Am I breaking this motor in correctly??
Thread Starter
On The Tree
Joined: Jun 2018
Posts: 110
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Am I breaking this motor in correctly?? First post for me, but long time lurker. Decided to make an account.
I recently swapped out the ls1 in my 2000 ta for a 370 (was told this cubic inch by the machine shop that bored the 6.0 block). The ls1 had major lifter failure that resulted in the decision on replacing the block, rather than fixing it. Later I will be taking it to a machine shop to be looked over.
Anyway, I have been researching how to properly break in a motor. Found some great advice, but I want to make sure I understand and that im not going to mess anything up.
I ordered Lucas Engine break in oil 30w from summit racing. My understanding is to start the car, let it get up to temp, and to rev the car up a little. Like to 2500, 3000, 3500, 4000, 4500. But to not hold it for too long. Do that for about 20-30 min. Kill the car. Change the oil and filter.
Drive it around town for about 200 miles. going through the gears and rpm but not going wot or holding the rpms for a long period of time (example: getting the miles from driving on the highway). Change oil and filter. Take to tuner.
In case it matters the car will have these mods:
370 ci 6.0 bored .030 over
42# Bosch injectors
BTR stage 4 cam 235/242 .621/.592 111+3
BTR dual valve spring kit
3"Speed engineering 1 7/8 LT headers
3"Off road y pipe
3"QTP cutout after y pipe
Tuner has already done a bench tune on the pcm so that hopefully it won't run like crap when trying to break it in.
I recently swapped out the ls1 in my 2000 ta for a 370 (was told this cubic inch by the machine shop that bored the 6.0 block). The ls1 had major lifter failure that resulted in the decision on replacing the block, rather than fixing it. Later I will be taking it to a machine shop to be looked over.
Anyway, I have been researching how to properly break in a motor. Found some great advice, but I want to make sure I understand and that im not going to mess anything up.
I ordered Lucas Engine break in oil 30w from summit racing. My understanding is to start the car, let it get up to temp, and to rev the car up a little. Like to 2500, 3000, 3500, 4000, 4500. But to not hold it for too long. Do that for about 20-30 min. Kill the car. Change the oil and filter.
Drive it around town for about 200 miles. going through the gears and rpm but not going wot or holding the rpms for a long period of time (example: getting the miles from driving on the highway). Change oil and filter. Take to tuner.
In case it matters the car will have these mods:
370 ci 6.0 bored .030 over
42# Bosch injectors
BTR stage 4 cam 235/242 .621/.592 111+3
BTR dual valve spring kit
3"Speed engineering 1 7/8 LT headers
3"Off road y pipe
3"QTP cutout after y pipe
Tuner has already done a bench tune on the pcm so that hopefully it won't run like crap when trying to break it in.
Thread Starter
On The Tree
Joined: Jun 2018
Posts: 110
Likes: 0
I can do that. Do you do any wot pulls like that on the street as well getting those couple hundred miles? I have read that some don't even go 200 miles before taking it to a tuner. Someone posted that after about 50 miles it should be good to go.
TECH Addict
Joined: Oct 2016
Posts: 2,513
Likes: 480
From: PDX-OR-USA
Used to get a lot of road race engines engine dyno tuned,, at least for road racing, we started at 1200 rpm idle for 20,
then over another 20 the engine got ramped to full rpm and held for 10.. Every builder has their own theory,
no two alike far as I can tell. But seeing a lot of various motors torn down the interesting thing is race motors get wear in
very specific points, rod bearings, rings, cam thrust and main, I often saw engines with 1 session at the dirt track opened while
we worked on development and never noticed much obvious difference other than the guys who don't spin them hard,
break them when they do and there is usually signs of the compression ring hanging on the ridge at the top of the cylinder..
I always went with ,, ramp it up to get the cam and lifters broke in, then break it in like its going to be run..
Mercedes used to dyno break in their engines for the 190 at 8500,,, and every few dozen engines they ran them to 10K..
Porsche did similar pre 1995 ish..
then over another 20 the engine got ramped to full rpm and held for 10.. Every builder has their own theory,
no two alike far as I can tell. But seeing a lot of various motors torn down the interesting thing is race motors get wear in
very specific points, rod bearings, rings, cam thrust and main, I often saw engines with 1 session at the dirt track opened while
we worked on development and never noticed much obvious difference other than the guys who don't spin them hard,
break them when they do and there is usually signs of the compression ring hanging on the ridge at the top of the cylinder..
I always went with ,, ramp it up to get the cam and lifters broke in, then break it in like its going to be run..
Mercedes used to dyno break in their engines for the 190 at 8500,,, and every few dozen engines they ran them to 10K..
Porsche did similar pre 1995 ish..
First post for me, but long time lurker. Decided to make an account.
I recently swapped out the ls1 in my 2000 ta for a 370 (was told this cubic inch by the machine shop that bored the 6.0 block). The ls1 had major lifter failure that resulted in the decision on replacing the block, rather than fixing it. Later I will be taking it to a machine shop to be looked over.
Anyway, I have been researching how to properly break in a motor. Found some great advice, but I want to make sure I understand and that im not going to mess anything up.
I ordered Lucas Engine break in oil 30w from summit racing. My understanding is to start the car, let it get up to temp, and to rev the car up a little. Like to 2500, 3000, 3500, 4000, 4500. But to not hold it for too long. Do that for about 20-30 min. Kill the car. Change the oil and filter.
Drive it around town for about 200 miles. going through the gears and rpm but not going wot or holding the rpms for a long period of time (example: getting the miles from driving on the highway). Change oil and filter. Take to tuner.
In case it matters the car will have these mods:
370 ci 6.0 bored .030 over
42# Bosch injectors
BTR stage 4 cam 235/242 .621/.592 111+3
BTR dual valve spring kit
3"Speed engineering 1 7/8 LT headers
3"Off road y pipe
3"QTP cutout after y pipe
Tuner has already done a bench tune on the pcm so that hopefully it won't run like crap when trying to break it in.
I recently swapped out the ls1 in my 2000 ta for a 370 (was told this cubic inch by the machine shop that bored the 6.0 block). The ls1 had major lifter failure that resulted in the decision on replacing the block, rather than fixing it. Later I will be taking it to a machine shop to be looked over.
Anyway, I have been researching how to properly break in a motor. Found some great advice, but I want to make sure I understand and that im not going to mess anything up.
I ordered Lucas Engine break in oil 30w from summit racing. My understanding is to start the car, let it get up to temp, and to rev the car up a little. Like to 2500, 3000, 3500, 4000, 4500. But to not hold it for too long. Do that for about 20-30 min. Kill the car. Change the oil and filter.
Drive it around town for about 200 miles. going through the gears and rpm but not going wot or holding the rpms for a long period of time (example: getting the miles from driving on the highway). Change oil and filter. Take to tuner.
In case it matters the car will have these mods:
370 ci 6.0 bored .030 over
42# Bosch injectors
BTR stage 4 cam 235/242 .621/.592 111+3
BTR dual valve spring kit
3"Speed engineering 1 7/8 LT headers
3"Off road y pipe
3"QTP cutout after y pipe
Tuner has already done a bench tune on the pcm so that hopefully it won't run like crap when trying to break it in.
Sounds good except make sure the tune is safe/good before even starting it, and if you've change a lot of things I would tow it to the tuner and have them check over things on the initial startup. If the tune is far off you risk washing the rings with fuel and ruining everything, fuel will get into the oil and you'll be rebuilding again
Thread Starter
On The Tree
Joined: Jun 2018
Posts: 110
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Sounds good except make sure the tune is safe/good before even starting it, and if you've change a lot of things I would tow it to the tuner and have them check over things on the initial startup. If the tune is far off you risk washing the rings with fuel and ruining everything, fuel will get into the oil and you'll be rebuilding again
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I was worried about that because im going to a bigger motor, bigger cam, and bigger injectors. Contacted my tuner who is a good friend of mine and he asked for the pcm to the car. Took it to him and he did a bench tune and changed things within in for the bigger cam and injectors. He said all should go well.
Also a good plan
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TECH Fanatic
Joined: Jul 2007
Posts: 1,802
Likes: 333
From: Wilmington, De
It's a hydraulic roller engine. There is nothing to break in other than seating the piston rings. Holding the motor at certain RPMs for a certain amount of time is for breaking in flat tappet camshafts and is irrelevant for LS engines.
Just fill with break-in oil, start the engine, check for leaks, and then put a load on the motor. You can do so by driving it and bringing the motor gradually up to about 3-4K and then letting the motor wind back down in the same gear a few times, or do the same procedure on a dyno. Then shut her down and let her cool. The rings will either seat or they won't. Leave the break-in oil in there for a few hundred miles before changing it out.
Just fill with break-in oil, start the engine, check for leaks, and then put a load on the motor. You can do so by driving it and bringing the motor gradually up to about 3-4K and then letting the motor wind back down in the same gear a few times, or do the same procedure on a dyno. Then shut her down and let her cool. The rings will either seat or they won't. Leave the break-in oil in there for a few hundred miles before changing it out.
Thread Starter
On The Tree
Joined: Jun 2018
Posts: 110
Likes: 0
It's a hydraulic roller engine. There is nothing to break in other than seating the piston rings. Holding the motor at certain RPMs for a certain amount of time is for breaking in flat tappet camshafts and is irrelevant for LS engines.
Just fill with break-in oil, start the engine, check for leaks, and then put a load on the motor. You can do so by driving it and bringing the motor gradually up to about 3-4K and then letting the motor wind back down in the same gear a few times, or do the same procedure on a dyno. Then shut her down and let her cool. The rings will either seat or they won't. Leave the break-in oil in there for a few hundred miles before changing it out.
Just fill with break-in oil, start the engine, check for leaks, and then put a load on the motor. You can do so by driving it and bringing the motor gradually up to about 3-4K and then letting the motor wind back down in the same gear a few times, or do the same procedure on a dyno. Then shut her down and let her cool. The rings will either seat or they won't. Leave the break-in oil in there for a few hundred miles before changing it out.
How many times/miles would you get on the street and bring the motor to 3-4k rpm like you explained before going to get a street tune? Like I mentioned above, I already had a street tune but after changing things my tuner did a bench tune for the new build plan. He told me he would do a street tune once the break in was complete and that I would be fine to drive it around.
I have read to about the fact that holding the motor at certain rpm doesn't pertain to LS engines. Everyone has there different way of doing things I guess haha.
How many times/miles would you get on the street and bring the motor to 3-4k rpm like you explained before going to get a street tune? Like I mentioned above, I already had a street tune but after changing things my tuner did a bench tune for the new build plan. He told me he would do a street tune once the break in was complete and that I would be fine to drive it around.
How many times/miles would you get on the street and bring the motor to 3-4k rpm like you explained before going to get a street tune? Like I mentioned above, I already had a street tune but after changing things my tuner did a bench tune for the new build plan. He told me he would do a street tune once the break in was complete and that I would be fine to drive it around.
Rings are rings. And cylinder liners are cylinder liners, doesn't really matter if it's an LS or not.
I always run an engine that's fresh for a bit till it gets to operating temp then shut it down and let it sit a bit. Then take and easy drive letting it rev lightly and then I park it and let it cool down then I drive it again and get into it just a hair more then rinse and repeat a few times and it should be good to go.
I've read many different ways of breaking in a motor. Some people break them in right away hammering on them some do lots of heat cycles and they all seem to break in just fine.
Mainly I would say don't get it in it and start hammering on it, even though some people do and theirs seem to do just fine.
As said above, nothing to break in but rings. Lots of opinions on the subject for sure. Me, I fire it, let it idle up to temp, lightly rev it a couple times, and shut it off. It’s on the lift, so I raise it up while it’s idleing and check for leaks. Let it cool down...45 minutes or so. Start it back up, Drive it up the road taking it easy. Once up to temp, in 2nd or 3rd gear, bring rpm up to 4K or so, and decelerate. I’ll do this 5 or 6 times. This loads the rings and unloads the rings. Then I’ll do a full throttle short run the way back to the shop, just for giggles. Back on the lift, raise it up to check for leaks. Let it cool back down, and it’s ready to go. Change the break in oil after 300 or so, if it looks good. Much sooner if it’s getting fuel in it from tune.
Its been said, but many people have different procedures. When I built the Buick's motor, I followed a pretty simple setup. First Start: Get it up to temp, kill it. Let it cool completely down. Re-torque head bolts (boosted motor, head clamping was really important to me) and headers. Check for any leaks. Start again, get up to temp, and go beat it up. I might suggest changing the oil after the 2nd or 3rd heat cycle. Just to get any contaminates out of there. Motor is a great performer. Just need to finish setting up the chassis now.
TECH Fanatic
Joined: Jul 2007
Posts: 1,802
Likes: 333
From: Wilmington, De
I have read to about the fact that holding the motor at certain rpm doesn't pertain to LS engines. Everyone has there different way of doing things I guess haha.
How many times/miles would you get on the street and bring the motor to 3-4k rpm like you explained before going to get a street tune? Like I mentioned above, I already had a street tune but after changing things my tuner did a bench tune for the new build plan. He told me he would do a street tune once the break in was complete and that I would be fine to drive it around.
How many times/miles would you get on the street and bring the motor to 3-4k rpm like you explained before going to get a street tune? Like I mentioned above, I already had a street tune but after changing things my tuner did a bench tune for the new build plan. He told me he would do a street tune once the break in was complete and that I would be fine to drive it around.
Staging Lane
Joined: Jul 2014
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Break in. I always do a initial start and run at a idle check for leaks and top off coolant and then a couple light revs to heat cycle the valve springs then let it cool about an hour with a fan on the engine. Next some varied rpm to seat the rings a bit Then on to the beatings.
The way I have broken in my LS motors with zero issues is:
- fire it up and check for leaks and proper oil pressure
- give the motor a few gentle rev's (not to exceed 3K RPM or so since the motor is cold) to ensure that there are no issues with fueling/timing/MAF etc
- immediately take it out on the road driving it gently until operating temp is reached
- proceed to 1/2 throttle acceleration once in 2nd gear to 4K RPM and let off throttle, leave in 2nd and when motor is down to about 2500 RPM (do not lug the motor!) half throttle again to 4K RPM 3 times/decelerate
- same as above to 5K RPM this time using about 3/4 throttle 3 times
- same as above to 6K RPM with 3/4 throttle 3 times
- blast it through the gears to redline with no deceleration! Done, it's broken in!