joshmullins8

How would you recomend I break in my engine? I gotta get it tuned how many miles should I put on it before I tune it cause I dont want it to be an unbroke in motor and have the people dyno tune and run the sh** out of it while tuning it.

shoebox

Running the fool out of it may be the best for it, but you can find many opinions on engine break-in with a search.

maverickmk

I've always used the "if you're going to drive it hard, then break it in hard" method. I drive it like I stole it after it's been put back together. That way if something fails I would rather it fail right away then after I have a false sense of security from babying it. Of course, that is my opinion ($0.02) and I'm sure there will be some others that disagree with that. But I haven't had any problems yet.

jakesz28

I don't think it takes much to break in a motor. While the car is running and your checking for oil and coolant leaks the rings should be getting ready to seat. Then let it cool down and take it to the dyno or the track and you should be ready to let it eat.


Why does a engine need a 500 or 1000 mile break in when drag racers never put that many miles on a motor in a season.

Injuneer

We put my engine on an engine dyno, let it run for an hour at moderate loads, variable RPM. Shut it down, changed oil and filter, examined filter, checked the various torque values. Then proceeded to dyno tune it with more than 35 pulls ranging from 490HP on motor to 763HP on nitrous. Break-in complete.....

After that it was installed in the car and driven "normally".

bombebomb

Run it/mail order/pretune it for 20 mins or something to make sure nothing is going to fly off or whatever, then run the crap out of it. Mine was on the floor as soon as I hit the black top.

I changed oil in these intervals.

20 miles
200 miles
1000 miles
3000 miles.

shoebox

You don't want to idle a new engine. You want keep it up 1500-2000 RPM or more in the beginning.

96capricemgr

This is an antiquated idea left over from decades ago when flat tappets were in use.

Flat tappets need to be mated to the cam. That whole procedure is contrary to good ring seating so why would we do it when our roller cams need no breakin.

You HAVE to have it somewhat closely tuned BEFORE you drive it, don't break in a modded motor on a stock tune.
You are going to want to run it enough to check oil pressure and for leaks, make sure the valvetrain is right etc. then you want to get some load on the motor. I would not go making WOT 6500rpm passes right away but give it some throttle and load. There are procedures available online dop a little reading.

Hal Fisher

I've read and practiced running the hell out of it for the first 20 miles. Something about the hone is sharp at first and high pressure on the rings from harsh driving will scrub the sharp corners off the rings which helps them seal best. Either way use regular oil, not synthetic.

Hal

joshmullins8

HAHA there are alot of different opinions on this. I SHOULDNT BREAK IT IN BEFORE I DYNO TUNE IT?

Hal Fisher

Are you thinking of doing the tuning your self? Not really all that hard and far cheaper if you have a laptop. You haven't done that much and can probably just get a tune that's close enough from someone else but you need software tools and cable that's around $200 total.

Hal

Injuneer

The initial tune has to be set up by someone who can get it close. You don't want to run it so rich it washes down the cylinder walls. You don't want it so lean it detonates. So, on the dyno, start "easy". Make an easy pull to make sure the tune isn't totally screwed up. Then work your way up to a full tune from there.