Just got my 408 back from the machine shop last night and plan on assembling it and droping it in the goat this weekend.
Had it bored, align bored, crank turned, decked, new pistons and rings. Heads were milled, valve job, and the spring pressure set..... what is the best way to break in the new rings, fire it up, run it between 1,500- 2,500 rpms, then light driving?

 

Make sure you break it in with a conventional oil, not a synthetic, and use a break in additive, or some designated break in oil. before my first startup I poured in some cheap conventional oil in my stroker, I fired the engine up and let it get some heat in it, then shut it down and changed the oil and filter, this helps get the break in lube and such out of the engine. Then I filled it up with comp cams 10w30 engine break in oil I got it from summit. I put about 300 miles on that oil and changed it again, put more break in oil and put 500 miles on it, then went to the royal purple I am running now. I have always heard to break it in try to keep the rpms above 1k And you dont want to flog the motor vary the rpms. I may have went overboard breaking mine in, but I built it myself and wanted to be sure.

 

Cool, sounds good...I've got 2 oil filters and 3 gallons of 10w 30 Pennzoil sitting on the shelf read to Ho in it...I was going to fire it up and run it for about 50 miles, then change the oil... will that work, or does break-in additive really help?

 

definately run the brea in additive in that oil, there is a long list of stuff its supposed to help with, promoting a good ring seal is just one of those things. You know the old saying,,an ounce of prevention is woth more than a pound of cure!! dont want to spend all the cash and then try to save at the end, Just my 2 ¢ I have enough in my stroker to fund a small government, I just had to be sure That I did everything I could to protect it because I know the engine will have a hard life at the mercy of my right foot.

 

i second the use of breakin oil or additive, i just got 500 miles on my new motor. took it to the dyno with 200 miles and it made 451rwhp. the method i used to break it in was this

1. start it up let it get to running temp idling for 25 minutes or so. shut it down and r2 oil/filter while looking for metal shavings and other nasty things.

2. let it cool then take it for a test drive. do not baby it. take it to varying rpms between 3500-4500 and let it come back down to around 2000rpm under its own power. do this on inclines, declines and flats 20 times or so.

3. let cool over night after this, then drive it normally for 200 plus miles before taking it to your tuner. try to keep the rpms up during daily driving nothing below 2000rpms. dont redline the car until you get it tuned.

4. after 2000 miles consider it fully broken in and use synthetic oil and a quality filter. enjoy!

(optional). some tuners like mine can break in a new engine on the dyno, but mine works 80 miles away so it wasnt practical to get a tow down there.

hope this helps

 

Where the F were you guys a week ago when I asked this question? Sigh.

 

Something like joe gibbs breakin oil or get some ZDDP additive. GM parts counter should have it, Comp anda few others make it too. If your tune is good after it is up to temp a couple short high rpm bursts will help rings seat quickly...

 

Im just getting my stroker lt1 finished up. I heard that you need to break in the cam by holding the rpms up to 2500 for 15 min. Is this true for roller cams?

 

no flat tappet only

 

I think the best way to break them in is a nice heavy dose of nitrous right after start up just playing man. Just thought I'd have some fun. Goodluck let us know how she runs.

 

Ok thanks guys! Lol sorry 1sicss, after all the money that went into this build I have no money left to the get a nittos system lol

 

Use Joe Gibbs BR30 break in oil for the first 500-1000 miles. Run a warmer spark plug. You want heat cycles and load, load, load as much as possible. DON'T be a *****(that doesn't mean wot all the time, quick short bursts) when you drive it. Very, your speeds are rpms.

 

actually you want to seat the rings nice and quick, you have about a 20 minute window to do it, after that the bore is smoothed out and the rings wont wear in. yes the car will run good going easy for 2k miles but it wont run as good as it could of. i mean how long would it take for drag cars to break in their motors, they rebuild them in the pits, seat the clutch and rings, go out and run them. done.


here is the way ive done mine, motor is over 1100rwhp,




1. start up get up to operating temp with car running over 2k rpm.

2. Change oil

3. start up and get it to temp, make a pull on the dyno or at the track or street.

4. run it, its broke in.

 

A motorcycle break in guide - but it's all the same.

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

 

I drove light, but pretty normal all week to and from work kept it under 5,000 rpms....had a 6,500 rpm burst on my way home yesterday and it felt great! Rolling part thorottle, accelerating pretty hard...then at about 5,000 rpms she just lost all traction and surged to 6,500 rpms.....I might have to get M/T slicks out of the basement and put them on for a few high rpm test runs this weekend.

Bumping the 408 up 12.56:1 compression made it ALOT more snappy

 

great article, babing a new ring pack is the worst thing to do, if its not right on start up, its not going to fix itself 1000 miles down the road.

 

I like to heat cycle engines a few times before giving it too much RPM. This is more with concern for the longevity of the valve springs than the piston rings. Changing the oil a few times in the first thousand miles will help to remove the contaminants out of the engine from break in.

 

On first fire up I set the idle at 2,000 rpms then reved it up and down from to about 3,500 rpms for about 15 minutes....then changed the oil.

I tried to keep it under 5,000 rpms this week going back and forth to work (roughly 17 miles one way)... changing the oil tonight.

Probably going to put another 500 miles on it and change the oil again....after I change the oil tonight I'll start ripping on it alittle, then after the next oil change i'll bump my rev limit from 6,900 where it is set now up to 8,000 rpms and do high rpm fuel tuning and if its still pulling hard at that point I might try bumping the rev limit up to 8,500

 

you will want to heat cycle the springs but in terms of the engine some guys say beat the **** out of it to seat the rings properly right from the get go, some people say be gentle on it.

 

the people that go gentle dont seem to understand what is going on. its a small window for good ring seat,