Re: How would you break in a rebuilt engine??
Thanks guys for all your posts! The way it is going to go down is a combination of all!<br /><br />First let me say that there is a difference in this type of car only in that they do not get driven like your family car! These cars are lucky to get driven 500 miles a year and some less than 100! Therefor they need to be broken in as fast as possable as they may never get 10,000 mile on them in a lifetime! This particular engine has about 25 miles on it already with the cam breakin procedure done and enough miles on it to get the timing right and make sure there are no leaks or strange noises! So with that said here is whats going to happen!<br /><br />The oil was just changed, the crappy Fram filter replaced with a Napa Gold, Straight 30WT oil added, car will be taken out on the highway and brought up to temp, then left in third gear, (five speed) RPMs brought up to 2,500 then floored to 5,000 then let off to 2,500, then floored to 5,000, this will be repeated for any where from 10-20 times depending on the trafic! What this does is when you step on it, is washes the oil away from the cylinders and lets the rings come in contact with the cylinders to initiate break in, then when you let off it allows the oil to wash the particals away and lubes things up again! When this is done Ill take the car back and change the oil to synthetic and change the filter! Thats all the breakin this car will ever get! Is it really broken in all the way?? NO, But it never will be! The reason for synthetic is that the oil in these cars will not get changed every year and the oil I use has a High TBN rating which means that it will be protected from oxidation while sitting! Also synthetics have no sulpher content which keeps acids from forming in the oil! They do get started and run up to temp at least every month all year long, which isnt the best practice as it would be better to drive them, but at least it gets oil splashed around and the seals lubed up!<br /><br />I also hone the cylinders as fine as posable, which is the way the new engines coming from the new car manufacturers are done! That is why (Ive found out) That they can get away with installing synthetics from the factory on some new cars! <br /><br />Snapperbait has a good point on the ATF when installing the pistons! Used to be we always coated the cyliders with oil and poured a generous helping of oil on the pistons and rings before installing them, now however we want the rings to come onto contact with the cylinders as soon as possable to help with break-in!<br /><br />Also, Ive discovered that you can sometimes stop a new car with less than 10,000 miles on it from using oil by following the procedure above! I did it with a mazda P/U my dad had! It was using oil like crazy when new, he was having to add a quart every 1,000 miles! I borrowed it one day and ran the H*ll out of it for about an hour, then took in to a jiffy lube (Yuk) and had the oil changed! I took it back to him and never told him what I did! A few months went by and he said, " ya know, the truck hasnt used any oil sence you barrowed it the other day" I just said, " hmmmm"!<br /><br />LubeDude
