Hey guys,
I recently put a single cam together, and its almost that time for the break in. I have a few questions that I havnt been able to answer by searching. First, I'll post my build so you know what I'm breaking in. This will be a daily drivin motor.

Y7 block
Y7 rods
Y7 crank
Z6 head
pm7 slugs
supertech valvesprings and retainers
delta 272 regrind (crower stage 2)


I've read a couple articles saying that you should break the motor in hard within the first 20 miles. Honestly, this scares the **** out of me. Whats the best method to break a rebuilt motor in?

Also, how can I tune this motor while breaking it in? Should I run a stock z6 map?

Sorry if this is all old news or if there are topics already about my issues. If there are, please reference them cause I havnt been able to find anything regarding the tune while breaking in.

Thank you!

 

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

 

When breaking in a motor, you're only doing "1" thing. Seating the rings, they'll seat within the first 10 miles or so of the motor actually running so you need to make sure there's enough heat to do this.

The break-in method i use is the following.

10w-30 cheap oil, valveoline is a very good oil that i use on customer cars and my own to break motors in on..i also use cheap oil filters for the first two oil changes.

-unplug the ecu fuse, and prime the car over 2 times at approx 30 secs a piece. Leave the valvecover off while doing this so you can make sure oil is getting to the top of the head.
Replaced the ECU fuse.

-Start the car, and while the car is running, check for leaks.. allow the car to warm up to operating temp and the fans to come on and off.

-Drain the oil of the intitnal start up, replaced oil filter and oil and then drive.

-Drive the car, if its tuned, at various rpms, after the car is back to operating temp, get on it..2-5 2-7, allowing for a coast down in gear. When you're coasting down in gear, its building up crankcase pressure under the piston that will expand the rings a full 360 degrees to seat against the wall correctly.

I've broken in cars on a dyno, and on the street, while i'm tuning.. if you get your fuel multipler right, and injector off set correctly your partial throttle maps should be fairly close for you to drive on and get to a tuner.

You should have a local tuner or builder that has a good map for you to break a car in on, and drive, if you do not, pm me and i'll be happy to send you a map or chip for a small shipping fee, to help you get along your way.

 

So after I take it for a few pulls from 2k-5k and from 2k-7k its good to go? I can be hard on it?

And how soon should I change the oil after these break in pulls? And what oil? Stick with the 10w-30 until another oil change?

Thank you very much!! I will call my local shop tomorrow and if they don't have a good map I can use I will contact you.

 

Change the oil after the first start up, in which you let the car idle.

Change the oil after the first runs when you come back home.

After you change the oil a second time, change it out @ 500 and @ 1000. Keep running non-syn oil until after 1500 miles of complete normal and hard driving.

 

TOW IT. If you don't know how to tune ( Baisc tuning) tow it to your tuner and have him do it on the dyno. That's of course after you let the motor run enough to make sure it has no leaks and ect.

Do you have a wide band installed? If you dont, DO NOT try and drive the car at all. Talking from personal experience bro. Your build isn't as extensive as mines but I would not chance it.

 

nobody has mentioned a wideband to me yet, what exactly does a wideband o2 do that normal o2 doesnt? and why do i need it? please elaborate.

 

A wide band sensor will tell you exactly what your Air/fuel ratio are. A narrow band only looks for a certain air/fuel ratio (14.7) and will not give you all the information you need. For instance you put your build together, start the motor and you are running at oh lets say 10.7. Well now if you drive your car like that you will run the risk of washing your motor out from it running so rich.

Get a wide band and do some more reading about tuning and what air/fuels our motors generally want to run at.

http://www.autometer.com/tech_faq_an...x?sid=1&qid=48

 

that was an awesome link, thank you. im doing as much reading as possible at this point, anyone know any good links when it comes to ring gapping? ive found a couple but none that are really clear for ssomeone whos never done this.

 

I'm going to suggest you tow it to a shop around your area.. i see your in WA, speedfactory?

 

Well it seems to me that you are pretty new to all this. If you are trying to build your motor yourself so to this website( http://www.c-speedracing.com/howto.php ) and read up on the things you need help with. Also I would highly suggest you find an OEM helms manual to reference while putting you motor together. Seeing that you are new don't attempt to drive the car. Start it up check for leaks, no over heating, no check engine lights and ect and then have it towed to a tuner.

 

yeah they arent too far away, but id really like to do this myself and get some experience. i dont want to have to tow my **** every time i build a motor, you know?

 

Any real tuner who wants to help the business, the hobby and their customers grow will help you learn along the way.

This isn't a build to just go and learn by, if you do something wrong and it doesn't work, you need to understand why it does not work.

Call up SF, talk to them , let them know you wanna learn how to tune and what not, you'd like to watch. Any good customer service shop will be willing to do that.

 

It is going to be a hell of a lot easier to alter a tune ( after saving the good tune of course ) on a well running motor and see what affects it has vs. trying to get a motor to run well not knowing where to start. That's just my .02 cents.

 

yeah i completely understand that.

so basically what ive gathered is heat cycle the motor, then tow it to speed factory for the tune.

i thank you guys for all the input... i really wanted to do this myself but im not trying to **** away 800$ either cause i didnt assemble properly. ive been reading about claying motors to check p2v clearance, but ive also read about a lot of similar builds and it doesnt seem like p2v isnt going to be a huge issue for me, what do you think? sorry to keep chiming in with these kinds of questions (noob ****).

 

https://honda-tech.com/forums/all-motor-naturally-aspirated-44/new-motor-break-procedures-2698441/

 

Hi,

Have a similar query. Diff is this is a high end build. The procedure followed in my case is as follows.

1> Car fired up and idled at 2500rpm till fans started.
2> Driven in short bursts from 2000-4000rpm for about 6-7 times and decelerating.
3> Oil changed.
4> Car tuned with wide band. But my tuner has asked for me to not go over 4000rpm for at least a 150 kms. Total kms done after rebuild is approx 55 only.

Is this the right procedure.

One more question my engine compression was 310 with a single Cometic gasket and 270 with double gaskets. Currently using 2 gaskets as piston is above deck by approx .020 thou. I ideally want to achieve a compression of 250 and my tuner suggests a thickness of .070/.075 thou. Would that be appropriate.

Jignesh

PS - Car is currently on standard cams, intake and throttle.