Engine Break In, breaking-in, motor break-in [Merged 10-6]

BrokeTurbo · Oct 10, 2002

As the following thread will illustrate, motor break-in is not the issue it was in the fifties and sixties.
For all intents and purposes, your method will not significantly matter, within reason.

Well, I am getting the laser back from the shop this weekend. Here's a List of whats new, and whats not.New Pistons, Bearings, Rods, Crankshaft, Rings, Oil pump, Belts, Pullys, Head, Valves, No balancer belt. The only real thing thats old, but freshened up is the block, and valve cover, and the FI system. (Fuel Injection)

I am going to run Mobil 1 10w-30 with a Puroilator PL101xx Filter. I have a new clutch with a resurfaced flywheel going on. I've also got new fluids in the transmission.

My question is how should I break it in? This is my first non 70's Chevy, and I was wondering if there are any tricks to it.

The way I was going to do it, was 15 min of idle, warm up. Make sure all fluids/hoses/electrical is plugged in. Then about 1 hour of normal driving. Might take out to the Highway, and cruise around 65-70 for a little bit.

This sound good? I was not going to get on it, or push it till ive got about 500 miles on the engine. Even then, I'll still be taking it easy. Anyone have any tips or help? Thanks

kchaazz · Feb 11, 2011

Hobbes =^.^= said:
Here is the link:
Break In Secrets--How To Break In New Motorcycle and Car Engines For More Power

And taken from another DSM member:

I heard the same things last summer from an engineer that worked for Chrysler for 22 years. He builds race motors for Neons now. His break-in process is a full warm-up... do NOT let the motor idle (you should have primed up the oil pressure before starting it anyway, so don't worry about bearing wear you'd normally see revving right after starting).. keep it between 2000-4000 RPM, varying throttle, until it's at operating temp.

Then take it out, and in 3rd gear do 3 light throttle accellerations from 3000 to 4000, and engine brake back down to 3000 (very important to engine brake! The decel is just as important as the accell so you break the cylinder in evenly at all rod angles). Then do 3 part throttle accel/decels from 3000 to 4500 to 3000... and last, 3 full throttle runs from 3000 to 6000 to 3000. Then take it home, let it cool completely, and it's broken in.

The RPM ranges will vary from motor to motor, but that's what he recommended to me when I asked him about the 4G63 given a 7000 redline. The concept looks real similar to what's on the link that JW posted. The only differences I noticed is that those guys recommended cooling the motor for 15minutes between break-in stages, where Ed (the engineer) just recommended going for it in one pass and letting it cool completely. Also those guys recommend pulling it to redline, where Ed told me there's no benefit in going to redline on the break-in pulls.

What do you guys think? I had a freshly rebuilt motor, that needs a break in.

This is EXACTLY how I did mine, following that guide. Topped off all the fluids, did a boost leak test. Fired it up with stock injectors, wastegate boost level, set the timing. Made sure nothing leaked, then took her out to the interstate and did what the guide said. When I got back to the house I changed the oil and filter and put my 660cc injectors back in, along with boost control and my custom eprom and started tuning that night. Ive never had an issue and that was 5 years ago. The compression has always been 150ish across the board, not bad considering this block was honed only, and Ive taken the car through multiple track events and driven the crap out of it. Ive got it at 25psi on 93 pump, 11:1 afr, and 18 degrees timing.

crash89 · Apr 14, 2011

kchaazz said:
This is EXACTLY how I did mine, following that guide. Topped off all the fluids, did a boost leak test. Fired it up with stock injectors, wastegate boost level, set the timing. Made sure nothing leaked, then took her out to the interstate and did what the guide said. When I got back to the house I changed the oil and filter and put my 660cc injectors back in, along with boost control and my custom eprom and started tuning that night. Ive never had an issue and that was 5 years ago. The compression has always been 150ish across the board, not bad considering this block was honed only, and Ive taken the car through multiple track events and driven the crap out of it. Ive got it at 25psi on 93 pump, 11:1 afr, and 18 degrees timing.

I know.. I know, this has been dead for a couple months.. But, this is some good info. Im planning on just honing a motor Ive had for a while, gapping my rings and assembling my motor. Doing a break-in according to the link above, then tuning a 20g w/ ext wg on 1000s via ECUflash.. Now, the only "problem" if you will is, I know nothing about tuning.

*le sigh And I havent found anyone in the area to help me out..

foxyspyder01gt · Oct 2, 2011

i got a question about this sicne i will eb going out to Denver to pick my gst up i have to do a few small run around in Lakewood and dnever then it's a 9 hour drive to Kansas and that's all highway at 65 to 75 mph will that be a good break in for the car it's about 500 miles mabey some oen cna help em plane a schedule of where to stop and change the oil along the way

Chriztopher · Nov 15, 2011

Tevenor said:
Regular oil first. Synthetic is too thin for engine break in purposes. How long you should run it on regular is a matter of opinion. I ran mine on regular for the first 3000 miles. I changed the oil after 100, then 500, then 1000, then 2000, then 3000. But I am overly anal about oil changes.

+1 on that.

Brake it in on natural oil then go synthetic. Metal absorbs some of the oil (very low ratio by weight) the rate of absorption depends on the ASTM grade of steel your block was made of and the temperature. Synthetics absorb very differently and do not contain as high ratios of heavy metals as natural oils. These elements are partially absorbed by the porous metal surface to "season" the steel. To qualify as a synthetic in America they need to be at least 80% synthetic. The heavy metals and trace minerals act as abrasive agents that help properly wear in you cylinders and rings during engine break in. Once your engine in broken in these trace minerals will cause your engine to wear faster so you switch to Synthetic. I switch at ~3000miles which is my 4th oil change on a new block.

deathindecay · Mar 31, 2012

i have a question, how do you prevent from washing down the cylinder with excess fuel and running rich? the problem is i dont have the stock fuel injectors, im running on 660's. would it be a problem if i broke my engine in with these on?

crash89 · Mar 31, 2012

deathindecay said:
i have a question, how do you prevent from washing down the cylinder with excess fuel and running rich? the problem is i dont have the stock fuel injectors, im running on 660's. would it be a problem if i broke my engine in with these on?

If you dont have some way of accounting for the larger injectors you should use the stockers. Hell, even if it was a motor with x amount of miles on it you shouldnt run 660s without a way of accounting for extra fuel.

Id say either stockers, DSMlink or at least an SAFC..

deathindecay · Apr 4, 2012

But as long as I have dsmlink i should be fine running larger injectors to break in the motor?

laserspeeddemon · Apr 16, 2012

99gst_racer said:
You'll want to put the engine under some load, but you don't need to rag on it or race it. 15 PSI boost is plenty. There's no need for high RPM or WOT either. You just want to vary RPM and alternate vacuum to boost - that's it. When we broke in my roommate's 6-bolt, we kept it under 70% throttle, 7000 RPMs, and 14 PSI boost, because nothing more is needed to get the job done. And make sure you aren't running pig rich.

How long did you do this Paul?

chardbox03 · May 4, 2015

http://highboostforum.com/forum/showthread.php/19356-Breaking-in-an-engine
Came across this gem from dave buschur

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Engine Break In, breaking-in, motor break-in [Merged 10-6]

BrokeTurbo

kchaazz

crash89

foxyspyder01gt

Chriztopher

deathindecay

crash89

deathindecay

laserspeeddemon

chardbox03

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