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

 

[AW4G63]

Make sure you put one bolt on your tranny housing and beat on it.
jk

Id just use assembly lube and go easy on it for about 100 miles change the oil and carry on with life.

Tom

 

[Groomz]

http://www.mototuneusa.com/break_in_secrets.htm
Thought this might help.

 

[Defiant]

Give them bits a few hundred to get acquainted, and look closely at the drain oil.
I kinda wish you'd gone with a 2100, but maybe it won't matter.

 

[BoostedLoser]

Tom... very funny!
No no see what happend last time is the tourque + the walking crank broke all my bolts and the one bolts housing hole! And the flywheel ate my starter, the sheild, and some of my transfer case! HAHA!

So we still goin to Quaker Stake? Cause if i need no break in.... its PARTY TIME!

 

[set3422]

Originally posted by BoostedLoser
I just had my crank machined and got new bearings... Also got an ACT 2600 clutch added to the mix! What is the proper driving procedure for the crank work? I am assuming its not such a monitored break in as if i did rings... What should i do?

Thanks

why would you want to use a machined crank? Any oversize bearings problem? Good luck.

 

[nine5raptor]

Originally posted by TwoLiterV8Eater
Hmm...I didnt do any sort of procedure except taking the old lifters out, and putting the new lifters in. I didnt prime them or anything. From the first time I started the car they were very quiet. I had an oil leak and ran the car about a half a quart low and they started to tick. now they tick most of the time but after some driving they quiet some. It sounds like I have one bad one or something, but not all the time. After I installed them I carefully turned the motor by hand and watched them all compress like normal. Perhaps I did it the "wrong" way but it worked for me, and I didnt bend any valves or anything like some people seemed to think I would.

This is fine, they are just a little noiser usually if they have no lube in them at all. The one thing you don't want to do is pump them up FULLY before putting them in. This is what is hard on the valves.

 

[BoostedLoser]

The cranks i had werent perfect... and if im gonna put it in i want it perfect... one was totaly nuked at the trust bearing point.. the extra i had just needed cleaned up so i sent it out and had it polished. I wanted to get it hardedned but $$ is always an issue when you have a DSM! I want .25 over bearings and crank too.

 

[mavisky]

hate to tell you this (although it doesn't mean it will happen to you) but i dropped in a crank same as you. new bearings, .25 over all around. didn't harden the crank and it lasted a whopping 1000 miles before i spun the crank bearing nearest the tranny.

 

[BoostedLoser]

Hope that doesnt happen... im using all the engine building tips though.. lots of assembly lube... crank the piss outta her to build oil pressure and so on. What kind of bearings did you use?

 

[set3422]

Originally posted by mavisky
hate to tell you this (although it doesn't mean it will happen to you) but i dropped in a crank same as you. new bearings, .25 over all around. didn't harden the crank and it lasted a whopping 1000 miles before i spun the crank bearing nearest the tranny.

new crank from conicelli costs $5xx. Good luck.

 

[hostile]

Originally posted by set3422



new crank from conicelli costs $5xx. Good luck.

It wouldnt matter if the crank is new or not, if you put it together wrong it will not last.

 

[BoostedLoser]

Ive found a place that gives you crank and bearings for 180$ so i dont know where your gettin 5xx.00 from!?!

 

[damax03]

The only way to truely pre oil the car is to get a piece of equipment called a pre-oiler. It is an air compressor type looking thing that you can load all the oil into and pressurize the system with out turning over the engine. Even when you pre-lube the engine with assembly lube or engine oil, it is still by far best to pressure the system before everturning over the engine.

 

[leet]

I did not prime my lifters either when I installed them. They ticked for a few days, but then it became quiet.

 

[pneumo]

When I put the new lifters in my car it ticked pretty bad. So I drove around for 20 minutes with the engine over 4k rpm because the oil pressure is higher at higher rpm. That easily cured the ticking.

 

[bluebomber]

How long does it take to break in a freshly rebuilt engine?

 

[Dieselboy]

They say 1k - 1500 miles. I did 2k just for safety.

 

[Lunch_Box]

What is the break in procedure? Are you supose to use a differnt type of oil for a certain amount of miles? How often do you need to change the oil in those first 1500 miles? Thought these questions might help him out a bit.

 

[psychlow]

There are 165 billion different opinions on this subject.

Some say use regular oil and some say use synthetic. Some say run it easy for 5K miles, some say 1K miles. Some say don't run it easy hardly at all.

I'm one of the last group - I say just run it easy for the initial trip. The crosshatch in the cylinder bore only lasts for so long, and you need it there for the rings to seat. So, my method of break-in, after having read 6,000 posts about it, is this:

1) Get it started and idling with the oil weight/type the car will NORMALLY BE DRIVEN WITH, and immediately take it out for a drive. Keep it at about 1500RPMs for a block, come back, shut it down and let it cool off.
2) After it's cool, take it out again, this time, take it through 3000RPMs in all gears.
3) Repeat step two, raising RPMs 1500 each time until the last time you go to redline.
4) Take her home, shut her down and let her cool. CHANGE THE OIL!

That's just my personal method. I'm sure others have their own opinion.

 

[Dieselboy]

I used conventional oil for the break in maily to allow the seals and rings to seat. After that, I flushed and switched to a synthetic blend. 2 changes later, I switched to full synthetic.

 

[Defiant]

Within reason, whatever break-in method you choose will be fine. Modern metalurgy and lubrication is to the point that it really doesn't matter enough to be concerned about. It's also routine to open up 100K-mile engines and find remnants of crosshatch- when was the last time any of you heard of someone having to use a ridge reamer?

Beyond that, please search past topics for many paragraphs about this.

 

[GTM]

Originally posted by Defiant
Within reason, whatever break-in method you choose will be fine. Modern metalurgy and lubrication is to the point that it really doesn't matter
...
when was the last time any of you heard of someone having to use a ridge reamer?
Beyond that, please search past topics for many paragraphs about this.

Ridge reamer!!! Whaazzat. Actually may last have used it on a 1200cc Datsun pushrod that had lived a hard life with cooling system problems and cronic overheating from someone having installed a York 10 cubic" A/C compressor. Found some good used pistons and "first" rebuild rings, slapped it back together for another 50k. Impoverished distant relative of the Hearst family.

I believe PC (Perfect Circle) recommends accelerating from 25 to 60 mph about 10 times in succession in top gear. You don't allow the engine to cool off in between each of those acceleration runs. For auto trans you select the next gear lower than "D". After that no other brake-in was recommended. Of the 200 plus engines I've done never had any problems using this no matter what rings were being used as long as the vehicle was made after the mid 70's. I should also qualify this was used on "import" vehicles, I've not verified this for large block Detroit iron with pistons big enough to stick your leg in there.

In any case, all you have to do if find a road these days where you can make these speed runs without endangering anyone else.

Cheers,
GTM

 

[GTM]

Originally posted by GTM


I believe PC (Perfect Circle) recommends accelerating from 25 to 60 mph about 10 times in succession in top gear. You don't allow the engine to cool off in between each of those acceleration runs.
...............

I don't like sticking foot in mouth and decided to do a search since I've been out of the professional auto repair bussiness for some 10 years. My experiences cited above are factual; however; the web page article below indicates on late engines a different process should be followed. The break-in process which can be found at the bottom of the article suggests 30 min at fast idle AND if _possible_ rapid acceleration several time in low gear be used. They don't exactly identify years involved so more research info needs to be obtained. Usually ring makers give instructions on the wrappers so best to read and research if there is any doubt.

http://www.automotiverebuilder.com/ar/ar129832.htm

Cheers,
GTM

 

[me612]

i've heard from several sources now that the best way to break in an engine is in fact the way that GTM linked you too. Basically once it runs good, take it out, then do a couple half throttle accelerations, and after the acceleration, do not step on the clutch, let the engine slow slow itself and the car back down, then do the same thing but at 3/4 throttle, then the same at full throttle. Basically it lets the rings fully expand against the cylinder walls while the small ridges are still there from when the cylinder was honed out. I lost the link to the site i had that quoted all this, but if you want, u can search dsmtalk and prolly find that same thread i read and the link is in that thread. good luck tho man!

 

[me612]

ok i was bored and went and found the link for you. here is the link to the guys site, and here is a link to the dsmtalk thread that talks about it.