running in an engine, conflicting information

[ollie83]

Awesome, thanks gents. River, once at operating temp and everything seems to be running fine, would you shut down and change oil before driving like Joshstix suggested?
Thats what i forgot to mention earlier, there was mention in my reading that once warm, shut it down change the oil and filter do get the really big bits of metal and engine lube and other bits off shit in there out before taking for a drive.

[1gjet]

I completely agree with joshstix, i ran my 1g much the same and it was great for a long time, never any blow by.

[Billzilla]

That's nothing, the massive one's the Russians built for their underground bunkers (in case the world was destroyed in a nuclear war) were so large they had train tracks and huge rail-way cranes that move over the engine to service it. The engines are so vast that the support people take the train from one end of the engine to the other for servicing it.

seeyuzz
river

Ah yeah I'm gonna need you to give us a link for that today thanks.

</Bill from Office Space>

This I really have to see, sounds most impressive.

[Shifty]

just don't run constant rpm, that's the single most important thing. increase and decrease revs and load, and don't give it full revs until at least 1000km. allow the engine to heat cycle and load in every direction so everything slowly wears in and then build up to it. if it's not run in at 1000km it'll never be run in.

[river]

Hi,

Awesome, thanks gents. River, once at operating temp and everything seems to be running fine, would you shut down and change oil before driving like Joshstix suggested?
Thats what i forgot to mention earlier, there was mention in my reading that once warm, shut it down change the oil and filter do get the really big bits of metal and engine lube and other bits off shit in there out before taking for a drive.

I normally drop the oil after 500ks of gentle-ish driving but there's no harm in dropping it straight away. As the big fella says, oil is cheap compared to a damaged engine.

Also, as Shifty says, vary the revs.

Bill... errr... I forgot the face for my tongue in cheek "my engine is bigger than your engine" quip. I do apologise.

seeyuzz
river

[ollie83]

Very good. Thanks for the advice all + rep all round!

[Rodger]

I hope that any engine built has no big bits of metal loose in the engine. Anything should be very small. If big things come out then it was never a good build.

New or freshened engines I start, check idle and timing, listening for odd noises. Then I shut down and check again valve clearances.
Then I start to run in my cams, as described before, high idle for 20min and all the while check for leaks, watching the oil pressue and temp.
If no leaks and pressure is good I go round the block with light throttle to check tune. If it drives, I go further from home, each time normal around town driving with some 3/4 throttle runs (also good for tuning).

I then drive it like I want to run it, light load reving to 5000 then 5500 then 6500 etc listing and checking.

Takes me around 200-500km to get confident with the engine and then work it some more.

Regards

Rodger

[banana_socks]

I hope that any engine built has no big bits of metal loose in the engine. Anything should be very small. If big things come out then it was never a good build.

Agree completely. Realistically the only buildup you're going to get is from the piston rings as they wear, which will decrease exponentially as you put some k's on it. Its definitely a good idea to change the oil fairly soon to get rid of this, but no need to go crazy.

[ollie83]

Sorry for the confusion, I mean big comparatively. There should obviously be none in the oil in a car that has done say 10,000 kms (provided oil has been changed regularly), but by comparison a freshly rebuilt engine is expected to have some in there. The large bits im referring to would obviously be very small, but i expect there would be much more than in the oil after the first drop, compared to say the 10th.

[allencr]

Here's a decent PDF about flat tappet camshafts & oil & break-in.
http://www.aera.org/ep/downloads/ep1/EP012008_8-16.pdf

Even though we're OHC with a hollow cam lube supply for most engines, there is still a need to keep the RPM's up, but it's nothing like a OHV that is only lubed by pre-heated stuff flung off the rods in comparison, so don't get obsessed with it.

[Rodger]

allencr.

And that is why I distroyed two camshafts in my flat tappet 2T (OHV) motor back in the early ninties. The cam/dizzy gear set heated and wore out within several minutes of running. I could not figure it out for years until I read about this issue and bingo the light turned on.
You can run modern engines engines in with good quality oil but change it regularly as discussed only real reason I see now days is the cost saving by using a "cheap" oil. drive as you wish to use them after 500 km.

Regards

Rodger

[o_man_ra23]

Rodger,

My understanding of the reason to use a proper running in oil is that it lacks the sophisticated detergents and anti-wear lubricants which prevent the rings from wearing out. During run in, you are trying to wear the rings out a little bit so that they match the bore's profile. If you use a good oil, you will prevent this wear, and the rings won't seal properly. Hence the reason people use cheap mineral oil. Ideally you want to use a monograde mineral oil, around SAE30, which is what run in oils generally are.

Please correct me if I am wrong.

[river]

Hi,

I use normal good quality oil for running in and change it at 500kms. Never had a problem - either short term or long term.

Moreso with the turbo, as they don't need running in oil, and the last thing I need is a cheap/thin/whatever run-in oil to lubricate the turbo bearings.

seeyuzz
river