Chung Yang vs. Zenoah - interesting read

Chung Yang versus Zenoah Controversy

We see much controversy on the various RC and Scooter Forums about which is best, the Chung Yang or the Komatsu Zenoah Engines. It is much like the ongoing controversies about many products like Ford/Chevrolet, Colt/Winchester, Fram Baldwin, Sony/Panasonic. We all have our favorites, and it is fun to argue which is best, but in many cases, there is a lot of mis information passed around. Here are a few facts for everyone to think about when passing judgement or making decisions to purchase.

Where are Chung Yang and Zenoah Engines Made?
Zenoah is a Japanese Company, but their engines are not neccessarily made in Japan. They are made in more than one country in Asia, most likely, not Japan. Just like Japanese Cars, and components. Many cars made in USA, and components all over the world. With the Japanese names, everyone thinks they are made in Japan….not so.
Chung Yang is a Taiwanese company. The Chung Yang RC and Scooter engines, at this time are all made under one roof in Taiwan.

Who copied who?
Did Chung Yang copy Zenoah on certain engines? Not necessarily. The engines in the 22.5cc to 30cc category have been manufactured in many countries for light industrial and lawn and garden uses all over the world. They also have been, and currently are being manufactured my many different companies. Lets just say the the broadest application may be “weed wackers”, not R. C. Cars, Boats, Planes etc. They are all clones and no one has been able to remember who made the first engines of this widely used design. They are kind of like “Small Block Chevrolets”. Used and made by many companies for many years.

Number One Seller Chung Yang or Zenoah?
Who sells more engines, Chung Yang or Zenoah? Reliable sources say that Chung Yang sells more engines “Worldwide” than Komatsu Zenoah in the single cylinder 22 to 30cc category. Chung Yang also has more variations and part numbers of these engines than any other company in this market. In this sense, Chung Yang is Number One.

About Quality
Regarding quality comparison. The manufacturing standards of Chung Yang are equal to or in some cases better than Komatsu Zenoah, according to engineering comparisons of manufacturing procedures. One example is the finishing process used on most of the cylinders. This is the process of preparing the cylinders before the chrome plating process, and finishing the chrome plating. The end result is the Chung Yang cylinders have a better finish bore and are more accurately round to promote good ring seal, life and sealing of the rings. While Zenoah uses the bore, hone, plate, final hone process to finish the cylinders, CY uses the bore, Plate, ID grind for much more consistent cylinder wall finish, and measurable cylinder size and roundness. This procedure leaves a cylinder wall finish that is more compatible to the piston rings. We have compared many CY Cylinders to Zenoah cylinders in the past few years, and will most always find the CY cylinders to have closer tolerances of roundness and taper than brand Z.

Manufacturing Processes
We see discussion on chrome plating problems on engines, but we are not getting the full story. Chrome plating of cylinders is a very old procedure for a finish bore on a 2 stroke internal combustion engine. In some applications like Motorcycles & Snowmobiles, it was discontinued back in the 1970′s. It was originally used, as it was the most economical manufacturing process to finish the bore in a cylinder. It remains in the small Chung Yang and Zenoah engines, as it is the most economical way to finish the smaller cylinders.

About Cylinder Chrome Plating Problems
The problem with chrome plated cylinders is that they do not lend them self well to modification of the ports after plating. When you grind the ports in the cylinder to try and improve the performance, you can create a problem. In the exhaust port for example one may raise or widen the exhaust port to move the powerband higher in RPM. In a chrome plated cylinder as it comes from an engine factory, the chrome in the ports extends out of the cylinder bores and into the port a little way. Porting of the cylinders, breaks this wrapping around of the chrome, and leaves a sharp blunt edge, which gives a place for the ring to grab the chrome and start it to peal from the cylinder. If it does not peel at first, it grabs small chrome particles that get spread on the cylinder walls. These small chrome particles are very abrasive, and much harder than steel or aluminum. Eventually, they will destroy the cylinder, rings and piston. This is much more likely to happen in a modified engine. If an engine builder is not experienced on the cause of these problems, they may be improperly porting the cylinders, causing premature engine failure. The engine manufacturer is not the one to blame in this case.

End User caused Engine Failure
There are other factors involved in what causes the failures of the chrome cylinders mentioned above. Oil type, mixture, fuel octane, air filter function and maintenance, and engine rebuilding, just to name a few. Mistakes are often made with either with choice of oil, or mixture ratio, whether intentional or not. An often overlooked factor is “ring life” Piston rings do not last forever. Single ring pistons have a 40% shorter ring life than 2 ring applications, but single rings are chosen for performance reasons. How often should you replace the rings? Probably in 8 hours or less of operation. Calendar time has no bearing on when engines should be rebuilt. You should determine how much fuel has been burned by keeping a log, or track the hours of operation. You can replace the piston and rings to keep the engine fresh and performing at its top level, or run them until the engine and cylinder fails, and blame the engine. The more RPM’s, the higher the compression an engine has, the shorter the ring life. To simplify it, modified engines require more frequent maintenance.

Here's a link from were i got the info from. All i've done, copy & paste: www.emjayltd.com/importexport...ang-vs-zenoah/

As one with near 30 years of commercial small engine experience having worked with engines around the globe and in recent years MANY Zenoah, Cy & RCMK's

The CY's may have bits and pieces that measure superior or look to be so, but it ends there
Overall quality of the actual parts / pieces coming out of CY's factory are inferior to Zenoah or RCMK in my opinion.

The person writing the original article is voicing an opinion and rightly has right to do so ... some of us however don't agree with all that's being said.

Just saying ...

Well said!

sounds like a CY commercial and might be the last try to get more sales......

Interesting reading but the article only addresses a very few parts and not over-all quality. I just sold 2 Sikk's and although they are good runners, they have places where things should have been improved.

I've got 2 CY 27's in my Killer Kat, and I love 'em!!! I have a Zen in my Skiff and I love it!!! So depending on what you're running and what ya expect, (granted you're not a hard core racer) each has it's place in this hobby.
It was an interesting read though, and it did sound like a comercial, but that's why they call it a hobby.

LOL it like some racer guy that like Chevy and Zenoah for their toy .Me i am ford man for 35 year that all i ever buy .CY i like and never did me wrong yet it you going to mod the engine to race then get the 4-Bolt CY Crankcase one .their isn't A LOT of difference (especially if the cases have been modified) between the Zen and CY cases. overall, i would suspect the Zen uses a better quality aluminum to cast the case 1/2s with, but as far as run ability, performance etc.. i would say they are basically the same.

No they are noi even close in quality or performance potential there is a reason

Zen or RCMK = Better cases, better lasting head (2 bolts do not clamp like 4 bolts), WAY BETTER recoil system, WAY BETTER mounts + RCMK better power for same price

Why anyone would say a SIkk is better is just not reasonable ---

Zenoah may be Chevy and RCMK may be Ford but Sikk is more like a Dodge (some people like them -- I just can not figure why>)

Oh and I have several Zens a few RCMK and 2 Sikks (sitting on shelf - both never lasted long) and my nephew is in garage right now fixing Sikk recoil so I have used them

But it's not apples to apples

---

Sikk is WAY down the list and is NOT EQUAL to the Zen or MK

Just my 2 cents

Randy

Nah.. What's this all about?

Zens, Sikk's, RCMK's, Cy's and more fun stuff?
I really feel totally outta place here. I have to go with my silly bla-bla-bla-bla-bla-bla-bla-bla-bla-bla-bla-bla-bla-bla - Blata, 40 cc, six bolts, 14 hp, 18.000 rpm to put into my sorry homemade mono w double sterndrive output at 27.000 rpm.

No harm meant. Anyone knows if a Zen or any other of the above mentioned could have the power to run the windshield wipers on my boat?

Sorry. Just could'nt let it be...
Please forgive me.

Cheers to ya all!

Woodie.

Woodie
Blata is a Mercedes(spelling) ........ way above Chev / Ford

Lol


Randy