Hey guys, some of you may remember me from the old pistons topic that seemed to last for ages. But i do have good news.. The engine went together and snug right up in that little compartment. And surprisingly enough, I did manage to start it right up and run it at 2300 rpm for 15 minutes before it began to reach over 210 and I shut it off. Not entirely sure if 210 for a new tight engine is normal but it seemed to worry me a little and I shut it off. Now, I'm curious because I've read *MANY MANY* ways to break in a new engine and I just wanted to know what you guys think.. I have plasma-molly faced rings and a 'relatively' rough crosshatch hone on the cylinder walls. Perhaps its a fine crosshatch.. I'm not sure but it didnt seem *too* fine...... Anyways, the car starts and runs beautifully, but I don't know what to do with it now. It's sitting in the garage collecting dust after the first startup and whats next? I've had people say "dont drive it more than 10 minutes at a time, dont EVER let the choke come on, and dont go over 30 miles per hour for at least 200-500 miles and then you can drive it a little harder and a bit longer. Change the oil every 200 miles, then 500, then 1,000, then 3,000 then 5,000 and then 8,000" And then I've had some other people say "drive it hard! Drive it real hard if you want it to be fast and seal well. The gas pressure of hard acceleration will help the rings seat and hold in pressure, so just make sure to accelerate hard and decelerate hard. Have fun with it and just drive it like you stole it" And I've had even more people say "just drive it like you normally would. Don't take it on the highway and sit there for a long time, but just drive it like you'd normally be going about your day" So what do you guys think? Option 1, 2, or 3? I've never had to break in my own car before so I would love to do it right and make it last for a long time. Any suggestions and ideas?
After the initial break in(that you've done) drive it normal with some spirited acceleration now and then, if there are no issues the longer you run it the better... Making the engine work pushes the rings tighter on to the cylinder walls, helping them seat... As far as oil change most change after the cam break in and at 500 mi, then maybe at 2k mi and normal changes after that... Myself, I feel anything large enough to cause harm is going to be caught by the filter which is a good reason to run it long periods at operating temp, oil filter won't be in bypass as they often are at start up(yeah I usually change after 500mi then go normal which may be 2Kmi or one yr... Last one I managed to bounce it off the 6250 RPM limiter maybe 1/2 mile from home, it lived for nine years and 700 drag strip passes before succumbing to a blown head gasket(it'd seen some nitrous)...
I would change the oil 3 times in the first 100 miles. That may sound extreme (and expensive), but it's good insurance. The sooner you get the break-in particles (glitter) and such out of there, the better. Drive it normal. For the first 50 miles, vary engine speed. Stomp on the throttle and let off when it hits 4000 RPM. After that, just drive it and enjoy it. If you don't have a roller cam, use a ZDDP additive in every oil change (not just break-in). Following this procedure, if the engine was put together right, it should run great for 200,000 miles.
Just to add to it.... http://mmb.maverick.to/showthread.php?t=83467&highlight=Break+engine Few ways in that thread
I change oil/filter after break in. again at 50 miles. then the filter at the next 500 and then oil/filter at 1000... the guy that built my 347 (Coupe performance) said he builds/installs engine, backs it onto the dyno (about 50') and hammers it... ......
Would you guys suggest (because i run Valvoline 20W-50) I should put break in additive back in after every oil change? Or, just replace with straight oil and not to bother with the additive. I have no problem driving the car spiritfully, but what about the heating up? What should I do about that? I believe i bled the cooling system (i could be wrong - it has been 3 months since I've seen the car) but when i started it and ran it at 2300 for the 15 minutes it seemed to run relatively warm 210-215 before I shut it off. Is this normal for a brand new engine?
Did you have the radiator flushed before installation? Do you have a fan shroud? (important for cooling when the car isn't moving) Do you have your timing set at 8 to 12° BTDC? All or any one of these can cause hot running! If you don't have a shroud, sit a box fan in front of the car while you are running it. It should help cooling when the car is sitting still!
The radiator has been flushed, but it seems it may not have been thorough enough because it seems like brown murky water is still coming out. So looks like I will flush it once more. But I dont have a fan shroud sadly, a lot of the pieces seem relatively hard to find lol. The timing is set to 8* beginning advance and 38* total advance, which seems should be about right but I could be wrong since I didnt have a decent timing light until after the initial break in. I may have been a degree of two or three or four off when i first started it. I didn't think to put a fan in front of it until after I had shut it off. Do you think these could have added up to a warm running car?
Anything up to 225* is safe but after that I'd be shutting it down fast... No doubt a shroud would help keep temp in control... You're wasting HP with that 20W-50(especially if you have a high volume pump and stock clearances), just creates drag and makes the oil pump harder to turn... I'm gonna be using 10W-30 Rotella in mine, has plenty of zinc...
I have done two different kinds of break-ins. I did the "drive it at or below 60 mph, for 15 mins at a time at each speed, varying between 35 and 60, randomly, for the first 1000 miles" and that engine lasted fine for many thousands of miles before I was hit headon totalling the car. I did it in an older Sentra and got well over 200,000 before I sold it, not burning any oil. In my newest truck, I just drove it like it was already broken in. On the second day, I even did a couple of drag strip runs, just to see what it would do. I have 248,000 miles on it now, and it burns about 1/3 qt per 1000 miles, and still runs strong. So, no complaints with that break-in process, either. On my newest 5.0 in the mav...I just pretended it was broken in YEARS ago, and beat the snot out of it right out of the box. It only has about 3000, maybe a bit more, on it at the current time, so I have no idea how it will be at 250,000 miles. But I spin this thing routinely to 6000, fairly often to 6500, and every now and then to 7000. It seems to like shifting at 6500, so I don't do the 7000 very often. So, long story short...If it is flat tappet, run the zinc additive and do that 20 minute flat-tappet break-in that it sounds like you already did. Otherwise, I wouldn't worry too much and just run the engine like you want to. To be on the safe side, I would run that zinc additive or a high zinc oil (like that rotella) from here on out.
Okay, I'll put the zinc additive in it from here on out. But i do have one more question.. (I'll see if the temperature cools down any with the new ideas [box fan, timing etc.]) When i bought the cam, on the cam card it said to run Valvoline 20W-50 racing oil only. Why would they put that on the cam card if it just wastes horsepower? I'm just a little perplexed why they would tell me to run such a heavy oil. Is 10W-30 just fine to run on this then? With the zinc additive?
I don't want to recommend against what the mfgr says but my guess is they are talking about a race engine with wide bearing clearances... What cam is this??? Running a thick oil with std bearing clearances(and/or HV pump)often pushes the pressure so high in the upper RPM range, the pump is bypassing a large portion of the oil back to the pan when it really should be flowing through the engine(splash from the crank is mostly what lubes the cam)... This bypass issue is exactly why new engines are using oils like 0&5W-20, to run less pressure and cut drag... No I ain't saying we should do same with our engines but a engine with stock clearances using 5W-20 & 150-160* of oil temp would be fine at the drag strip... Of course most of us don't have a clue what the temp in our oil pans are but from a cold start, it doesn't come close to water temp till the engine has run for 15-20 min(ambient plays a roll here as well)... I had a HV pump in my old 5.0 and if it wasn't warmed up real good it'd loose close to a .1 in the 1/8 mi and the one time I had 20W-50 in it lost at least .15 sec(felt sluggish as well)... Learned my lesson, my new 5.0 for the Comet & the 331 for T-Bird both have std pumps, and won't see more than a 5/10W-30 oil...
20/50 is much too thick unless it's a race engine built to loose bearing clearances. I run 5W30. Most people don't know how multi-viscosity motor oil works. Both 5W-30 and a 10W-30 flow like a 10W at 227 degrees F. The 5W flows better when cold during start-up (yet is still too thick under those conditions). The oil needs to flow as quickly as possible. I did my cam break-in with 5W-30 and used (along with the cam lube supplied by the manufacturer) assembly lube on the lifter faces. I did not know back then about the ZDDP additive, so it wasn't used, but it gets it with every oil change now. I have a strong running engine with no problems.
I think you just made a typo... Both 5W-30 & 10W-30 flow like a 30W(not 10W) at 100C, which can be anywhere between 9.3 cST and 12.5 cSt... Yes in the real world there are "thin" and "thick" varieties of each weight of oil, depends on brand... Castrol 0W-30 is 12.2 cSt at 100C or just barely below a 40W, most are somewhere between 10 & 11 cSt... Where one is thinner than the other when cold isn't exactly linear but the 5W should be thinner(actually less thick) than the 10W by freezing and defiantly so by 0F...
