Hi ALL, I have used a method to "break in" the newly assembled engine with NO Oil Pan fitted.

The Top End engine is placed onto an electric machine that spins the crankshaft, no sparkplugs, no oil pan fitted, thus no fire.

The motor current is measured AND drops with time, after an hour of operation we find it stable.

THUS ANY DEBRIS will find the bottom tray, NOT the Oil Pan bottom.

Oil Pressure is also known.

Lance

 

 

Where does the oil go if not to the pan and picked back up?

 

He collects the dirty break in oil outside the engine; he feeds new oil straight into the pump.

 

I'm more interested in how he continuously supplies oil to the engine to spin and build oil pressure for an hour without a closed loop (i.e. no pan for the pickup to suck from). Could be an interesting setup.

 

Hi All, I will add that the OEM LS Oil Filter, my stocked Subaru four cylinder filter is LARGER, will cause an oil restriction allowing the BY PASS TO OPEN soon when fitted to a new assembled engine.
My bench dyno IS EQUIPPED with a Filter Adapter, -12 lines, going into an O-Berg, going to a TWO quart canister filter with a 8 micron cartridge paper filter with visible pleats. I learned NOT TO USE RAGS to wipe parts when the engine is assembled as it caused the O-Berg to go into bypass within the first minutes of engine operation, I use a Special type of Paper Cloth made for engine assemble. (no lint)

The electric run in machine does have a tank/scavenge pump/filtration system to reclaim the spent oil.

I also install the Spark plugs after one hour of operation with additional run in time.
I also measure cylinder pressure when in operation.

Thus view this machine as a Shop Air Compressor.

Lance

 

Sounds a lot like a motor flush being repurposed.

 

Basically what I did, although I used the pressure sprayer method through that plug and fed in 4 quarts. Turned the crank by hand a few times. Probably took about 2 hours to get it all through. I will confess I never saw oil out of the pushrods, which I was worried about. But cranked it with no fuel and got a reading on the oil pressure gauge in under 5 seconds which greatly helped my comfort level. Fired it up and had instant pressure.

I agree at minimum filling up the oil pump through that port is too easy to pass up for quicker oil flow at first start. Hearing that some do the crank and pray, and having 10-15 seconds of running before seeing pressure would give me a heart attack knowing what I spent on my longblock.

 

You can ask 5 engine builders and probably get 6 different methods of "proper" engine break in on a new engine. We do all the EFI tuning for a big engine builder who does ALOT of very high end race motors and nhra pro-stock engines and they dont use the method mentioned in this thread. In pro-stock they spend hundreds of thousands of dollars if not millions looking for more hp. If there was a break in procedure that was just the "best" then every engine builder out there who builds pro-stock engines would be using it.
Who ever you trust to build your engine, I would ask them how they want it broke it.

 

So what do they do?

 

I was going to ask the same thing.

 

Pro stock engines also have incredibly different hones and ring packs than a street engine would have. I doubt one would apply to the other.

 

Yep. HUGE difference in building an engine whose life is measured in minutes than one measured in hundreds of thousands of miles...

 

 

I went to the Corvette assembly plant for a tour in 05 when I was thinking of buying a ZO6 and at that time ( might still be? ) there was an option when ordering new that you could spend the four days with your car and follow the entire build and be the first to start it. I did not have that kind of time to spare but I did have time for a 4 hour tour. When the Vettes are fully assembled at the end of the line the car slowly ramps down and off and the tech starts the car, revs the engine lightly once or twice, drives it off the assembly line directly to the dyno where they proceded to literally flog the living hell out of it. I was soooooo shocked at the merciless redline WOT treatment for a new engine as I too had a slow roll break in procedurre prior to this event. If the cars dyno numbers were acceptable? Out the door it went. If not? Off to the tuning area where service techs refit a bunch of things and then back to the dyno and repeat.

I cant say if those engines were ever run prior to the install in the car but thats what how it was done.

I do kind of like the idea of the slow heat transfer ring start up method. I cant see in anyway how this will hurt anything and we all know how fast steel work hardens if your drilling with too much speed or not enough feed the steel hardens up super fast and becomes a bear to drill through. Same thing could easily happen with rings galling up a bit. Local machine shop I work with follows the rule of break it in fast and it will be fast, break in slow and it will be slow. I start mine up, idle up to temp. Shut down, cool, drain oil change filter and take it out for some quick blasts in one gear WOT and engine brake down x3 park it, cool, change oil again, 500ish miles change oil again and good to go. Thats what I have done, no issues so far


edit, come to think about it that might have been 02 or 03. I dunno those years were a blur of activity

 

I watched a couple friends prime the oil system on a newly built motor and they filled a canister with oil pressurized by air. They hooked it with a fitting to the oil pump and one person turned over the motor slowly from the crank bolt. They did this with the valve covers off until all the oil was in the motor and you could see it coming to the top of the motor. Start it and get it up to temp then drain the oil and change filter. Refill it and get it up to temp then start putting load on it. Change oil again and race it...LOL

 

Are you guys watching the water temp or the oil temp? How warm is "up to temp?"

Thanks!

 

Water temp.

 

Actually a good question, though not many cars have oil temp gauges. A VERY good idea for any performance setup, though.

 

What's up to temp in this context?
150F ?
175F ?