Break in period after 3.2 swap?

[ACV1081]

Just going to tackle the 3.2 swap in ~ a month since everything is almost done in preperation I was wondering do I have to give it a break in perios like a new car? It's having all new bearings, rings, gaskets, re-done heads, most sensors, etc... Should I change the oil after like 500 miles or what? Excuse the ignorance, but I've never had the opportunity to own a new car & have this problem. Granted this isn't a new car, but I'm hoping it'll feel like one in about a month thumbs_u

 

[qiksho]

yep you will need to break her in. You shouldn't travel at high speeds or constant speeds for long distances. If I remember right you are supposed to speed up and slow down between 25-55 quite a bit. You also will need to change your oil at around 500 miles the first time.

I just did my first rebuild this fall, I learned alot. Since rebuild I have put 11,000 trouble free miles....and no more burning quart of oil every 200 miles. Still full of clean looking oil at 3k thumbs_u

 

[luigisho]

Since you replaced the rings you are correct it needs a little tlc to get them seated correctly. I agree with qiksho's answer. Usually you aren't supposed to go over 50-55 for the first 500-1k miles.

 

[Tommy's SHO]

You should not rev the engine over 4K rpm's either until after 500 miles.
As far as the oil change, I would change it @ 250 miles then again @ 750 after that, every 3K miles.
Let us know how it goes.....
-Tommy

 

[Off Road SHO]

Were the cylinders honed or bored? Did they put in cast iron or chrome rings? Did they machine the crank and put in over-size bearings? Did they check rod and main bearing clearences with plasti-gage?

Cast iron rings will seat within 500 miles, chromium faced will take quite a bit longer. Break-In of any engine that has had new rings put in should consist of easy starts, no high revving but also no constant rpms. Constant rpm's will give you a build-up of micro particles at the top of the stroke. Constantly changing the rpm's puts smaller rings of build up at different heights that your top ring will be able to break through when higher rpm's stretch the pistons and rods a little bit more.

Tom

 

[Bizzy]

I remember reading somewhere that you were actually supposed to romp on a new engine a bit to seat the rings properly.

Something about letting the engine get to full operating temperature, then doing short runs of like 5 min going up to 80%-90% of redline then giving it 5 min of easy running. The higher reving was supposed to generate high pressures that helped "set" the rings, giving a tighter seal for the future lifetime of the engine. I think it was supposed to be done like that only in the first 20 miles or so of driving, then taken easy till that 250-500 mile break in period was over. But no long easy RPM sections, you were supposed to make usre that the RPM's were varied all through the breakin phase. Also something about getting up to like 75% throttle for a bit then 0%. The high throttle forces the rings into the walls, while the vaccum of the 0% throttle from the higher RPM's helps draw oil up to clean away the new shaven metal particles from the cylinders.

I found the url for where I read this, and it mentions Yamaha Motorcycles, coincidence? Engine Break In

I'm not saying this is the right way to do this, but I remember reading it somewhere and everything made perfect sense. Course I'm sure some more knowledgeable ppl will chime in on this subject.

BTW I would think that a breaking in a new engine would be the perfect time to invest in something like a bypass filtration system to filter out shit down to 1/10th a micron. That first 500 miles has gotta be worse than years of cold starts, right? And who knows how quickly an oilfilter would become plugged with junk?

<small>[ January 18, 2003, 10:05 PM: Message edited by: netviper ]</small>

 

[shojuan]

netviper:

I found the url for where I read this, and it mentions Yamaha Motorcycles, coincidence? Engine Break In

I'm not saying this is the right way to do this, but I remember reading it somewhere and everything made perfect sense. Course I'm sure some more knowledgeable ppl will chime in on this subject.

BTW I would think that a breaking in a new engine would be the perfect time to invest in something like a bypass filtration system to filter out shit down to 1/10th a micron. That first 500 miles has gotta be worse than years of cold starts, right? And who knows how quickly an oilfilter would become plugged with junk?

I should would like to hear the thoughts of others on that method of break-in. And I would agree about the bypass filtration system. Those things are neat and having one installed from mile 0 would sure have a strong "warm-fuzzy factor"! Starting off with a Mobil 1 filter would be a really good idea too. Ever since the demise of the AC Ultraguard filter, the Mobil 1 has the finest filtration rating of its filter media of all the spin on oil filters.

Rick

 

[Yamaha V6]

NO!

Do NOT use M1 or other exotic synthetics on your break in! Use a normal conventional oil until you hit the 1st batch of oil that's going to be in there - synthetics don't seat rings well compared to conventionals.

 

[Bizzy]

if/when I do a 3.2 conversion I will sooooooo make sure that I start it off with a AMSoil bypass filter. I've seen what one does to the oil, even regular dino oil is almost new looking after 3000 miles.

That guys site has some interesting things to say about velocity porting on a set of heads. Its funny that the pictures he has of yamaha motorcycle heads, loook soooo similar to looking down the intake of our heads. He has ppl reporting 6-10hp gains on new sportbikes when they use his breakin method over what another person with the same setup gets following the manual. Thats on a little engine with less than 1L of engine, think of how that could translate to our 3L or 3.2L engines 18-30hp???? might be a way to explain "factory freaks".

 

[speedy91]

Yamaha V6:
NO!

Do NOT use M1 or other exotic synthetics on your break in! Use a normal conventional oil until you hit the 1st batch of oil that's going to be in there - synthetics don't seat rings well compared to conventionals.

Adam,
Just like Fred said, do NOT use synthetics first. I ran conventional oil at first and plan several oil changes. First one was at around 100 miles. I also do not rev the engine above 4000 for the first 500 miles.
Eric

<small>[ January 19, 2003, 11:04 AM: Message edited by: speedy91 ]</small>

 

[ACV1081]

Thanks so far for the informative replies, what is this all about?

BTW I would think that a breaking in a new engine would be the perfect time to invest in something like a bypass filtration system to filter out shit down to 1/10th a micron. That first 500 miles has gotta be worse than years of cold starts, right? And who knows how quickly an oilfilter would become plugged with junk?

Any places where I can read more about it & possibly purchase it? shrug

 

[billyshoe]

after bringing the car to temprature on new rings & bearings I drove 10mi. dropped the oil/filter packed up and headed to Briainerd Internationl Raceway where with 164mi. I proceeded to drive this car to the limit at speeds above 130mph in the mile long straight hitting the rev limiter several times in 3rd on the shorter straightaway. I changed oil/filter after 72 track miles, it used 1/2 of a quart of oil & 13 gal. of gas on the track that 72mi. The car was driven to the max 48 more miles that afternoon. This engine is running excellent after that & 6 sessions 1/2 hour each at Road America I never opened the hood til the end of the first day. 3 grueling days 300 mi. at Heartland Park Topeka road course. This engine uses 1 quart every 2000mi. when driving on streets/hiway. I put 6000mi on this ring & bearing job so far and it is a excellent trouble free example of a stock motor. I drive this car every day. This car has 198,000 miles on it.

 

[Yamaha V6]

1 qt / 2000 miles after new rings? Have you looked at the valve seals, or are you trying to say you chose the wrong way to break it in? Please explain.

 

[shojuan]

netviper:
He has ppl reporting 6-10hp gains on new sportbikes when they use his breakin method over what another person with the same setup gets following the manual. Thats on a little engine with less than 1L of engine, think of how that could translate to our 3L or 3.2L engines 18-30hp???? might be a way to explain "factory freaks".

Maybe Yamaha broke in some of the engines on a bench before shipping them off to Ford? Doesn't Porsche run all their engines to test them out and break them in before they get installed? I think they're using Mobil 1 as a factory fill for their US market cars so it would make sense if the factory ran them in first on dino juice before putting in the Mobil 1.

Rick

 

[Bizzy]

Adam - www.amsoil.com if needed I would sell you stuff off thier site for the "dealer price" as thats what I pay. I think the bypass kit with all the fitting to relocate the oil filter is $152 plus $20 for the bypass filter which is supposed to be good for 25k miles. I think the total they quoted me was like $179.00 plus S/H. and since I am already running the 0W-30 Oil this would keep it perfectly clean, as well as not letting the starter take a bath in oil all the time for oilchanges. Two or three birds with one stone. If anyone wants any AMSoil products at dealer price just let me know, I would be more than happy to pass on the savings to those in the SHO community.

I would never think of using anything but conventional oil in an engine for the first 1-500 miles. Even that motoman guy says the same thing.

From what I have gathered upon all the reading on sportbikes and this engine breakin "proceedure" it seems that many of the sport bike manufacturers will take a bike right up to the redline once it is built and off the assembly line, making sure that the proper seating process has begun. They really recomend a slow breakin in a manual cause they don't want a person unfamiliar to a new bike to go zipping along to the redline. SPLAT!!! But On a car engine I would say it is a different story, and I'll bet that cars such as Porsche break thier engines in beforehand, and they prolly do it with conventional oils, unless their rings and such are designed to be broken in via synthetics. I'd say that there is a good chance that some dealerships had some mechanics that test drove some SHO's for a mile or two and did the "break in" to best seat the rings, or yamaha did break in some engines before shipping, who knows.

 

[billyshoe]

Yamaha V6:
1 qt / 2000 miles after new rings? Have you looked at the valve seals, or are you trying to say you chose the wrong way to break it in? Please explain.

I believe the results are better than expected. This motor has all the power & durability that it is capible of. "Expendable" being the issue in this case. Rings & bearings and a quick hone, I can't use up the budget on a motor that my not pan out. But it has. Time being the the biggest expense. $500 is what it cost me for parts. there is still some oil consumption I stated due to all these things, piston grooves with 198000mi, a compression ring end gap @.016 after hone, relativly worn valve guides, & intake guide seals metering too much oil by, and just plain old revving the **** out of this car alot. but mainly the intake seals. A guy has to draw a line when your objective is making the $300 dollar old Ford produce, $4000 to $5000 to properly restore this engine would be rediculous. Spending $500 is dumb enough. If I wanted a perfect motor it would have new pistons all work would be done in a modern equipped rebuilders shop. The money saved will afford me more sets of Hoosiers & track time fun.

<small>[ January 30, 2003, 07:48 PM: Message edited by: billyshoe ]</small>