastic throttle arm was moving up and down when the engine was on tick over and tuning was erractic
Investigation showed that the short screw which acts as the throttle stopper had sheered off its pointy part and this allowed the whole carberator barrel to float around up and down and cuase the fuel to be surging and make it impossible to tune engine properly

I did not have a replacement carberator screw stopper
I think its a 2.5mm with the threads removed at the point down to something like 2mm wide to fit in the carberator barrel track so I was forced to make my own from another 2.5mm bolt and file down the thread to fit the barrel
It took several attempts but since then the barrel dosn't float and tuning is now correct

The point breaks very easy so springy type gas connectors can help reduce the strain on the gas stopper bolt

Hope that helps

Balsaeater

w8ye

My Feedback: (16)

The light coating of oil is all that is needed in the rocker arm area and is typical of a Saito engine

w8ye

My Feedback: (16)

Most engines and especially single cylinder engines have a speed range where there is more vibration than at other rpms. It is difficult to make these engines smooth through out the rpm range. You can often change the rpm where you wish to run your engine by using a different prop.

The intake venturi does not come with a O-ring! The gap underneath the venturi is where the choke goes. No one runs the choke so they put one of the Orings intended for the intake manifold in the gap.

I agree with you that your Saito is a no-good piece of trash. Send it to me and I'll use it in my plane.

Enjoy

Jim

shzam

I have a saito 100 that is installed inverted in a hanger 9 p51. The engine loses compression after running for about 2 min. I have disassembled and checked timing and recheckedtiming and also have set the valves about who knows how many times and still have the same problem. The other night after rechecking the timing I installed the engine back into the plane and the compression seemed fine up until about a 1/2 tank of fuel and the engine was idling and quit. Went to flip the prop and again no compression. Any ideas as to what the problem could be. I have removed the valve covers and checked to see if a valve was sticking and they were not. I am leening more towards the jug and piston ring mating.

w8ye

My Feedback: (16)

Are you running it with the cowl on and it getting hot or have you tried it with the cowl off?

What prop are you using

BobMaine

Most engines and especially single cylinder engines have a speed range where there is more vibration than at other rpms. It is difficult to make these engines smooth through out the rpm range. You can often change the rpm where you wish to run your engine by using a different prop.

The intake venturi does not come with a O-ring! The gap underneath the venturi is where the choke goes. No one runs the choke so they put one of the Orings intended for the intake manifold in the gap.

I agree with you that your Saito is a no-good piece of trash. Send it to me and I'll use it in my plane.
-

Thanks for the info on the O-ring, I'll put it back in.

I've tried several props, different sizes, different pitches, different materials, etc. Last one today was a APC 16 X4W. Every one of them shakes at the same RPM.

I would bet you would NOT use this engine on your plane. Not if you had a plane you really cared about. Maybe after you replaced the bearings... Or you would run another $50 to $100 worth of fuel through it. Nobody in my club has seen/heard a Saito shake like this one does...

ottertok

My Feedback: (15)

Hi guys, I have a Seagull Harrier 90 with a Saito 125 mounted inverted, 16x4 wide prop. Does any one else have a Saito 125 mounted inverted and what is the setting of your high speed needle. I have mine closed to 1 3/4 turns to get 8900 RPM is this a normal setting?

mike boxtall

BobMaine,

I had that also with my 125. Turns out the spinner was way out of balance, and that was what cause mine to shake, rattle and roll. Not sure if you are running it with the spinner on or off though. It really surprising how much meat I had to take out to balance it. It was a 'true turn' that came with the little toni.

BobMaine

No spinner Mike, it's on a profile with a Higley hub and safety nut. Most of the props have been balanced, doesn't seem to make any difference. I've seen photos on the net where backplates (on spinners) had holes drilled to balance them. Thanks for the tip tho.

w8ye

My Feedback: (16)

Bob,

I have a lot of Saito engines and in most cases more than one of the same model. Some are not as good as others,

A profile plane will show up a vibrating engine more so than a full bodied plane.

I guess my only advice is to not run the engine at that rpm or put a 125 on the plane. Use the 100 somewhere else.

Hobbsy

My Feedback: (102)

Too lean and too hot.

BobMaine

You've met my girlfriend?

Oh, the Saito. No, I've tried every needle valve position possible and have the muffler burns on my hands to prove it.