New Engine break-in A/F
New Engine break-in A/F My car was tuned before with a 370 and a rear mount turbo for about 11:1 A/F which is good for here in Vegas because we get a lot of heat down here in the summers. Now I am finishing up on a fresh forged 370 that I am installing and I was wondering if I could just run my current tune on it for break in? I am worried about "washing the rings" I am not really sure what this means, but I keep reading about if a car is to rich it will cause the rings not to properly seat. Would 11:1 A/F be okay or is that to rich where it would cause me problems? This engine has a different cam, heads from the older one and I would think, if anything, it would cause it to run leaner due to more air flow. Let me know what you think, thanks!
I had my local tuner tune it and thats what it should hit WOT. I didnt think about that, thanks for pointing it out. In this case then I think it would be fine then until it is broken in. Do you think that A/F would be good or should I do something like 11.5:1? I have a pretty big FMIC and its equipped with meth...
Washing the rings happens when you drop huge injectors in and the PCM thinks they are stock. If you are running the same injectors it will be fine. It may not want to idle with that new cam, but normal driving will be fine.
I literally just finished re-installing my engine with new rings after I washed the old ones out running it too rich during break-in. I wouldn't run it 11:1 during break-in or any other time unless it was WOT.
Teching In
Joined: Oct 2006
Posts: 7
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From: at the console
Your ring washing occurs at low rpm (idle), because there is too much fuel and the rpm is too low to splash the oil onto the cylinder walls, which is how they get lubricated. A little trick when you want to avoid it, is to not idle much at all, and hold the rpm to 2000-2500 rpm, then shut it off, so oil will be on the cylinder walls upon shutdown. Nutshell is that the washing occurs at low rpm, and the idle AFR is where it should be as lean as possible, and still run well. What it should be depends on the cam overlap, and a few other things.
