There were many topics about fully rebuilt engines. Now I plan to change only the piston rings, nothing else.
Should I break in the engine after the change or should I drive strong from the first kilometer. I have read this document http://www.mototuneusa.com/break_in_secrets.htm , where it is described how to make the break in and WHY. Some other people told me to break it in in 1000miles or so, but didn't tell me why. So, if you think I should break it in carrefully, tell me please WHY. If the break in should be hard, WHY?

Anybody did break-in after new rings installed? How? What are the results?

 

Break in
My machinist explained it to me as follows:
New rings need to seat in properly, so follow a mild driving regimen for the first 500 miles-no VTEC. He said that if the engine is driven too hard during the break in period, the cylinder walls would glaze and the rings would never seat in properly. Honda recommends driving an engine mildly for the first 1,000 miles.
Whatever the explanation, I break in new rings by driving mellow for the first 500 miles of the engines life.

 

to just put in new rings, would the cyl walls need to be machined? or is it an easy swap

 

It depends....in most cases it is not needed. If you know how to do it, it is not very complicated. The break-in period after is the worst thing....

 

If the cylinders do not have excessive taper or out of round, they can be honed only. This will open up the piston to cylinder clearance so care needs to be exercised to not overdo it. The new rings need a "controlled roughness" surface on the cylinder to bed into, or wear into.

32 years ago I tried to re-ring a VW without honing the jugs..... it was an instant mosquito fogger! Lesson learned.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by baonest &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">to just put in new rings, would the cyl walls need to be machined? or is it an easy swap</TD></TR></TABLE>
A very mild hone job is a good idea when replacing the rings, as long as the cylinder walls are o.k. I don't have the experience in measuring bore taper and out of round, so I leave that to my machinist.

 

break in depends on how the block is honed homie. i read a bunch of all this and this is the solution i've came up with.

 

thanks guys for all the replies