New engine.. first time start precautions

Discussion in 'Technical' started by Dribbles, Jun 21, 2016.

  1. Instamatic

    Instamatic Active Member

    I'm sure a certain percentage of these rules are either ones that only applied to older engines, or ones that are based on guesses.

    Nissan wouldn't have bothered with straight water instead of coolant, and the run-in procedure would have been "park it at a dock for a few weeks, then drive it gently on and off a ship". I know things get a little more serious when you're talking about built engines with aftermarket internals, but the generally accepted advice I've heard is just to not drive like an idiot for at least the first few hundred kms, and don't leave it idling for ages. Half a minute of idling isn't going to destroy it, and the rev-at-first-start advice typically only seems to apply to when you're breaking in a new camshaft.
     
  2. bobbs

    bobbs Member

    agreed. mass manufacture don't bother with that kind of stuff. The most they will do is give it a quick thrash on the dyno before it leaves the factory as a final quality check.
    However, i thought easy break ins were for newly cast, heat treated and machined components such as blocks, heads etc, and to be gentle on camshafts, lifters, valve springs etc, and that hard break ins were reserved for bedding / not glazing the rings & bores.
    again, debated for decades and will not likely ever have a definitive conclusion in my lifetime.
     
  3. Dribbles

    Dribbles Member

    Awesome,

    Great advice guys
     
  4. shineyzx

    shineyzx Member

    Sorry havent been on for a while, i was told that coolant can damage a new head gasket (same was as a head gasket should be handled with clean/oil free hands)
    Once there is some heat into the gasket it seals? Up.
    This could be advice for older motors/headgaskets as rob said i worked at a reconditioning shop, we specilised in old school iron v8s (308, 350, 450's ect).
    1000kms could be to long but just dont start it with coolant

    Ben
     
  5. Sketchy

    Sketchy Sick to the power of rad

    To stay on the safe side of things use demineralized water as opposed to straight tap water. Tap water has any number of mineral salts in its make up for human consumption (chlorine, flouride, sodium,etc) plus whatever condition your pipes may be in with rust and dirt all of which will separate when really hot inside your motor and assist the corrosion process by clinging to whatever it can. If anyone has changed a pressure/temp relief valve in a hot water system you'll understand what I'm on about.

    It's generally only $5-6 per 5l bottle from superebaybursonbarnnings and a bit of cheap insurance for your donk.
     
  6. Madcow

    Madcow Active Member

  7. shineyzx

    shineyzx Member

    Your ment to run demineralized water in motors anyway. Not many people do though. I doubt they do in new cars either
     
  8. bobbs

    bobbs Member

    Large manufacturing plants usually have their own treated water supply on site. Especially large metal processing plants, huge machine shops etc etc.

    Tap water can be very corrosive and can ruin their newly made parts and very expensive machinery.

    You may have heard stories of the GM plant in Detroit had to temporarily shut down due to the Flint river water crisis. They were originally using tap water for a lot of things, but water quality became a serious corrosion issue. They were lucky though as they were able to just switch their water supply. Some serious factories that can't afford to shut down have their own water and auxiliary power supplies.

    http://www.autonews.com/article/20160131/OEM01/302019964/how-gm-saved-itself-from-flint-water-crisis
     

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