Breaking in engine technique

[S2central.net]

Idle for 4hrs - no that must be ****** - glazed bores big time surely !

[A80Avant]

How about this one which I heard from someone coming from the Audi factory? Source is valid, but cannot say mote than that atm.

He said on RS cars they use low type oil, I assume break-in, idle.the engine for 4 hours, then keep it for half an hour at 4000rpm, then change oil and filter and that's it....

Cannot say I believe it myself, nor try it, but hey, there you go!

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[Pirvu Eugen]

My method is...put in 10w40 ...drive on highway at maximum 3000 rpm...as long as possible..then...after 1000km....change oil and filter for an 10w50...or 15w50...depending on outside temp..and is ready.
I change my oil at every 7500km afterwards....offcourse...i never drived my car on the track......please excuse me...
This is my method...i understood that on engine dyno's...is an specific bed in program wich i will follow shortly..God helps!

[Thuppu]

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

[A80Avant]

true!

[S2central.net]

This thread will run for years with everyone swearing by their 'proven' methods... its not an exact science... probably best that we capture the main 'DO' and 'DONT' possibilities that most of us agree with anyway !

[Thuppu]

How I did it... First start after rebuild with 10w-40 mineral oil and new filter. Let it run until engine is warm. Change oil and filter. Drive 200-300km with 10w-40 mineral oil, variable drive using plenty of boost, let's say use 80% of the power band. Change oil and filter, put in 5w-40 fully synthetic, drive with variable power use first couple of 100km. Change oil+filter after 2000-4000 km.

[A80Avant]

Thanks for all the suggestions guys. I'll get on with it!

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[AndyP]

I used this for the first couple of changes and up to 100miles

http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_storeId_10001_catalogId_10151_productId_192901_langId_-1_categoryId_165581

Then I went to Fuchs Titan XTR 10w40 semi synthetic for the next 900miles and then onto Fuchs Titan Pro S 10W50.

[Ross]

If you're using ARP studs then 1/2" socket (12-point not hex), small extension and a sealey torque wrench about £50 if you search online... off with the cam cover and check torque to whatever your mechanic has tightened them to.

The reason JP changed to semi synthetic was to protect the turbo, yes... and for safer high rpm - he also needed to map it which is why it needed a little more protection. For as long as you run with straight mineral try and keep the boost down!

Use a decent oil - I got one from B&Q at £19 / 5l, 10W40 and claims it's suitable for use in turbocharger cars, probably not high performance 400hp+ ones though

[S2central.net]

As I understand it... fully synthetic oils are best for long term protection of a bedded down engine. Mineral oils are better (as described above) for the run in process and much cheaper than fancy synths... all this means is you can dump it a few times during bedding process to make sure you getting rid of any contaminents etc from build & settling process as cost effectively as possible.

[A80Avant]

Hmm head bolts ill need to ask Brian about.

so if i understood correctly, the first 10-20 miles are the most important ones, and the first 100 will cover the 99% of the bedding in.

SO what is it with all this oil changes? i presume JP's suggestion to keep the mineral in for only 100miles is to protect the turbo. Will a semi synthetic be up to the job for the gradual rev rising till you complete the 1000miles era?

What semi synthetic have you used? Any would do, as we are not much interested in the specs of oil as if a fully synthetic?

[Ross]

Read this Vas:

Puma Racing Engine Run-in Guide

It took away some of my paranoia about running in a freshly built engine, particularly as it highlights the 'science' is in the running up to temp and then bedding in the rings on the first proper drive, and after that you're driving style isn't going to damage the engine - it's just a case of how long it takes.

Worth noting, my oil temps got up to 90 on the first few drives, perhaps a good reason to take it easy until they are normal; now they sit at 60 with normal driving and it feels alot 'looser'. As I said in Sonic's thread, most notably the first 10-20 miles it loosened up and then up to about 80 miles it improved a little more.

JP recommended periodic checking of head bolt torque as well, I've last done it at 100 miles and will give another check again soon - a few of them needed perhaps 30deg to hit the correct torque again.

[AndyP]

See the reply from JP when I asked a similar question

http://www.s2forum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=46849&highlight=running+oil

This is how I did mine, like Ross said, you can actually feel it loosen up at around 80miles.

I would have thought sitting on the motorway all the way up to Newcastle was a bad idea on a new engine. You could drop the Mrs off at the retail park down the road from Brians and spend the morning doing the first 100miles and a couple of oil changes. Then take the back roads all the way to Newcastle!

[A80Avant]

Here is the thread,

can people who know of the optimal way of how to, to write it up here?

On my previous rebuild what we did was put some 10W40 semi synthetic, run the engine on idle for 10mins, while playing a bit with the accel cable, then oil and filter out, and put in the castrol 10W60.

Wasnt sure of any other techniques at the time, and to be honest, the engine didnt use a drop of oil up until recently. However upon opening the engine, the bores were more worn than the previous time, and i believe that may have something to do with the bedding in.

(if possible moderators, could move the recent posts on Sonic's thread here which is more appropriate, and perhaps this may be a sticky, if there isnt one)

Use bedding in oil and:
I assume that the best way is to run for the first 10-20miles on part throttle-overrun up to say 3000rpm(?)

then +/- change the oil and filter again with bedding in(?) and drive similalrly but not with the same urge until you get to 100miles, and then start gradually rising to 4000-4500rpm and up to wastegate boost (or up to 1bar if AFR is correct). (?)

what is the longest you would be stuck on the same revs within those first 100miles or 1000miles? Is there a dont?