Hi i just got a built h22 with sleeves, cams, pistons rods, etc..... i was wondering if some one could post the steps on breaking in the motor? iam plan on getting it tuned but i dont see how to break the motor in when i have to tune it? like you have to drive so many miles right to break it in? well i dont know i heard alot of storys and i dont know witch one to beleave. so yeah i have to drive it down to a shop to get it tuned to a hondata its about 10 miles from my house. well thanks iam kinda a nooob at this one thanks!!!!

 

It needs to be tuned to drive it, right?

I took my freshly built engine around the block once, just to check for leaks. After that, I trailered it (it's not street legal) directly to the tuner. We basically broke it in on the dyno, then I drove it fairliy easy the first day of my first track event, but the second day I was driving it as hard as I usually do.

Talk to your engine builder and tuner to see what they think. Mine both said the same thing, the dyno is enough of a break in. So far no problems with mine.

 

i thought we went over this already in your other thread

117 is correct, the dyno is enough breakin. and some track time afterwards will help the rings to fully seat if they havent from the dyno.

when you start the motor for the first time, vary the rpm's while its warming up. let it reach operating temp, set the idle, base timing, and check for leaks. then shut it down and change the oil. then your ready for tunning, and change the oil again after the dyno.

as far as driving ten miles to the dyno on your p13 ecu, like i said it shouldnt be a problem because you arent running high compression. just bring some spare plugs w/ you to the dyno. you will know if its running too rich to drive to the dyno because it will barely want to run. if thats the case, trailer it like 117 said.


what dont you understand?

 

btw, for those of you who dont know. the reason there is an extensive break in period when you buy a new car is not just for the motor. a break in period is designed to allow many parts to wear in for example the transmission and brakes as well as many other components.

the most important thing during breakin for a new motor is allowing the rings to seat. there are other parts that will wear in also such as cams, rockers, valves, bearings, seals and so on. but the first time you start the motor and it reaches temp, anything that needs to wear into place is going to do so for the most part. thats why you want to change the oil after your first start up. then after running it hard on the dyno you will want to change the oil again. after this the only thing left to worry about are the rings. you want to make sure they seat properly and to do that you have to put a load on them. you cant just drive around like a granny all day otherwise you will end up glazing the cylinders over and burning oil forever.

if you read the owners manual on a new car it says not to drive at the same speed for extended periods. this is because if the motor runs at the same rpm for a while the cylinders will get glazed. this is why you want to vary the rpm's when you start it up for the firs time. you dont want to let it sit there and idle for a half hour straight. im so tired of hearing everyone say "oh make sure to take it easy on your new motor for a while until it brakes in". the fact is that its mostly broken in after you start it up the first time. and if you take it too easy after that you will likely cause more harm than good. ask your engine builder, im sure he will agree.

 

I'm sure you'll agree with this site, for the most part at least.
It's been awhile since I read it though, but it does have a lot of useful information.

http://mototuneusa.com/break_in_secrets.htm

 

well yeah sorry like i just wanted to be sure i dont want to break anything and its my first time doing this. its 5 grand going down the drain if i mess up or something but yeah sorry guys thanks for the info on everything

 

i didnt read it all, but its basically the same thing im saying. you cant drive it around easy and expect the rings to seat. you have to put a load on it and run it.

i used the "drive it easy during break in" technique on the first engine i ever built because i didnt know any better and i had several people telling me several different things. well i had to end up taking it back apart and rehoning the cylinders because they got glazed over and the motor kept burning oil.

that was the last time i took anyones advice other than my machinist and i have built and broken in several dozens of motors since using "run it hard" method and it works every time.

if you have to do it on the street, you can start in 3rd around 2000 rpm and floor it for a few thousand rpm's then shift to 4th and floor it again. doing this puts a good load on the rings and forces them into the cylinder wall. this is the quickest way to seat the rings. the track is better than driving fast on the street obviously, and the dyno works fine too but usually doesnt apply as much load depending on what type of dyno. and you want to avoid spinning the tires as this suddenly emoves the load from the engine.

the op would be best to just take it to the dyno to seat the rings because you need tunning before running it hard. then hit the track if you can, goodluck again

 

to put as much load on the pistons as possible... wouldnt it be a good thing to break it in with the turbo installed?

the extra pressure will push them into the wall even harder... or would this be too hard?

 

break it in how you plan on racing it.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by killingtwobirds &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Hi i just got a built h22 with sleeves, cams, pistons rods, etc..... i was wondering if some one could post the steps on breaking in the motor? iam plan on getting it tuned but i dont see how to break the motor in when i have to tune it? like you have to drive so many miles right to break it in? well i dont know i heard alot of storys and i dont know witch one to beleave. so yeah i have to drive it down to a shop to get it tuned to a hondata its about 10 miles from my house. well thanks iam kinda a nooob at this one thanks!!!!</TD></TR></TABLE>

you can search and find this answer i'm sure...anyway, it depends mostly on the hone finish in the cylinder walls....basically breaking in an engine is allowing the piston rings to smooth out the scoring done in the honing process (seating). for cylinder walls that have a rough honing finish requires more time under less load to allow the rings to gradually wear and create a seal. a smooth hone like is done on production vehicles requires virtually no breaking in. if you can feel any of the honing scratches on the cylinder wall with your fingernail, then you should allow more of break in before exposing it to high cylinder pressures. if it is not sealed properly high pressure combustion gasses blowing past the rings can be detrimental and actually prevent it from sealing.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Missing Gears &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

if you have to do it on the street, you can start in 3rd around 2000 rpm and floor it for a few thousand rpm's then shift to 4th and floor it again. doing this puts a good load on the rings and forces them into the cylinder wall. this is the quickest way to seat the rings. the track is better than driving fast on the street obviously, and the dyno works fine too but usually doesnt apply as much load depending on what type of dyno. and you want to avoid spinning the tires as this suddenly emoves the load from the engine.


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Sorry to thread jack but I am going to have to do this as well on my 98sh in a week or two. I don't know if I will be able to get it to a dyno right away. Should I do it this way (street method)? And also since mine is an SH I can't really use Hondata or Neptune, I have to use VAFCII or Greddy E-manage to tune. I don't really have a good tuner near me, what do you think I should do? The closest tuner that I would trust is at least 20 miles away. I don't want to burn oil again because that's the reason I did my rebuild.

 

what exactly does your rebuild consist of and what ecu are you running it on?

 

My rebuild consists of darton flanged sleeves, CP stock compression pistons, new oil pump, new water pump, and camp1320 header most probably. But it is not too far off stock, and the ecu is stock for an SH.

 

so you kept the stock bore, stroke, compression, cams, and intake manifold?

if so then you dont have to worry about tunning it to break it in. just take it out and run it hard. im not saying go crazy w/ it, reving through all the gears, spinning wheels and all that. but find an open road somewhere, shift to srd and floor it, dont rev it all the way out, shift early maybee around 6 or 7k into 4th and floor it again to 6 or 7k. then let the motor slow itself back down. you can do this a few times while your driving around, the main thing is not to run it at the same rpm constantly and not to drive it like a granny. you just need to get some load on the rings. dont let it sit at idle for long either.

 

btw, why did you sleeve the motor only to rebuild w/ stock compression???

 

My car burned about 5 qts of oil in about 700 miles (because the rings from last time never sat well). And I wanted to hone and do type S pistons but my wall were all messed up that it wasn't an option, since I can only bore out 0.25. I had to get sleeves and forged pistons. BTW I had to get new bearings and machine them to the crank specs because they made metal to metal. Sorry what does shift to "srd" mean? Finding an open road to push it that much (switching around 6k) is not easy around my area, but I will try my best. So you are saying 1-5th gears switch at 6k rpm?

 

5th gear??? dont go that fast, just through 3rd and 4th. or just through 3rd if you dont have the room on the road. whatever you do dont go out and kill yourself or anyone else trying to break in your motor. dont you have a track in your area?

you are fine to run it on the stock ecu, why not just drive it to the dyno and break it in during tunning?

 

also could i use my stock computer even tho i change the compression bore just to drive it down to the shop so i can tune it?


Modified by killingtwobirds at 5:24 AM 7/27/2007