Is it true that you should change the oil you put in a new motor right after you do the initial startup? I have a ton of money in this thing and to spin a bearing or break something would kill me. As it sits its back in the car and all wiring and everything is buttoned up. One of the guys at the shop reccomended that I do this because he said little stuff like flakes of the new head gaskets, small metal burrs and stuff like that will get knocked off and pose a threat to the motor so the oil should be changed after the motor idles for a bit. Opinions?

 

After my cam install I did the following:

Ran the car for about 20 minutes at 2k RPM without load.

Killed it and changed the oil immediately.

Ran the car for about 200-300 miles, then changed the oil again.

For the 20 minute and 300 mile intervals I ran plain ole dino oil. After the 300 mile change I went back to good ole mobil 1.

 

After a full build, we put the engine on an engine dyno, and ran it for one hour, varying the load (moderate) and rpm. After that, the oil was drained and inspected and the filter was replaced. The entire engine was gone over for leaks and a torque check, where applicable. After filling it back up with oil, it started on a series of more than 20 engine dyno pulls that reached nearly 800HP in the later stages. 5 years later, and the engine is still running strong.

 

What kinda derbis did you see in the oil, if any? If I see any metal I will puke after what ahppened to my last motor...

 

That is the reason to change it after a few minutes running(30 or so) so ya can see if there IS any metal and if it's safe to continue running. Ya need to have a filter cutter and open the paper and stretch it out and look in the "v"'s of the paper for metal.

 

what would be considered 'normal' to be there? a few metal shavings or bits of gasket from stuff getting worn in, or what?

 

If I just put an engine together I wouldn't want to see but very damn little and NO metal.

 

from what i've seen there is going to be a little metal from a new motor (very little if any). The kind you don't want to see is the gold kind! I had a crank that wasn't polished fully in the thrust area that was chewing up the rear bearing. Hopefully that crank company has corrected the problem

 

i changed my oil after a hour of run time be prepared to see metal but it should be the twisted kind from where the block was clearanced and all the metal didnt wash out typical in stroker apps.

 

I think thats what it was, the heads were also milled and I dont think they did that great of a job of getting filings off of them. I know what an oil filter looks like after a bearing spins and this was nothing like that. Oil pressure stayed at 50-58 psi consistently. I think what I mostly saw this morning was just from stuff 'settleing in'. I hope and pray.

 

No metal flakes, no garbage of any kind. buuuut...when we dumped the oil filter out, there were a few 'sparkles', which makes me kinda uneasy about the new bearings that were just installed. looks like I get to have a talk with my engine builder

 

like they said u should c little bit of shiny stuff.

i really wouldnt worry to much untill ur motors startd ticking, then u worry hehe

 

A few sparkles is normal bearing wear.

 

so we're talking about a 1 or 2 teaspoons of oil from the bottom of the oil filter after it was taken off the car that looks like glitter ink from a gel ink pen...this is normal for bearing wear from a new motor?

 

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