Breaking In A New 2.5t Engine

[T501]

I never heard of break-in oil the two years that I was a tech. I was always told never to rev past 4000 in a new car until 1200 miles pass. I think thats pretty good advice. Better to be safe than sorry. Most motors to run at peak preformance until 10,000 or 20,000 miles anyway. That should tell you that all the engine parts (like compression and oil rings) aren't broken in till later on.

Baby it at first then rip it up later! If you want it to last.

[Guest DougK]

Sorry T501, have you built motors before?

Trust me, I've done them all different ways with Cast rings (which all OEM volvo motors, hell almost all OEM period use) before. Some broken in nice and gentle, some slammed right off the bat. Upon tear down they've all looked exactly the same. The motor is full tilt ready to go way way way before 10k miles trust me.

[T501]

Sorry T501, have you built motors before?

Trust me, I've done them all different ways with Cast rings (which all OEM volvo motors, hell almost all OEM period use) before. Some broken in nice and gentle, some slammed right off the bat. Upon tear down they've all looked exactly the same. The motor is full tilt ready to go way way way before 10k miles trust me.

←

Don't be sorry. I never said it didn't exist just that in the two years of tech school and being a tech at both a Volvo and Chevy dealer I've never heard or came across it. And yes I have "re-built" motors before including complete dismantle all the way down to the bare block and back again (not trying to impress , just answering your ques.) As far as the break in period I'm just going by Volvo's recomendations. And I agree motor is ready to go way before 10k I was saying that the motor doesn't usually preform its best until after 10k. If you look at any long term test for any car you'll see the 0-60 and 1/4 times always improve as the car ages(to a point). To me that says something about the parts breaking in.

Any disagreement is welcome.

[T501]

Heres some interisting stuff about breaking in turbo engines.

How should I break in a turbo?

Date: Thu, 14 Nov 91 10:55:08 MST

From: Ronnie Parker <PARKER@meediv.lanl.gov>

Subject: Re: break-in

To: autox@autox.team.net

>Jim Fuerstenberg. writes:

>Since it is a turbo, I would use Mobil 1, I know they do use

>it in the RUF turbo Porsches.

>I break in a freshly rebuilt race motor by 1/2 hour of running on 10W30 oil at

>various speeds, not under load. I then switch to Mobil 1 15W50 and race the

>sucker. (by the way, thats an 'A' series motor for a Mini)

>JPF

I agree with these statements with one exception. That is the use of the synthetic at such an early stage. I asked a technician whose job it is to prep the Chevy Indy's for the Galles/Kraco team about their oil, and how they use it. He cautioned that the use of the synthetics at an early stage, in their case the Valvoline, in a motor that is to see extended service, especially without "refreshing" is not recommended. The reason is that the Compression and Oil Control rings take a while to "seat" completely. His reasoning was that the synthetics are so "Slick" that his experience showed the "ring seating" process essentially stoped after changing to the synthetics. If they are not completly seated, oil control could be a problem.

His recomendation for a motor seeing street/mild racing service is that the motor should get a 1000+ miles on a mineral based oil. He put his pitch in for using Valvoline at this point. This is also 2 oil changes for the new motor, one at 500 miles, and the switch to synthetic at the 1000+. He also said that babying it was not necessary, and not necessarily wanted. He also cautioned not to "over stress" the engine.

I also was told this same story by a Mobil 1 Representitive when he visited my brothers auto shop. His recomendation was even higher, the change to synthetic should occur at 5000 miles.

For myself I followed the Galles/Kraco guys recomendation of the 1000 miles. Not because he is a "Racing Mechanic" but because I wanted the synthetic benifits in as early as possible.

A side note about Racing Mechanics: The person leading us through the Galles/Kraco Facilities was bragging (I thought he should be complaining) that the mechanics they hire are "RACE CAR MECHANICS" and that there was a difference. The difference being that the sport (CART) was so technically advanced that Auto Mechanics couldn't possibly do the job. He even went farther to say these guys were so specialized, (they only know a single aspect of the car) that they couldn't even tune the cars they drive to work. Ironic huh!

[T501]

Just FYI i didn't write any of that just in case anyone gets that impression.

The stuff next to the > symbol was the reply from the race mechanic that "Ronnie" wrote too. The rest is Ronnie. You can also assume he was asking about a Volvo motor b/c everything else on that page is about Volvos.

[Guest DougK]

Heres some interisting stuff about breaking in turbo engines.

How should I break in a turbo?

Date: Thu, 14 Nov 91 10:55:08 MST

From: Ronnie Parker <PARKER@meediv.lanl.gov>

Subject: Re: break-in

To: autox@autox.team.net

>Jim Fuerstenberg. writes:

>Since it is a turbo, I would use Mobil 1, I know they do use

>it in the RUF turbo Porsches.

>I break in a freshly rebuilt race motor by 1/2 hour of running on 10W30 oil at

>various speeds, not under load. I then switch to Mobil 1 15W50 and race the

>sucker. (by the way, thats an 'A' series motor for a Mini)

>JPF

I agree with these statements with one exception. That is the use of the synthetic at such an early stage. I asked a technician whose job it is to prep the Chevy Indy's for the Galles/Kraco team about their oil, and how they use it. He cautioned that the use of the synthetics at an early stage, in their case the Valvoline, in a motor that is to see extended service, especially without "refreshing" is not recommended. The reason is that the Compression and Oil Control rings take a while to "seat" completely. His reasoning was that the synthetics are so "Slick" that his experience showed the "ring seating" process essentially stoped after changing to the synthetics. If they are not completly seated, oil control could be a problem.

His recomendation for a motor seeing street/mild racing service is that the motor should get a 1000+ miles on a mineral based oil. He put his pitch in for using Valvoline at this point. This is also 2 oil changes for the new motor, one at 500 miles, and the switch to synthetic at the 1000+. He also said that babying it was not necessary, and not necessarily wanted. He also cautioned not to "over stress" the engine.

I also was told this same story by a Mobil 1 Representitive when he visited my brothers auto shop. His recomendation was even higher, the change to synthetic should occur at 5000 miles.

For myself I followed the Galles/Kraco guys recomendation of the 1000 miles. Not because he is a "Racing Mechanic" but because I wanted the synthetic benifits in as early as possible.

A side note about Racing Mechanics: The person leading us through the Galles/Kraco Facilities was bragging (I thought he should be complaining) that the mechanics they hire are "RACE CAR MECHANICS" and that there was a difference. The difference being that the sport (CART) was so technically advanced that Auto Mechanics couldn't possibly do the job. He even went farther to say these guys were so specialized, (they only know a single aspect of the car) that they couldn't even tune the cars they drive to work. Ironic huh!

←

This is pretty much the plan I've always followed. Partially because I have a hard time dumping expensive (read synthetic oil) after only 500 miles ;)

[AutoX47]

I run it at 2200 rpm with a hose on the radiator for 10 minutes to start break in of the cam, drive light for a little bit then load her up to 6000rpm, let her decel to 3000, load it up, let it down, load it up, then let her coast for a few mins, then load her up, let her down etc to seat the rings

Pretty much same for rotarys, hold 3000 for a half hour with water on the radiator, then on the track race starting at 6000 rpm and increase rpm by 500 until 9000 every 5 or 6 laps.

And then change the oil and filter