Engine break in...?

[A80Avant]

can someone tell me the best possible way to break in the new engine and its piston rings?I have been reading several controversy articles and im at a loss!!

what oil should be used?

[A80Avant]

anyone??

[denniselbows]

it's too early every ones still in bed.

[A80Avant]

Lol!

[Ross]

Hah the good old saturday morning lie in...

I don't think you'll get a straight answer on this one. Personally, I found that the recommendation to use mineral oil was universal... my method was oil change @ ~500 miles for 10-40 mineral oil and the I switched to the 'good stuff' @ 1,000.

As for the run-in, i played safe with 5psi boost and <3k rpm till 500, then building up the rpms slowly to 1,000 miles, when all hell broke loose

I didn't use full throttle till pretty much the end, made sure to vary rpm's alot during the first few hundred and made a point to let the engine slow the car often, as aparrently that's good for it.

Be ready for about 5-6 more 'personal methods' at least!

Ross

[mcandmar]

Thats more or less what i have been told, use mineral based oil so the rings bed in and always keep the engine under load. Acceleration or engine braking, basically avoid cruising at a steady speed/rpms.

[A80Avant]

for how many Kms should i do that before changing to good oil?
I have read that i should to that for the first 100-150Kms,then change the oil,to mineral again,then ride till i complete 1000Kms more or less in the same manner getting more revs this time(about 4000-5000rpm i presume,and then change the oil again to fully synthetic and im done!

Does it sound good?Im paying lots to have this wrong!!!!

[GT500]

Having just run my total seal ringed rebuilt engine in, This is the way I have always been told by many race engine builders.
Use the best synthetic oil immediately.
On initial start up, run for half an hour at 2000 rpm.(stationary)
Use up to 3000 rpm for the first one hundred miles, And most important! you must be accelerating or decelerating all the time, never just cruising. Use the lightest throttle and build speed/revs slowly.
After 100 miles rev to 4000 rpm again with the on or off accelerator method.
ANy long hills, low gear no throttle, let rev on the over run.
You are trying make the rings scrape the bores to bed in, less fuel in there is less lubricant.
After 500 miles go up to at least 5000 rpm, again no boost, lightest slowest build of engine speed.
After 1000 miles. Change oil. Thrash it all you want!
You will know the process is working as the small amount of smoke on the first few minutes after starting from cold gradually disappears.

[A80Avant]

do you have any recommendations on synthetic oil?
so basically it is the 1000miles at the beggining that will make the difference,right?

[Billman]

You mean right on the start with synthetic oil? No Minerals?

[GT500]

NO minerals! only for lawn mowers!
Do you buy a new Audi with mineral oil in? NO.
Yes its the first 1000 miles that is THE most important. If you do not run in properly you can polish the bores, this will never run in and will burn oil and have low compression.
The bearings run in a very short time, first hour. You don't want them in crap oil. Unessasary.
The rings are the ones you have to work on.
I have now run in my two 20V engines, both with the notorious hard to run in total seal rings. They are perfect. THe ABY in the UR is coming up to 100000 since I built it. Never smokes, great even compressions.

[GT500]

I use castrol RS 10W 60 or synta gold. Both seem as good as each other...

[dub007]

I don’t think that the type of oil is as important as proper warm-up and cool down times, like others have said vary the rpm and keep the revs down at first. I know this is a little off topic but check it out.

http://www.animegame.com/cars/Oil%20Tests.pdf

[Mark Halligan]

http://www.animegame.com/cars/Oil%20Tests.pdf

Great link, thanks that made interesting reading

More food for thought from the Total Seal site:

QUESTION:
Can I break my engine in on synthetic oil?
ANSWER:
Though we have seen it done successfully on occasion we do not
recommend it. We have seen the best and most consistent results
breaking the engine in on light viscosity conventional oil. Synthetics
can be used after completing the break process.

[Audi_CQ]

The only places where there is some metal to metal contact is the rings and cams. These are the only parts that needs running in. Cams are run in on the initial warm up with ~20min at ~2000rpm. Use mineral oil and change after first warm up. Fill up again with mineral oil and warm up again. Then drive "hard" (not full boost , but stay at ~0 as would be without turbo) to get good cylinder pressure so the rings press properly against the bores(cylinder pressure get behind the rings and press them harder against the bores).

Read this and then decide if it make sense or not :

http://www.mototuneusa.com/break_in_secrets.htm