New engine break in

[yellow1098Greg]

Ok guys alot of you helped me with the dam timing once i got the build complete on my pontiac 400 with new pistons,rings,crank,cam,lifters, re forged connecting rods, new push rods. bored 30 over with edlebrock aluminum performer heads and edlebrock performer series cam. roller rockers..hooker headers. Well iv had it all done and running for abouttt 2 days and my question is what are your guys thoughts about how i should break it in? right now its got high zinc race oil and a break in additive that i was planning on changing after 100 miles. Then the other plan was to take it easy(no more than about 3500 rpm) for about 500 total miles? difficult for sure but i can do it. what do u guys think about my break in plan and what would you do? :)......thanks

[Blown73]

You are going to get about a hundred different answers as to how to break in a motor. Some say to keep it under xxx rpm for xx miles, some will say run it like you stole it.

I like this guys method. Granted, its for motorcycles, but it still applies...

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

[Pro Stock]

You are going to get about a hundred different answers as to how to break in a motor. Some say to keep it under xxx rpm for xx miles, some will say run it like you stole it.

I like this guys method. Granted, its for motorcycles, but it still applies...

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

Based on personal dyno results that I've seen, I totally agree 100% with the Motoman.

Dale

[yellow1098Greg]

I like this method myself and i used it with great results on my motorcycle when i got it....but i thought possibly it would be a different situation in that its a old school block with carb. That pontiac 400. as uposed to my brandnew state of the art at the time ducati 1098 vtwin engine. it worked great on that. So what your telling me is this engine and that should be broke in the same way? in your opinion?

[Pro Stock]

I like this method myself and i used it with great results on my motorcycle when i got it....but i thought possibly it would be a different situation in that its a old school block with carb. That pontiac 400. as uposed to my brandnew state of the art at the time ducati 1098 vtwin engine. it worked great on that. So what your telling me is this engine and that should be broke in the same way? in your opinion?
Yes, in my opinion that is the way it should be done. I am a NHRA Pro Stock engine builder and we have seen the engines evolve from a medium grit hone (your case) to a slick hone and in either case they always made more power when broken in this way. It's also important to change the oil right away, break it in with a petrolium based oil and a zinc additive and after a couple of oil changes use whatever synthetic/race oil you prefer.

Dale

[moreHP]

I agree with the others too. I usually will take it easy on a street motor for 50 miles or so looking for leaks and other tuning issues and then change the oil and then start running it like it wasnt new!

[yellow1098Greg]

ya right now i have the high zinc and break in additive oil in and was planning on using that for about 100 miles......so right after i change it.....i can push those rpm's up? also is 100 miles to long to leave that oil in there?

[Yoda4561]

Just don't idle it around more than needed (try and keep the engine over 1200 rpm to keep the oil flowing good), and don't mash the throttle down when the engine is cold. Is this the oil and stuff you used for initial camshaft break-in?? If so then yeah go ahead and change the oil and filter now. There's a bunch of stuff in there like assembly lube and initial wear particles that don't need to be there once the cam is broken in. The particulates can load up the oil filter quickly, and there's no benefit to running assembly lube in your engine oil for any longer than absolutely needed. Maybe top off the oil with a bit of breakin additive if you have any left over. The performer cam isn't real aggressive like some racing cams are, so once you get a few thousand miles with high zddp oil then you can safely use about any quality off the shelf motor oil without additives. Too much zddp in the oil can actually cause damage long term, if you use a high zddp oil like some of the racing oils out there you'll do more harm than good with extra addtive at this point.