Engine Stops

[GTFreeFlyer]

1 hour ago, Saxman said:

Here's my most recent flight. Please ignore the ugly landing at the end.

I didn't blow my engines, but I've noted a couple things things:

1) Full throttle was hitting +60in MAP.

2) Initially water pressure was fine, however about half way through the flight it fell to zero. I stopped using ADI at that point.

ADI_Issues.trk 9.95 MB · 0 downloads

1. Stay within limits for takeoff, not full throttle.  The air is very thick at low altitudes and you’ll overstress the engine trying to push the prop thru that air with full throttle.  The procedure is 54” maximum for carrier takeoffs, much less for airfields.  Once you climb, and have inflow of air into the prop, there’s less load on it and your MP will drop.  Engine management is key.  
 

2.  I haven’t watched the track file.  I’m assuming based on what I read that you were assuming the water will last forever?  Here’s a screenshot for you…

 

 

 

[Saxman]

40 minutes ago, GTFreeFlyer said:

1. Stay within limits for takeoff, not full throttle.  The air is very thick at low altitudes and you’ll overstress the engine trying to push the prop thru that air with full throttle.  The procedure is 54” maximum for carrier takeoffs, much less for airfields.  Once you climb, and have inflow of air into the prop, there’s less load on it and your MP will drop.  Engine management is key.

I'm not AT takeoff. I'm in the air already IN COMBAT. I'm quite aware of the takeoff power settings.

40 minutes ago, GTFreeFlyer said:

2.  I haven’t watched the track file.  I’m assuming based on what I read that you were assuming the water will last forever?  Here’s a screenshot for you…

Of COURSE NOT. I'm well aware of the 8.5min supply. The 3 minute warning light never comes on, so I know I have water left in the tank.

[GTFreeFlyer]

On 8/15/2025 at 7:49 AM, Doughguy said:

Same with me.
The usual procedure worked fine before. Now each time i land on the carrier the engine dies before i can take off again.
I have no clue why. Temps etc look all good to me.

I spawn in a hot start a/c and rads are open and cylindertemps are little on the lowside.
Oil and intercoolers are closed. Oil pressure seems high. But no matter what i tried the engine died each time.

Attached tracks.

corsair engine shutdown 2.trk 2.93 MB · 1 download corsair engine shutdown 3.trk 3.07 MB · 0 downloads corsair engine shutdown.trk 3.24 MB · 1 download

Had a chance to watch all three tracks.  Nice pattern work and landings   Excellent throttle management on takeoff as well, taking it up to only 50", and not full throttle.

However, you cooked the engine on all three flights with the oil temp gauge pegged to the right.  Open up those oil cooler flaps and you'll be all good.  This behavior changed in the last update, so this is why your usual procedure from before no longer works.

Unrelated to the engine, I noticed you unlocked the tailwheel prior to your takeoff roll.  Only FYI:  The procedures IRL called for locked tailwheels on takeoffs.

Cheers!

8 hours ago, Saxman said:

I'm not AT takeoff. I'm in the air already IN COMBAT. I'm quite aware of the takeoff power settings.

Of COURSE NOT. I'm well aware of the 8.5min supply. The 3 minute warning light never comes on, so I know I have water left in the tank.

Copy all that.  Without having met you, I had no clue if you are brand new to DCS and warbirds, or a 20 year vet.  I did try watching your track file this morning to see if I can help further, but I don't have the necessary mods installed that you had active in your track file, so it won't let me load it.  I'm not familiar with those mods, and as many others will say, try running it without mods to see if you have the same issue.  Mods can be tricky like that.  Cheers.

[Doughguy]

1 hour ago, GTFreeFlyer said:

Had a chance to watch all three tracks.  Nice pattern work and landings   Excellent throttle management on takeoff as well, taking it up to only 50", and not full throttle.

However, you cooked the engine on all three flights with the oil temp gauge pegged to the right.  Open up those oil cooler flaps and you'll be all good.  This behavior changed in the last update, so this is why your usual procedure from before no longer works.

Unrelated to the engine, I noticed you unlocked the tailwheel prior to your takeoff roll.  Only FYI:  The procedures IRL called for locked tailwheels on takeoffs.

Cheers!

Copy all that.  Without having met you, I had no clue if you are brand new to DCS and warbirds, or a 20 year vet.  I did try watching your track file this morning to see if I can help further, but I don't have the necessary mods installed that you had active in your track file, so it won't let me load it.  I'm not familiar with those mods, and as many others will say, try running it without mods to see if you have the same issue.  Mods can be tricky like that.  Cheers.

Yeah, now that i opened them coolers its all good.
Not sure if there was any mentioning in the last changlelog of the oil coolers etc having an effect. Maybe missed it.

The unlocked tailwheel is fine, it doesnt caster around that much tbh especially if you gather speed fast, despite it not being according to specs ^^
 

Edited Saturday at 05:40 PM by Doughguy

[Saxman]

9 hours ago, GTFreeFlyer said:

Had a chance to watch all three tracks.  Nice pattern work and landings   Excellent throttle management on takeoff as well, taking it up to only 50", and not full throttle.

However, you cooked the engine on all three flights with the oil temp gauge pegged to the right.  Open up those oil cooler flaps and you'll be all good.  This behavior changed in the last update, so this is why your usual procedure from before no longer works.

Unrelated to the engine, I noticed you unlocked the tailwheel prior to your takeoff roll.  Only FYI:  The procedures IRL called for locked tailwheels on takeoffs.

Cheers!

Copy all that.  Without having met you, I had no clue if you are brand new to DCS and warbirds, or a 20 year vet.  I did try watching your track file this morning to see if I can help further, but I don't have the necessary mods installed that you had active in your track file, so it won't let me load it.  I'm not familiar with those mods, and as many others will say, try running it without mods to see if you have the same issue.  Mods can be tricky like that.  Cheers.

I forgot about the mod. Here's another one using built-in aircraft only. Eventually, water pressure just cuts immediately to 0 and the 3-minute warning light is never coming on.

ADI_Issues1.trk

[Edgehog]

On 8/14/2025 at 3:28 AM, Dallenbach said:

I also have problems after this update. The engine stops after approx. 3-5 minutes, even under different conditions (taxiing with take-off on airfield, in flight, and on landing after approx. 5 min. flight) and this while maintaining the specifications. That's why no track file helps, I think.

Same here! Flew in single player, Dogfight a 190 and managed to shoot it down, all the while checking out the gauges, which were in the blue. Did a carrier bolter and then came around again with hook down. Landed. Took off again, engine gauges blue, mixture full rich. Suddenly engine quits and down to the drink! (Rich mixture cools any engine, I know that from years of flying a real life Continental O200 and lycomings of all sizes)

The whole idea of having radial engines was that they were very reliable, even when damaged because no "coolant" was lost. Cylinders could in theory be shot away or perforated by bullets yet the engines would still run, or so the tales go... Same issue with the P47...

With this F4U if you sneeze, you seize! This cannot be historically accurate. Seems like a bug. (Also, in the new update they mention a "WEP" master switch.. where is it? And is it for the water Methanol injection or were they abbreviating "weapons"?)

[Saxman]

So here's a quick flight I did just now doing a Cold Start flight. Ignore my engine cutting out half-way through because I forgot to watch my main fuel gauge, and the Free Flight doesn't give you much of a tank of gas.

Anyway:

It appears that sometimes WEP just...doesn't turn on. I think this is connected to my observation of the water pressure gauge suddenly flatlining. You only see pressure on the gauge if ADI is actually on, and this coincides with my observations of the MAP. There were times where I pushed the throttle full throttle and ADI clearly didn't engage. I received no increased power, and the water gauge sits at 0. Others, if I pushed past the in-game detent it kicked in and the MAP needle jumped.

From what I can tell, if you're at full RPMs you WILL overrev the engine when WEP turns on. This includes at altitudes where WEP is supposed to use 2700RPM.

ADI_Issues2.trk

[stelr]

On 8/14/2025 at 2:16 PM, Saxman said:

The problem is whether these are "You have X minutes until kaboom. Period." or "You have X minutes and it MIGHT kaboom." Because those limits got exceeded in the field, (if it came down to "following the book" and "not get shot down," I know which choice I'd make) and most pilots just got a stern talking-to from the ground crew while the engine was torn down for maintenance/repair afterwards.

And that's my whole problem with how engine heat has been historically modeled in flight sims: They inevitably make it an artificial hard wall where exceeding the book is going to kill you, rather than exceeding the book is just going to piss off your crew chief and HE'LL kill you when you get back to base.

A much more realistic short-term response would be loss of maximum power. Total engine failure might happen in extreme cases, but isn't necessarily a given. Most of the worse effects were the result of stress and damage over a period of time, not just one sortie (thus engine tear downs if the power limits were exceeded). IIRC in lab conditions an R-2800 was run for DAYS at maximum power without ill-effect.

I think Saxman's post is extremely germane and should be seriously considered in relaxing the very strict limits, while still requiring the engine management procedures.  When the recent changes were made, I made sure all temps were in the blue but found that I kept cooking the engine within a very short time.  In fact, during my first three CV launches I heard the knocking and airframe shuddering before my wheels left the deck, shortly after passing the island!  I'm sure I was at max throttle (not knowing any better), but even so, I can't imagine any engine being accepted into full production that would be that fragile, not being able to handle a less than 10 seconds of overheating.  Also, since the gauges aren't digital and tend to vibrate a lot, it's hard to tell if you are at 54" MP or jumping to 55" and potentially damaging the engine.  Need a little slack here IMO.  Also, IOT avoid stressing the engine and it suddenly quitting in a climb, I had to limit the climb rate to 500-1000 ft/min.  The climb rate for the F4U was a key factor in the intended design IOT out-pace the Zeke.  It should be able to do a sustained climb rate in excess of 3000 ft/min.  If I tried to push it to 2000, the shuddering began, and I had to back off.

maybe M3 can take a look at these things and balance the book (recommended figures) with pilot reports.  I'm in no way suggesting PIREPs be taken as gospel, since they are not the same from pilot to pilot, but it's just my uninformed belief that this plane would have been too hard to just safely fly, let alone take into combat with a near-peer foe.

 

v/r

Stel

[Saxman]

11 minutes ago, stelr said:

I think Saxman's post is extremely germane and should be seriously considered in relaxing the very strict limits, while still requiring the engine management procedures.  When the recent changes were made, I made sure all temps were in the blue but found that I kept cooking the engine within a very short time.  In fact, during my first three CV launches I heard the knocking and airframe shuddering before my wheels left the deck, shortly after passing the island!  I'm sure I was at max throttle (not knowing any better), but even so, I can't imagine any engine being accepted into full production that would be that fragile, not being able to handle a less than 10 seconds of overheating.  Also, since the gauges aren't digital and tend to vibrate a lot, it's hard to tell if you are at 54" MP or jumping to 55" and potentially damaging the engine.  Need a little slack here IMO.  Also, IOT avoid stressing the engine and it suddenly quitting in a climb, I had to limit the climb rate to 500-1000 ft/min.  The climb rate for the F4U was a key factor in the intended design IOT out-pace the Zeke.  It should be able to do a sustained climb rate in excess of 3000 ft/min.  If I tried to push it to 2000, the shuddering began, and I had to back off.

maybe M3 can take a look at these things and balance the book (recommended figures) with pilot reports.  I'm in no way suggesting PIREPs be taken as gospel, since they are not the same from pilot to pilot, but it's just my uninformed belief that this plane would have been too hard to just safely fly, let alone take into combat with a near-peer foe.

 

v/r

Stel

Part of the problem is that the engine is overboosting when it shouldn't. If you hit WEP at 2700RPM MAP will jump past 60in, which it shouldn't be doing.

[-Rudel-]

On 8/16/2025 at 9:04 PM, Saxman said:

I forgot about the mod. Here's another one using built-in aircraft only. Eventually, water pressure just cuts immediately to 0 and the 3-minute warning light is never coming on.

ADI_Issues1.trk 3.04 MB · 2 downloads

 

So in this case, when you finally went full throttle, WEP enabled.  Roughly ~58-in/Hg

Now...when you retarded the throttle, WEP stayed enabled, until the pressure dropped below 52.5-in/Hg......this is a correct operation of the pressure actuated switch.

[anlq]

Hi, is there any guide for using Water Injection in combat ? 

[-Rudel-]

On 8/16/2025 at 10:26 PM, Saxman said:

So here's a quick flight I did just now doing a Cold Start flight. Ignore my engine cutting out half-way through because I forgot to watch my main fuel gauge, and the Free Flight doesn't give you much of a tank of gas.

Anyway:

It appears that sometimes WEP just...doesn't turn on. I think this is connected to my observation of the water pressure gauge suddenly flatlining. You only see pressure on the gauge if ADI is actually on, and this coincides with my observations of the MAP. There were times where I pushed the throttle full throttle and ADI clearly didn't engage. I received no increased power, and the water gauge sits at 0. Others, if I pushed past the in-game detent it kicked in and the MAP needle jumped.

From what I can tell, if you're at full RPMs you WILL overrev the engine when WEP turns on. This includes at altitudes where WEP is supposed to use 2700RPM.

ADI_Issues2.trk 30.13 MB · 2 downloads

In this mission....

During take-off the master switch is off.  Even though you're at full throttle and above 54-in/Hg.....this is good.

At 1890 you turn n the master switch, but WEP did not enable because your MAP has not reached 54-in/Hg yet.....this is good

At 2030~, you go full throttle, but WEP did not immediately turn on, because MAP didn't hit 54-in/Hg yet, once it did, WEP enabled.  ...this is good

So now you're hovering around 55-in/Hg.....

At 2147~, you drop throttle for a bit causing MAP to dip below 52-in/Hg momentarily, causing WEP to disable
And turn back on, when you went full throttle causing the MAP to increase above 54-in/Hg

 

Everything is working as intended for this update,  however the programmers are still working on the switch logic for a future update.