Motor is built... How to Break it in?......

[180crafter]

Hey guys...

As you all know, I have been building my block for a long effin time now. It is finally ready (Im Not) and need to start it up. The shop gave me some instructions, and I know some stuff, but would like to confirm with my homies the correct way to break in my motor.

I have done it all: Pistons, rods, bearings, oil pump, clutch, the works. Is there anything special I should do for each. I know use conventional for the first 1kmiles and Change my oil immediatly after starting it, then at 500 miles and then again at 1k miles. Do you have any commments on this? When should I switch to Synthetic? Should I drive it hard, or soft? Any help would be great...

[Phax]

Take it easy on the clutch. Don't boost at all for AT LEAST 500 miles. It took me about 1500 miles before my clutch was broken in. Mine is made of kevlar. Your break-in specs might be a little different.

[stiergott]

i've been building german an american motors for years so the same stuff applies. use the cheap *** oil straight of, the 10w-30 stuff. it'll get in there and flush out all the funk left over from the build. run this for the first thousand miles like they said and then switch to the syntec. i live in atl, bad traffic high temp., stop and go, and i run 15w-50s without any trouble. i got a buddy that runs 20w-50s in his s14 black top and hes pushin 400hp. baby the thing till you change the oil the first time, if you dont its like playin russian roulet with a load revolver. dont run over 4000rpm, 3000rpm is like 80mph plus you shouldnt be racin on a new engine anyway. if they gave you directions about how to break in the cams, follow those to a T. no kidding, i seen push rods go through valve covers, you wont have that problem obviously but its a good example. as for the clutch if your abusin it then your gamblin with the motor and we already covered that. dont know how much tech. expertice you have but id go back and check the torque on all the new stuff. your shop should have run it up to temp. and done most of this stuff if they are worth a shyt. need anything else just ask.

[Nathan]

If you have an ACT pucked clutch, then there is no real break in procedure other than "a few hard slips". I would change the oil after start up, at 50 miles, at 500 miles, and then wait until maybe 1500 or 2k and change again. I recommend beating the holy hell out of the motor at a lower boost setting once you've got everything ready to go on it. IE: after initial startup and check over. It really helps seat the rings if you put a good load on them. Its anecdotal I know, but my car smoked like a mother until I beat the hell out of it...in under 10 miles the rings were much better seated and it stopped smoking. I just did a 500 mile compression test last night and got 180psi across the board...spot on perfect I now recommend driving it like it will be driven for break in, it at least doesn't seem to have any adverse effects and it helps to seat the rings quicker before they wear down the ridges from the honing. If they do that and still haven't fully seated, they might never seat or take a very long time.

[TruboostPerformance]

There is always going to be back and fourth opinions on this, one side says beat it up soon as it rollin, the other baby it. I say to make the rings seat, hit it hard.

[nissantuner22]

u dont have the beat the hell out of a motor to put a good load on it during break in.

[scruffy63]

i remember a post that said take it easy but when you get the chance try to go real fast to get the valves(i think) to open up all the way to get the rings to seal all the way around.

[msaskin]

I'd follow these to a T:http://www.mototuneusa.com/break_in_secrets.htm

My friends and I have followed those procedures on the past few engines we've built and they have always worked perfect.

~matt

[Phax]

I'd follow these to a T:http://www.mototuneusa.com/break_in_secrets.htm

My friends and I have followed those procedures on the past few engines we've built and they have always worked perfect.

What kind of clutches are you guys using? I know for a fact that if you hammer on a kevlar clutch by giving it full boost, you're going to glaze it.

[msaskin]

What kind of clutches are you guys using? I know for a fact that if you hammer on a kevlar clutch by giving it full boost, you're going to glaze it.

My take (based on the link I posted above):-you should be running as little boost as possible (an engine I just helped a friend break-in was in a car running a standalone ECU and speed density metering, so we ran it in n/a mode for break-in)-unless you're on a dyno, going WOT isn't necessary. i've always just gone half throttle or so up a hill to create a bit more load on the engine

If you aren't using a new clutch, none of this is an issue

the main point is don't baby a new engine. An engine has to have load put on it and has to make the transition from high-vacuum (idle or coasting) to boost (or near-boost, as in WOT on a n/a car) in order to properly seat the rings.

~matt

[180crafter]

Thanks alot guys.

Matt, I actually saw that article along time ago. That was before I even got the sr20det, and that was like 2 yrs ago. I am sure thats the route I will go, as it is very informative and seems very thought out. Mostpeople have told me to go this route, so this way I will go. I'll keep you guys posted.

Just to get the car out now.

[chillmieste]

I have a new clutch and im using the emanage as a piggy back computer. WOT like posted above is a little harsh on the clutch. Is it better to use half throttle to a certain high rpm? How high should i go before i switch gears? Also what should i set my boost level to while breaking in the motor?

[msaskin]

I would set wastegate pressure.

Also, to do it properly i would probably break in the motor on and old clutch so you can do some WOT pulls. Hell, it doesn't take that long at all to change the clutch on an SR20, so you may as well

~matt

[ItzGenX]

As long as the clutch is engaged and you don't push the pedal, it isn't being harmed. The method says to put it in one of the middle gears at a lower rpm and run it up to about 80% of redline, then let go of the gas. Through the process you arent doing any clutch pedal work. Personally, I would take off the IC pipe and mount the maf directly to the throttle body just to break it in. This way you can let the motor run totally NA so that a the turbo torque spike can't harm the clutch at all.

[msaskin]

As long as the clutch is engaged and you don't push the pedal, it isn't being harmed. The method says to put it in one of the middle gears at a lower rpm and run it up to about 80% of redline, then let go of the gas. Through the process you arent doing any clutch pedal work. Personally, I would take off the IC pipe and mount the maf directly to the throttle body just to break it in. This way you can let the motor run totally NA so that a the turbo torque spike can't harm the clutch at all.

the problem with that is two-fold.

First, free revving your turbo like that is bad for it. Since the vaccuum system is never seeing any boost, your wastegate will never open, and the turbo will just spin itself to death.

Second, the cool part about breaking in an engine on a turbocharged car is that the transition between vacuum and boost in the cylinder helps to properly seat the rings even faster.

~matt