Discovery Model Engine Building Kit, DIY 4-Cylinder Combustion Engine, Working Pistons Fan Valves Belts LED Lights, STEM Mechanic Engineering Construction Experiment Set, Kids & Adults Gift

Niece loved this

My son loved building this engine. As he took the pieces I named them and explained the function. And had him repeat it. This was a great way to help him understand basic engine function. And when he saw this thing work once put the batteries in. He was AMAZED by it.

Just finished putting this together with my 10 yo son. Took almost all day but we had other things this Sunday, so assembly time was about 3 hours. It was mostly fun with a few exceptions, and the end result is very impressive. A few notes. - It says for 8 year olds and older. There's no way an 8 yo can put this together. Or a 10 years old. Maybe a 12 years old, if they are very skilled. I had to do a lot of snapping, tightening screws, and checking to make sure this works in the end. - There's a step in the manual where it says "pay close attention to the direction of the crankshaft" but does not specify what exactly you need to look for. As a result 9 steps later I found that the timing belt cover wouldn't come into position and had to disassemble all the way back to step 5 to put the part the right way. Not fun. - The timing belt kept coming off. We found that after we put most of the mechanism together so we again had to backtrack 3 or 4 steps (you cannot put the belt back on since it's closed by a cover). The only way I managed to keep it on was to avoid using belt pulley, just put the belt on timing gear and timing wheel and it appears to stay on (we ran it for a few minutes and it hasn't come off yet). - There's no on/off switch. Not a big deal, you just put the connectors in or pull them out. - There seems to be much more screws then needed to complete the assembly, so THANK YOU! - It even has the head gasket which it doesn't have to (it's just a piece of paper) but gave me a chance to explain what it is. - The lights are supposed to indicate when the gasoline explodes in a cylinder, so I wanted to show my kids how the explosion happens when the piston is in the top of the cylinder. Unfortunately this is not the case in this model, the lights flash in 1-4-2-3 sequence but they are not synced with the rotation of the crankshaft. As far as I can see the camshaft is not synced with the crankshaft either so the valves open and close pretty much randomly (unless I missed something in the manual - or maybe misunderstand the concept?..). - It's driven by electric motor, and aligning the gears is tricky, we had to re-do it 3 times and a small piece broke off, and sometimes I hear one or two cogs skip. - The plastic is pretty fragile and you have to be very careful not to over-tighten the screws or it'll break.

Great Motor for kids.

This is such a cool gift. Bought for my 11 year old. It’s an actual motor which is very cool. My husband enjoyed building with our son.

I would give this 3.5 if I could. It basically is what it says as far as the product, but it isn't in my opinion good for smaller kids - it is definitely something a kid and adult need to build together. The instructions are okay, but not great, you really need to pay close attention to orientation of certain parts, or you will end up taking it back apart later. It is built with dozens of tiny metal screws. There is a small screwdriver included. The kid's small fingers are good at handling the screws and getting some started, but it took Dad to get them properly tightened. PRO Tip: There are places, esp. in step 6 where it is really difficult to get the screw aligned in the hole. Get a strong magnet and magnetize the screwdriver (by rubbing the screwdriver across the magnet a bunch of times). This allows the screw to stick to the screwdriver while you shove it through the plastic. Some parts, like the cams, have a part number but it is nearly impossible to read. Again the kid with better eyes was needed. As for usefulness in teaching how the engine works, it's so-so. Everything does move as it should. I was very careful to get the cam shaft together in the specified order, so the valves basically open and close in a logical sequence. If you want them to match the piston movements you will just need to keep moving the timing belt until it looks okay. There are led "spark plugs" - make sure you get the correct one on the correct cylinder. They are controlled by a small distributer that goes on the end of the cam shaft. I was very surprised to see that the gearing inside just seems to be wrong. Meaning, if a plug lights up when the piston is at the top, then a few rotations later, it is lighting up when the piston is only half way. So in the end, along with explaining how an engine works, there was a lot of having to point out how the model didn't match up well. I wish that was better.

My son is obsessed with motors, fans, things that move, etc. so I bought this kit for him to put together and play with. We've had this kit for almost a year and he still plays with this (takes pieces off and puts them back on, tries the pieces in different spots to see what will happen, pretends to fix it like he's seen my dad do, etc.). He was 4 y/o when I bought this and he did need hand over hand help putting it together the first time. With practice, he's now capable of taking off most pieces and putting them back on himself. As long as your child knows how to use a screwdriver, can handle small pieces, and knows how to read instructions, they will be able to put this together without help. Once its assembled, I would say its appropriate for kids 3 y/o and older so long as they know NOT to put small items in their mouths.

I do not typically write reviews, but my kids' experience with this product warrants one. The product claims it is suited for children 8+. I purchased it for my two sons, 8 and 10, for Christmas. We just finished assembling it. It doesn't work. Here's what we found: - The screws are very difficult to tighten. In fact, my sons couldn't put most of them in without help. Since that is the primary means of assembly, I had to do much more work than I had intended (defeating the purpose -- this was supposed to be a hands-on learning experience). - Before we had even finished the model, the first drive belt broke. Luckily they send two with the kit, but it was alarming to burn through half the supply before we had even turned it on. - The lights that are supposed to demonstrate spark plugs did not work. - Even when assembled according to the directions, the motor has so much internal resistance and friction that the motor won't turn. The gears just skip. It was quite disappointing for my kids. Since it was a Christmas gift and they are just now getting around to building it, the item is no longer eligible for a refund. I could have taught them more with a Youtube video in a few minutes. This product was a waste of money.