Hi all. Ive done a bit of a search but didnt find much. The time is drawing near to start my new engine. Is there any precautions i need to be aware of? Obviously put oil in is one thing. But is there any way to make the process go aa smoothly as possible? Timing issues? Fuel issues? Leak issues? Any other precautions to take be before i turn the key?
I would be... Make sure the battery is fully charge. Dont let it idle on startup (at the 850rpm mark ) Bring it well up into the rev range upon starting (subject to debate) Ensure there is fresh fuel if the car has been sitting while. Stop the fuel injectors from firing and give it a few cranks to get oil pressure. Be ready for the smoke.
Things can go in to over kill some times. Just normal start,dont give it a gut full,it will be fine. Keep eye on oil psi. If you can just spin her over few times be for blast off,its here nor there.You put oil on bearings,rings,ect be for putting back together ? :br::zlove:
Dont use coolant, just water for the first 1000kms. Run in is different for every mechanic. There are very few that say let it idle. Personaly, i keep the revs above 1k and get it on the road asap (under load but not thrashing it) Excessive idle can glase the rings and you'll be up for another rebuild Any oil for the first 1000kms drain it and replace the water with coolant at the same time Edit - if you have fitted a s2 ptu make sure you wired it up the right way. It happens to the best of us -.- And as for issues, if the motor has been assembled correctly there is nothing to stress about. Like madcow said, smoke is normal and will be around for a while Ben
is it refreshly rebuilt? I've only every run in one fresh rebuild. so my advice is only second hand advice - not tried and tested. first 500-1000kms run-in oil water not coolant don't idle it for too long don't hold light load (eg sitting on a highway crusing) - you either want to be on medium-high load or on no load (costing) people tell you not to put it under high load as excessive petrol will get into the oil while the piston rings are not yet fully mated to the bore. Oil saturated with petrol will not do so well at lubricating your engine. people tell you not to run coolant as if coolant gets under/in head gaskets (namley metal head gaskets) they will never seal properly. people tell you not to hold light load (steady RPM) as very light load on the cyl will wear in one side of the bore a little faster than the other, resulting in an oval shaped bore that wont last as long, will leak in even more fuel to the petrol, wont provide as much compression and is all in all not a good time. people will also tell you very different and conflicting things. car/bike manufactures will always say dont exceed a certain RPM during run in period (BMW motorcycles go as far as to have a "run-in tune" on their S1000RR and limit RPM to 10,000 rather than the 14,700 odd they normally run to) I believe engines should be run in at full load, very quickly, on a dyno, (without overheating) just long enough to bed in the bore, rings, bearings etc without being too long as to ruin the oil and cause damage. pulled from the internets concerning general break ins: "ATK says the following procedure will help speed up the break-in process: Make five or six medium-throttle accelerations to about 4,500 rpm before letting off in gear and coasting back down to 20 miles-per-hour. Run a couple hard throttle accelerations up to about 5,000 rpm and once again coast back down to 20 miles-per-hour. Let the engine cool, change the oil and filter, and check the coolant level. Drive the next 500 miles normally, keeping the engine below 5,000 rpm and minimizing operation at idle" ---- If its just been sitting for a long time and its NOT freshly rebuilt: the internet tells me: at a minimum fresh oil + filter remove sparking plugs. few mls of oil in each cyl replace sparking plugs fire it up - let it idle for a min, rev it to 2000rpm and hold it there until your valve train dosn't sound like a steam train (hydraulic lifters) if the lifters are still loud you can try some magic lifter free-up bottled crap or you could remove the lifters and float them in oil until they are bled (such a pain in the ass - they might just come right after a few hundred kms)
Rev over 1 k expect smoke, possibly expect fried PTU, (Should be ok) Run water instead of coolent for 100ks Good notes thanks Shiney
This is touchy subject as everyone has it's own opinion so you will be toled good and bad advices. My few cents: Use mineral oil for run in. Avoid constant Idle speeds. Run the car trough the gears hard specially on the down shift. Don't let rpm meter sit in one position. Change oil and filter after few KM's let say 5KM! Then do another oil change on 50KM and then on 500KM ... you can do as many as you wish Don't rev in to the red line until first 50KM and until you are confident that car is not making any wired sounds/click/ticks.. oil, temps are constant and you feel that is time to get crazy with it. If you have changed any components that will effect the tune go to dyno!
Why? We always use coolant in the first start of a new engine. With aluminium heads and cast iron block, corrosion starts very quickly.
Ben is a qualified mechanic who did the bulk of his apprenticeship in an engine shop -best let him explain his comment before getting too fired up as I'm sure there's some reasoning behind it
Scoffing and making comments without knowing the full story? LOL some quality users on these forums.... Sorry bobbs, didnt know you knew better, care to elaborate why this would be the case?
The only reason I can find for not using coolant is: Sounds like overkill to me. Depending on how long you use straight water for... (until you're satisfied the gaskets are holding out) I would rather not circulate brown. Unless its distilled water, it's going to flash rust especially with multiple metals in the loop and when draining its exposed to oxygen. plus temperatures only going to encourage it
I've been told that coolant can foul the seal on a metal head gasket before its heated up for the first time and fully sealed. Other than this I can think of no other reason (other than what is mentioned above, being that coolant in the oil is a worse time than water in the oil - given both put you in a position where the engine is coming back apart im not sure this is really a big deal)
i would of thought the opposite would be true for metal head gaskets. especially with dissimilar metals, you'd really want a corrosion inhibitor... or at least zinc anodes in the loop or something. getting any kind of rust on the deck surface of a CI block, being porous and expanding, thats going to compromise the seal and eventually lift it. if you're really worried about perfect seating HG on high performance engines, some people go to the effort of pumping hot coolant through the jackets to let thermal expansion settle the head. they then re torque head bolts getting fraction of a turn each heat cycle... or so i have been told. if you have another major source of internal coolant leak of enough volume to ruin bearings, water is the last thing i want on my steel crank journala. any small trace contaminants from coolant in the oil will be replaced with fresh oil as expected during normal brake in. plus, if you wanted to send an oil sample out to be analysed, they will not detect any trace elements from pure water leak. that could be overlooked with normal humidity, condensation etc unless its a huge leak and you send them milk.
That does make sense - I feel this is why there is so much conflicting advice concerning what to do on reassembly... two ideas that seem like common sense are often in direct conflict with each other. I think someone should just ask those fellows who assemble the VR38DETT in Japan. I am sure they probably have figured it out by now
