Break-In with new turbo setup suggestions

[ty92dsm]

Ok so i recently did rod bearings, main bearings, and new rings. My car is almost all put back together and ready to be fired up again. As im getting closer i think im getting more scared because im not sure what to do. I know there are many different break-in procedures. I think i am going to try the procedure of going out and going through all the gears and do short WOT pulls in 3rd gear and lots of engine breaking.
Now along with the rebuild i am installing an hx-35 in which i have not yet been able to check my oil pressure being fed into the turbo obviously. Correct me if i am wrong but i have read a few places that on initial startup of a rebuilt engine you dont want to let it drop below 2k rpms. I need to be able to check oil pressure at idle and when revving so im not sure what to do?
I originally had my car tuned on an E316G, would that be ok to go out and drive around with the new turbo without making any changes?

 

[Boosted98gsx]

A quick search....

http://www.dsmtuners.com/forums/newbie-forum/411329-engine-break-procedure.html

 

[ty92dsm]

thanks i have read that but it still doesnt really help me with the new turbo part

 

[Boosted98gsx]

thanks i have read that but it still doesnt really help me with the new turbo part

Your bearings will develop shavings and those shavings will more than likely enter your turbo. I would suggest you put a cheap disposable turbo you can afford to lose on your engine during the break in period, or add a prefilter to the turbocharger to catch any metal shavings / junk left over from machining or break in. As far as the tune compatibility goes, just stay out of boost, and you'll be okay. If you go open loop, your car will run lean because of the increased airflow, and you can possibly damage your new engine.

 

[____Kurt____]

Instead of opening up a new thread I decided to ask in this one because I am in a similar boat.
I will be ready for break-in on my new motor along with a new DBB turbo. I do not have the option for running stock turbo for break-in then switching over because all bolt-ons will be custom parts and one offs for this setup. The car is currently running a good tune with 272 cams and a gm MAF blow threw right now. I will be switching to 280 cams and a 6262 turbo for the new motor. I am going to use the motoman breakin method. The car is not tuned for a big turbo or 280 cams so what are anyones suggestions? I am also debating about putting on my new sheptrans stage 4 as the motor is out but the break in on that says to be easy on it for the first couple hundred miles which is the opposite of the motoman breakin.

 

[ramsack]

The rings and cylinder walls are what generate the shavings. Those are the only things on the modern engine that break in, anymore.

 

[Calan]

Your bearings will develop shavings and those shavings will more than likely enter your turbo.

If your bearings are making shavings during break-in, something is seriously wrong.

 

[____Kurt____]

I am asking about this because people are posting to run no boost for breakin with a big turbo but how are you suppose to load the motor up with no boost? Makes no sense to me.

 

[Calan]

I am asking about this because people are posting to run no boost for breakin with a big turbo but how are you suppose to load the motor up with no boost? Makes no sense to me.

There's nothing wrong with letting the engine see mild boost during break-in. Like anything else, be sensible with a conservative tune, and give it plenty of deceleration (engine braking; follow the Motoman method).

 

[turboglenn]

First a note on the 2000 RPM minimum on a new engine, this was mainly on older V8's and was mainly for breaking in the cam-shaft and it's related components ( at least to the best of my knowledge that i've gained through the years) Now about the turbo and oil pressure deal.. if you have the old turbo on it might be best to break it in on that as you don't want to spend much time idling and revving in neutral trying to make sure pressures and such are OK for the holset... ON the other hand, you could probably go ahead and break it in on the holset and if you notice issues at least wait untill you've put a good 30 minutes of accel and engine breaking on before you start to tinker with the oil pressure.. the rings usually are considered "seated" in the first 20 minutes of engine running.. The cross hatching in the cylinders is what "wears in" the rings and once the cylinders areconsidered "glazed" from that point yuou're mainly done with break in, and further "break in" procedure is mainly for peoples piece of mind and making sure everything is circulating and functioning as it should. The main bearings and such really don't have a break in so to speak as they really shouldn't be wearing at all since they are an oil film style of "bearing"

There's nothing wrong with letting the engine see mild boost during break-in. Like anything else, be sensible with a conservative tune, and give it plenty of deceleration (engine breaking; follow the Motoman method).

I couldn't agree more! When i broke in my current engine on the old 57 trim i did it in a few short 15-20 minute driving/heat cycles. After the first cycle where i idled it for 2-3 minutes. The next time the car wasstarted i went out for 15 minutes or so steadily accelerating up to about 4500 RPM then engine braking back down ( i did this repeatedly, mainly making sure to never "cruise" as that's one of the worst things you can do during ring seating) I was using about 5-8psi on the first drive, then let the entire thing cool down for a good hour and a half, again using this time to check everything over.

The next drive (3rd heat cycle) I was using 12-15 psi, at about 2/3rds total throttle and used about 3/4ths of the total RPM range (about 5500-6k RPM) Again steadily accelerating and engine braking

By the fourth heat cycle i was doing short bursts of almost full throttle, just avoiding redline and keeping boost below 20psi.

This engine has lasted 30k + miles and just last week the compression results were 175 - 178psi (3 psi variance is pretty damn good after all this time) I can say i'm impressed for the beatings it's taken daily at 25-30psi on E85. Not to mention having gone through 2 heads because of valve train collisions, 1 from a snapped t-belt and one from an AC belt shredding and geting in the pulley causing it to skip time

I based my break in procedure on the "moto-man method" and i break in every engine this way from my motorcycle and car, to weed eaters and lawn mowers. I try and get all my friends and customers to do the same as well.. I can say that over the last 10 years the worst two cases of "new" engines smoking and not performing well were both cars that were "babied" for the first 500 miles.. The one that smoked never fully seated the rings before the cylinders glazed over and had to be honed and new rings installed to get the smoking stopped. Compression on this engine was rather pitiful at 135 - 150psi at ~600miles of use. This all has convinced me that the easier yuou break an engine in the worse it is for not only performance but it's economy and lifespan as well

 

[____Kurt____]

There's nothing wrong with letting the engine see mild boost during break-in. Like anything else, be sensible with a conservative tune, and give it plenty of deceleration (engine braking; follow the Motoman method).

I will be using the motoman method, but my question was towards the fact the car is tuned right now with the 14b and when the new motor is in it will be bigger everything so I'm sure the tune the ECU has right now will not be optimal for the new setup. This is where I am confused. Drop motor in and run current tune for break in then get tuned or?? I would rather ask questions than keep quite and make a costly mistake. This is my first rebuild breakin on something like this. All help is appreciated.

 

[ramsack]

If it's tuned good now, break it in on that. It's just not recommended to break in on an un-tuned engine because that usually means running pig rich. Most of the breaking in is done towards the beginning of the life of the engine. As you get into the hundreds of miles you are just putting little finishing touches on breaking it in. Meaning...you don't want the cylinder walls drenched with fuel at the very beginning when most of the breaking-in is taking place.

 

[____Kurt____]

Thanks ramsack, but wouldn't the bigger turbo, cams, OS valves all add to it being leaner? I will be running a set of bluemax 1550cc injectors but I think I will install those after break in because its tuned on stock 450s.

 

[ramsack]

No, that's what the MAF is for. Just run it stock to break in, then switch to those parts. Just putting in big injectors will make it run rich as hell, and the time taken to dial them in and tune them to driveability would totally negate the break-in period. The rings would wear from being washed with fuel before they get a chance to seat with the cylinder walls.

 

[____Kurt____]

Yea that's what I was thinking. So stock injectors it is. And I will use the MAF until breakin is over then I will switch to SD. Any advice on what to look for specifically on break in because of this setup?

 

[ramsack]

Look at your oil a lot, check other fluids, and check for leaks wherever a gasket holds in a fluid.

 

[Spoolin4Ever]

This engine has lasted 30k + miles and just last week the compression results were 175 - 178psi (3 psi variance is pretty damn good after all this time) I can say i'm impressed for the beatings it's taken daily at 25-30psi on E85. Not to mention having gone through 2 heads because of valve train collisions, 1 from a snapped t-belt and one from an AC belt shredding and geting in the pulley causing it to skip time

What caused the AC belt incident? And old belt or did the ac compressor seize up?