Office of Steam Forum for Model & Toy Steam Gas & Hot Air Engines

Hey guys,

Just a quick update here that might help others. This little engine had been on the back burner a bit, because I really couldn't get it to run reliably. Sometimes it would run fine, some times it would stop after a bit. Sometimes it would not start at all. I tinkered with the ignition module (two batteries instead of three as advised) and even made a spark indicator tube to see if it was sparking at all. It did, so it seemed. I excluded the ignition and concentrated on the mixture. It seemed to be really sensitive. At some point I contemplated making or buying a new carb. I tinkered with the springs, ordered a set of springs on Amazon. And really I got a bit frustrated.

But at some point I had also ordered new spark plugs from EngineDIY. A while ago. Didn't do anything with them because I had ruled out ignition.

Nevertheless, yesterday I changed the plug for a new one. And......my jaw fell to the floor. In front of me was now a different engine. Hand starts immediately. Runs reliably until the tank is empty. Completely not sensitive to mixture anymore. Runs regularly, consistently. Hit. Coast. Hit. Coast. Hit. A joy to watch and listen. Fell in love with it all over again.

So NOW I'm starting to make a nice stand for it. I had put that off out of frustration.

Anyway, for anyone out there having trouble, replace your Chinese spark plug with a Japanese one. It might make a HUGE difference.

I got it from here https://www.enginediy.com/products/spark-plug-for-toyan-fs-s100-four-stroke-methanol-engine?_pos=4&_psq=spark+plug&_ss=e&_v=1.0 but I'm sure you can buy them anywhere.

Greetings,

Hans