Hey all, last year I finished up a rebuild on my '95 D16Z6 and had the shop that honed my cylinders finish up the top end which included a valve adjustment. I have driven the car lightly since the rebuild (approx 1,000 miles) my question is, should I be looking at performing another valve adjustment? Not sure if there is a standard or rule of thumb.

Thanks.

 

Would be best to change your oil and filter if it hasn't been done.

 

Also, it's too late now but driving the car lightly after a rebuild retards piston ring seating. This can be retarded to such a point that complete seating never happens and the engine does not get the same life as it should have from the rebuild.

On rebuild you should push and pull the piston rings with hard acceleration and engine braking.

Break In Secrets--How To Break In New Motorcycle and Car Engines For More Power

 

Thank god someone posted that, I need to bookmark that on my new workstation.

 

Doesn’t hurt to check them.

 

Thanks for the suggestions all. I changed the oil about a month in after the rebuild (along with filter of course) to make sure any debris and assembly oil had been removed from the engine. The oil change I just performed would have been now the 2nd since October 2018; and the car was not driven from November 2018 thru March 2019 (didn't need it seeing the snow and salt.)

By lightly I mean not letting it bounce off the rev limiter, but I did get on it from time to time without over-doing it by recommendation from my shop. Definitely a valid point there TomCat39.

 

A magnetic oil drain plug for the pan will help Get rid of metal shavings from breaking in.

Your suppose to change your oil after your first startup. Then 50mi change oil, then 100mi, 300mi, 500mi, and 1000mi. Then after that regular oil changes every 3kmi.

Your rings will seal within 20min of driving so that’s why within those 20min it’s crucial to hit every rpm to seal the rings, acceleration and decelerations are very important for break-ins. This is the method I use with my all motor setups and for my rebuilt turbo B18C1.

but everyone will have their own opinion on how to break in the rings.

 

Some good info there K20.ek, thanks. I have the magnetic drain plug, I run them in all my engines, just helps to isolate anything that is in there and shouldn't be. I will use a similar method to yours for my future engine break-ins, seems to be a sensible platform. Car does not burn a lick of oil, plugs are nice and clean, and no smells or smoke from the exhaust. I do have a slight faint knocking when letting off the clutch at low rpms accelerating, but does away above 1,500 rpm or so. Trying to determine what that is, or even if it is anything - being overly mindful of ANY noise coming from a freshly built engine with 1,000 miles on it.

 

I tend to do valve lash once a year or two depending on how much the car is driven. I tend to do it when I do a tune up. If I drive the car a lot I tend to do a basic tune up once a year.

I tend to think I might be doing it a little excessively/prematurely but I'm like that.

Since you haven't driven the car much, I suspect you can go a fair amount longer before worrying about it.