break in methods

[gtrjon]

Hey guys so as my build comes to an end im researching different break in methods. i know everyone has their own method that they swear by but just trying to get some different perspectives. so what do you guys do for your break ins? how many miles? hard or solf? what oil do you run?

[hozer]

Drive softly and try to run a decent rev range; vary your speed and revs as often as possible. And if you do give it a pull (gonna be irresistable... trust me :P) every now and then, you'll be fine really.

Run regular mineral oil for the first 1000km and change it every 200km, then switch to synthetic. Synthetic off the start doesnt allow for enough wear on new parts and taking off the imperfections of bored cylinder etc..

Wouldnt really "drive" the car till a couple thousand km at least. My tuner wouldn't even dyno it till 5000km

[gtrjon]

Wouldnt really "drive" the car till a couple thousand km at least. My tuner wouldn't even dyno it till 5000km[/QUOTE]

really?? i was just gna hit 1000km then do the oil change to synthetic then dyno!... gna have the break in tune with 1bar of boost and 6k limiter

[Black BNR32]

in my inexperienced opinion, the most important part is to change the oil right after the first time you bring it up to temp. a magnetic oil drain is a good idea.

[cobrAA]

Well our local tuner will break in the engine on the dyno lol

[hozer]

Well our local tuner will break in the engine on the dyno lol

This is not a good idea... Awful actually.

As for the 5000km thing, I really do believe thats a strecth, but I would drive at least 1000km (which it seems you plan to do).

The essential idea of your break in is to:
Seat all you seals and gaskets
'Wear' out the impurities and imperfections left on the machine internals.
have something fail while you are driving like a little bi1ch instead of exploding on the dyno.

First 2 are important, 3rd is upto your comfort zone/level

I wouldn't personally trust a GT-R on a dyno with new everything till a couple thousand km. I had my fuel pump fail, oil relocation kit piece fail, and various other problems within the first couple thousand. Bunk pieces that in the event they had hit dyno probably would have cost me a lot more. This however is just my personal preference/recommendation

[evilgtr]

Lots of valid points, like cobraa says iv met tuners that the break in happens on the dyno then straight to the tune. There is no set required km's. The most important thing is make sure your compression is within a few psi from cylinder to cylinder. This is a clear indication that all your rings and valve train have seated equally. After that tune away.

I had the shop that built my motor break my engine in to, they waste gates were unhooked and the car was drove around downtown Vancouver which provided all different driving conditions. Frequent compression tests were done along the way and I believe is was somewhere around 600km before it was ready to tune

[GTRADDICT]

This is what Rob from RIPS said... hit em pretty hard after you have done a 3-5 minute warm up and cool down from the initial start up, just so you can check for leaks and bleed the cooling system properly etc.

I usually do 20-30 minutes then change the oil to the same running in oil, then do another 30-45 minutes getting up to around 3/4 power and around 1500-2000rpm off peek.

Then change the oil to the good stuff and go for it.

Me speaking now... You want pressure on the rings. So you need some boost and some vacuum. No cruise controle type driving. I would set de rev limiter to around 5k-5.5k at the most... You only want boost not so much the rev. I would do that for <1000Km then go for the full tune. It's your machine your choice. But it has to see boost or some load (N/A engines) at least. Do baby the fawk out of it... your rings will never seal right and your comp will prob. be low

And for god sakes... Make sure everything is tight!

[Skym]

Nismo does it with engine on engine dyno and tune, engine in the car and tune checked on hub dyno, road tune / check.

It's mentioned on their website -

http://www.nismo.co.jp/omori_factory/news_list/news_1012.html

You'll need a translator if browser doesn't automatically translate it.

As far as I know, racecar teams do it the same way as Nismo does it, but last step is on racetrack, not road.

I think why a engine dyno is used, because you can hold at constant rpm for a long period, as shown in this videoclip -

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YXMLJv_p9jo

On road you won't be able to hold engine at constant rpm for a long period of time hence engine dyno is best, safer.

[GTRADDICT]

Nismo does it with engine on engine dyno and tune, engine in the car and tune checked on hub dyno, road tune / check.

It's mentioned on their website -

http://www.nismo.co.jp/omori_factory/news_list/news_1012.html

You'll need a translator if browser doesn't automatically translate it.

As far as I know, racecar teams do it the same way as Nismo does it, but last step is on racetrack, not road.

I think why a engine dyno is used, because you can hold at constant rpm for a long period, as shown in this videoclip -

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YXMLJv_p9jo

On road you won't be able to hold engine at constant rpm for a long period of time hence engine dyno is best, safer.

If you are at constant RPM there is no load on the rings so therefore less force and the rings to pop them outwards (Ring applying pressure on cylinder) Meaby it's just me.

[collector240sx]

If you are at constant RPM there is no load on the rings so therefore less force and the rings to pop them outwards (Ring applying pressure on cylinder) Meaby it's just me.

I would think that the dyno would be nice because when putting load trough the gears, it pretty easy to reach speed well above what is permitted when your messing with the 2 last one. lol

The way I was thought is make sure everything ready before you first start it, the first time you start it, you want to be able to bring it up to temp, with NO LOAD, then change the oil. Using the first 3 gears you moderately accelerate to 3k going trough the gears, then you slow the car by compression 20-30 time, then repeat but to 3.5k, then to 4k. Then I would change the oil again. Then start over to 3k but in fourth gear giving it a little more gas, same thing move to 3.5k than to 4k, 4.5k, 5k, ...... till it gets to were ever you set the red line at. Oil change again same regular conventional oil,I would keep it for anywhere between an other 1k-3k, than switch to synthetic. For me I would take a whole day maybe even two to do this, some might do it in half a day. But like it's been said before nothing like taking a compression test to tell you if what you did actually worked well. I'm not saying it's the best way, but it's the way I use and I have NEVER had en engine blow up on me and all had good comp. But then again I don't play any symphony with the rev limiter and change the oil before 3k on all my cars except the sentra I wait till 5k or the when the oil start to turn brown, not black lol. The engine in the girlfriends 240sx has at least 450k, it went from being in my s13 auto to being standard to her car being auto again. lol The engine has about 3 time the miles than the actual car which only has around 155k. And I can genuinely assure you those 450k where not anywhere near gentle, I beat on it daily and even more now since the torque convertor has been slowly going in the last 20k or so, as well has the 3 and 4 gear clutch. So I floor it or manually shift it so doesn't have to slooooowly change into third and overdrive. lol No point in changing it since there's a RB25 waiting to go in

1 thing to point out if you have an untuned ECU on an modified engine, I would not suggest to redline it before it gets tuned, that'a a given, but then again you might run it rich to brake it in, and if you do It would be a good idea to change the oil even more often since there is probably going to be a portion of the unburned gas thats going to make it's way to the oil while the rings aren't sealing properly.

BTW why is it that I have never seen tapered top ring like in diesel engine in regular gas engine. I know it's not something that is needed, but still, it's one of the main reason diesel can run for so long.

[gtrjon]

wealth of info guys! this should be a sticky possibilty? anyway i plan on using a combination of the suggestions on here with about 3 oil changes with mineral oil before switching to amsoil synthetic. i will be doing somewhere between 600-1000km break in then driving straight to the dyno. i will also be doing a few compression tests along the way. i am going to document my entire break in step by step with compression tests and the dyno results and will post about it! thanks boys

[DreadedFist]

It isn't 1972 anymore. Don't drive like a ***** during break in, it will do more harm than good. Use specially formulated break in oil, and make sure oiling system is primed before starting engine for the first time. Change oil after first 30 minutes of running. When you start it, don't let it idle, vary the rpm's up and down for the first 30 minutes.

When you drive it, do medium to high load pulls and don't use the brakes to slow the car down, let the engine do that. Don't maintain a cruising rpm, constantly vary the engine speed and load and again, let the engine do the slowing down, not the brakes. Change the oil again.

I'd put money down in saying that a modern engine build using modern engine internals (that are vastly better than they were during the easy break in era, in both materials and quality) will benefit significantly better with a medium to hard break in done properly, when compared to a grandma break in.

The key, really, is just change the oil. I shudder to think how many brand new cars off the lot suffer tons of wear in the first 5000km's because "i shouldn't need to change the oil that quickly!" :P

[M13]

http://www.mototuneusa.com/break_in_secrets.htm

[Skym]

That engine dyno videoclip was only part of what they go through when breaking engine in on engine dyno.

Reving up and down for set period after starting engine breaks-in the cams, etc. The procedure is mentioned here -

http://www.kelford.co.nz/flat-tappet-cam-break-in