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

[BrokeTurbo]

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

 

[95GSXBLUR]

I heard revving to redline and letting off throttle backing down the revs helps seat the piston rings.

"hard break in" as you say.. basically not through first or second more through 3rd and part of 4th... just rev it up slow and let it go back down on it's own..

...my .02 cents.. or $10 canadian.

 

[TSIfreek]

dont let the engine Idle when you first start it (with oil pressure) . keep it at 2-3k to get the oil everywere untill it gets to temp then go drive it hard 75% at 10 psi then drain the oil and filter keep the standard oil in for 500 miles

 

[RoasT BeeF]

...my .02 cents.. or $10 canadian.

:laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:

 

[91_laser]

I just went through breanking in my new motor. The process I used was from start up to 300 miles rev the engine to a max of 3000 rpms at half throttle in stop and go traffic. If the motor seems to have no mechanical problems ease the motor to 5000 going to 3/4 throttle to full slowly allowing it to boost alittle. If no problems seem to occur to 500 miles drive the car like you want to. this is how I did it just my 2 cents

 

[91_laser]

oh yeah I changed oil at 50 miles then at 500

 

[DSMeclipse4G63]

what you need to do is rev it to the max rpm and boost you want the motor to do right out of the box...other wise the rings WONT SEAT.

 

[jott5555]

i wouldnt rev it to redline and hit max boost on a fresh rebuild.. thats stupid.. i just put the first 100 on my engine i rebuilt..

right now im just takeing it up to 5psi and not hitting wot.. due to change the oil at the first 500 miles. and i havent had any problems with it yet.. around 1500 miles i may up the boost to 10 lbs. but i use the engine to decelerate a lot which has worked for seating the rings on every other (7) motors ive built

i like to think that if its going to break it will do it in the first 500 miles..


after that your home free..

 

[IMMORTALSPYDER]

Anybody ever read their manual and see how the dealer says to break in the motor? I mean they're just playing it safe and all, but it'll give you some kind of idea of the process or steps into making the engine last a while.

I like to progressively put more throttle and rpm's on mine over the first hundred or a thousand miles. Kind of like you would do with a clutch. Also regular oil changes are a must.

Everyone has their own way of doing it so there's no set standard on what you should do. Just take look at all the advice you've read on other posts and this one and do what you think would be best ( no 6K launces or boosting to 22psi, stuff like that).

 

[NDgsx]

Get a oil with no deteregents as they typically have less zinc content. Napa has a SAE 30 oil that is labeled non detergent. That is what I use.
I do three pulls 3/4 throtle, compression braking between them, and then call the customer. If the valve springs have been replaced I recomend many frequent oil changes. New springs shed extremely small metal particles that most filters do not catch.

 

[pinknuggit]

you can do your personal preference to break a motor in, but one thing to do is keep an eye out for oil leaks and gasket seals. Also one thing you really need to do is to use engine braking as much as you can within the first 50 miles.

 

[Kevin Jewer]

I have found that taking it easy on the break in is the worst thing you can do, aside from not changing the oil frequently. Its taken up to 5-10k miles to get full compression in all 4 cylinders. When breaking it in "hard," I see full compression within a couple hundred miles. Now, breaking it in hard in this case means plenty of boost, but I dont rev very high. I start by keeping it under 6k rpm or so for a while to let the bearings do thier thing. The boost will put pressure on the rings and drive them into the crosshatch. You need those rings to seat before the crosshatch wears off. Then after 50-100 miles I start rasing hte rpm. On this motor I put 150 miles on it in Ohio then raced at the SO. Its been working beautifully.

The most important thing IMO is particle control. Use a filter before the turbo. I have never had an unfiltered turbo survive a new motor breakin. Ever. Use high quality oil filters only. No Fram and other POSs like that. Change the oil after ~10 miles to flush out stuff that was left in the motor. Change it again around 100 miles. Sooner if you're not as cheap as me. Then gradually space them back out until you are back to your usual intervals. This time around I put some 5 pound pull magnets in the oil pan. They caught a lot of metal debris that i would rather not have circulating around in the oil

 

[Majite]

I'm getting a full rebuild and I've been reading conflicting ideas on how to break a motor in. I'm hearing run it hard. Take it easy. Could use some opinions here ? thanks

 

[boosted95]

http://www.mototuneusa.com/break_in_secrets.htm

 

[Defiant]

Notice out of the dozens of fables about what is the One True Way, how many millions of motors live out very long lives.

We have other threads about this on here, read through them. Whatever you've heard up until now will be guaranteed to both give you an engine that'll run for a million miles, and blow it up in 500.

 

[uh-oh]

i usually on the first start i rev the car to 5000-5500 with NO boost and hold it there for 3 minutes....then i shut it off and let it cool....while cooling i check for leaks and add fluids...then i start it again....rev to 6000 this time and only hold it there for about 45 seconds then rev from 4500-6000 with no boost using FULL throttle romps...then shut it off...then i drive the car on no boost easily and low rpms for about 250-300 miles...increasing the rev range each 50 miles.....than at aout 350 miles ill put the car on stock boost and rev it from about 4000-6000 about 6 times under no load...if the car sounds good ill drive it like that for about 2 weeks going full throttle every once in a while...then i do an oil change then i take the car out and BEAT IT for about 10-15 minutes...then i bring it back and switch to whatever oil im going to stay with (I NEVER BREAK IN ON SYNTHETIC)....ive done about 15-20 motors this way and my current motor has comp of 210-210-208-209...so i guess it works..and its been about 5300 miles since break in...if your brave enough to try it my way go ahead but its kinda hard for some people....oh BTW on a fresh rebuild if some kinda of lubricate isnt on the cylinder walls that i know about ill generally put about a teaspoon of atf down the spark plug hole before the start to make sure i dont split a ring, just my way of doing it

 

[pinknuggit]

I use WD40 on the cyl. walls and i've had great results with a hard breakin vs. easy. That's all i'm gonna say.

 

[Boostmonkey]

I know that when i purchased my new suzuki gsxr600, I read up alot on the motorcycle break in practices. I know bikes and cars are different, but the principal may be the same.
I came across an article from a magazine i usually purchase, about breaking in 2 brand new kawasaki motorcycles, one in the 'standard' factory way, and one in what is considered the 'mototune' way(i think thats how its spelled). Long story short, the one that was broken in hard ended up with 12 EXTRA horsepower over the stock bike when dynoed at 2500 miles. I Have no idea what made it faster, neither did the mag writers, but the dyno charts were there and the factory breakin bike just had a weaker curve all the way thru, it was shocking.

Obviously i went with the hard break in and i can run my buddies also stock gsxr600 from light to light all damn day, that pisses him off


Take from this what you will.

Dave

 

[leakyfaucet]

The Haynes repair manuals also suggest a hard break in. They don't suggest high revving, just loading the engine and letting the engine decelerate the car.

 

[Defiant]

See what I mean?

 

[Flybiyou]

I just had a 6-bolt dropped in my 98gst fully forged and built head. The guy I had build it is very experinced on our motors. He ran a 9. something in his car at the shootout so he knows how to build them and make them go. He started my car reved it a few times and turned it off Checked for any signs of leaks. Started it again and drove around a parking lot Turned it off after 2 miles of driveing. Then came the hard part for me he was going to tune and it only had like 15 mins of run time. Street tune that is so we tuned it 3 times hard on the motor reving high 7k 8k and letting the motor slow the car down. We drove back he said here you go have fun I left and after about 30 miles I got itchy and went from 0 to 140mph reving to 7k to 7.5 k and pretty much ran it hard since showing it 22 psi of boost I didnt really do the 0 to 140 again till about another 300 miles and my motor is strong and holding great comperssion. To tell you what he told me its all who put the motor together and how good they did the job. It took him 2 weeks to build it doing everthing to t. Mod in profile if your want to know what I built it with.

AJ

 

[mntalon_05]

I'll be getting my talon home in the coming weeks with a fresh bottom end along with maybe a new head, or just all new valves depending on how bad the damage is. Just wondering what your reccomendations on break-in procedures are. Like how many miles I should go before the first few oil changes, what weight of oil to use for the first little while, how many miles I should wait before I start modding and pretty much anything else you can think of. Thanks ahead of time.

 

[TSIfreek]

Use the SEARCH key. There are alot of open forums on this subject and they get killed everytime.

 

[Defiant]

We just did this, right in this very forum:

http://www.dsmtuners.com/forums/showthread.php?t=147960&highlight=breakin

Please refer your questions there.

 

[Race94]

Well i just got a 6-bolt engine, the block was machined(broke a piston) and the crank was turned, i am putting in my 2g 95 pistons(100,000 miles) a new water pump, rod bearings and timing belt, removing balance shafts too.

How many miles should i give it as a break in?? It's really not being rebuilt but you get the idea.

Thanks

 

[tsunari]

I'd give it a good 500 miles of city driving. You should be good to go after that