Are Dyno's hard on the motor
So the engine doesn't get the same cooling it would if you were actually traveling at speed.
It's a 10 second run. 10 Seconds! Does my Eugine hit 300* sitting still on the dyno? Uh... no.
After a dozen passes my engine temps were 240*...
And I still wasn't seeing any knock retard, or detonation...
I don't know how many times i can say this, but engines are designed to bear loads, they're designed to operate in low and high temperatures, and they're designed to run at WOT... there are IDEAL and Less Ideal conditions for all of the above. But a Dyno pass is simply another type of PERFECTLY safe way to operate your engine!
If you never run your engine, it will last forever, and you'll never blow it up...
Any time you're running your engine, you're creating wear... heat, friction, stress, etc... But these are all things the engine is designed to deal with... A 10-15 second dyno pass is no more stressful than running through the gears on the freeway... If it blew up on the dyno - it's a safe bet it was going to blow up on the street...
-Dan

Last time I ran a dyno, i had a big huge fan blowing on the car. Now, it's nowhere near as much air blowing by, but my engine temperatures weren't magically higher. In fact, for some reason, my engine still ran at the same temperature on the dyno as it does on the street! But how is that possible?
So my intake got some warmer air and i lost some HP, that happens every time the some comes out... not a big deal. And yeah - It'll get pretty hot if you make back to back pulls... but even after LITERALLY a dozen back to back pulls i made trying to diagnose a problem, i only lost about 15-20hp from breathing in hot air... and my engine temperatures were WELL within the bounds of safe.
So, tell us, what "Adequate Cooling" would you suggest? I wonder if the industry of Automotive tuners and professionals are aware that their dyno's are unsafe, and they're putting lots of unnecessary wear on Engines from "Inadequate Cooling"
You don't genuinely believe that a couple pulls on a dyno gets a N2O or FI engine to a higher temperature, or an unsafe temperature than it would during a drag race, or road race... If it does - you're engine needs a better coolant system...
Why would you think that? You don't think NA engines get hot?
What I am saying is that is crap. I'll say it again. It's simply another perfectly safe way to operate an engine. It's been around for a long time, it'll continue to be around, and it's no more or less likely to blow up your engine than any other kind of WOT driving...
If your engine overheats and blows up on a dyno from breathing HOT AIR or from Baking in high temperatures. You better pray you live in Canada, because otherwise, the next summer day you floor it, things are going to grenade...
-Dan
Chew on this:
Millions of cars get put on the dyno EVERY YEAR. You know what for? Emissions testing! Ever see how they do it? They put your car on a dyno, put a LOAD on your engine, and floor it and run your car up through the RPMS. They instead of getting horsepower readings, they get emissions readings through your RPM range. This is done at full throttle, and under light throttle to ensure that your car is running properly.
Average cars are put through this stress test all the time, every year, constantly. People's cars aren't blowing up during emissions testing. And yes, these dynos operate in the same manner as the ones at your local speed shop.
Also, if you take a look at ANY car manufacturing operation, they dyno cars before they leave the factory. Yes, thats right, your car has likely been put on the dyno already. If this was really SO bad for your car, you think that GM, Ford, Chrysler, Honda, Toyota, BMW, Mercedes, VW, etc, etc, etc would be doing it? I don't think so.
I even ran my car on a dyno with over 275,000 miles on the 24 year old motor. Ran it through 3 dyno pulls, and now the motor has over 300,000 on it. Didn't do a damn thing to it.
Dynos are not hard on your car, don't fall victim to the bullcrap.
Get what I'm saying?
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Last edited by scottHMT; Oct 11, 2007 at 01:48 PM.
Saying a dyno is harmful on your engine because when someone makes back to back to back passes to redline with no fan and 100 shot of nitrous is as twisted as saying "Reving your engine is bad for it, because i bounced mine off the rev limiter for 20 hours and it grenaded..."
I mean, be serious... you can't blame extreme **** like that on the dyno...
-Dan

So you ran a 100 shot of nitrous on your car, and think it's the fault of the dyno? You know what puts stress on an engine? Nitrous! That puts direct stress on the internals of the engine. Absolutely more stressful than a dyno.
Also, If your water temps got high enough to warp your head and blow a gasket, your dyno operator probably should have been watching the temp gauge. Again, not the fault of the dyno, but the fault of mis-operated equipment.
your engine is what produces the load. a dyno simply resists the load your motor is putting out. so NO a dyno can not hurt your motor anymore than the pavement can.



