About To Start Engine After Rebuild Help!

[BlackR32]

As the post says, about to start the engine for the first time. I don't know what oils to run in it for the run in period.

Very anxious about turning the key, does anyone have any advice?

Would really appreciate it.

Thanks.

H

[mikel]

I'd use a thin synthetic say 5W30 or 0W40 (more expensive)

In the old days when I used to read street machine I remember they recommended taking the dizzy out and putting a special tool in to drive the oil pump before starting the motor (ie get the oil pumped around and up to pressure before turning the motor over).

Not sure how necessary this is provided you used lots of oil on assembly

mike

[BlackR32]

I have primed the oil pump with assembly lube so it will make vaccume and pump the oil through, so that should be ok, mostly just concerned about the oil its self.

So, so far we think that 5 - 40 or better still 0 - 40 will be the go.

anything else anyone?

Not having your car for 6 months really recks your nerves when it comes time to crank her over.

[BANGN]

yeh that is a scary moment, i used mobil running in oil, cant remember the weight.

good thing you filed the oil pump up i used petroleum yelly, worked just as good

just remember after an hours run to replace the oil and filta and load the prick up in a high gear

[abu]

You dont run synthetic oil in a brand new motor which your running in.

You run some cheap thick oil. If you run synthetic you will do damage to the motor before you run it in.

The reason you run thick oil is so the rings seat and wear in correctly..

Call an engine builder and confirm! What the hell are you guys thinking?

Edited August 28, 2007 by abu

[TTOBES]

Thats true, abu...

If you use synthetic oil from startup the rings will not bed in properly, it will glaze the bores and be an oil burner for the rest of it's life. Use a good quality mineral oil for the first 5000km and then change to synthetic...

[Simon-S14]

yep another confirm here...

Run the cheapest oil possible.. the fact is you WANT engine wear to occur during the run in process as this is how rings and bearings bed in. Go grab some black and gold or some equally cheap shit and run that... once motors run in, drain it, change filter and run some decent oil through it.

[abu]

yep another confirm here...

Run the cheapest oil possible.. the fact is you WANT engine wear to occur during the run in process as this is how rings and bearings bed in. Go grab some black and gold or some equally cheap shit and run that... once motors run in, drain it, change filter and run some decent oil through it.

Black & Gold lollllll

[Godzilla32]

yep another confirm here...

Run the cheapest oil possible.. the fact is you WANT engine wear to occur during the run in process as this is how rings and bearings bed in. Go grab some black and gold or some equally cheap shit and run that... once motors run in, drain it, change filter and run some decent oil through it.

I dont think thats the best way to describe it, nor is it the best idea to buy 'cheap' oil. Thats just ridiculous! Its not the right idea to purposely wear the engine. That is not whats reffered to as wearing in the engine.

The idea is to bed in the rings correctly using the proper oil and proper driving style. A mineral based oil is best from what im told, deffinetly not synthetic! As previously mentioned there are specially formulated running in oils, but its best to consult the machine shop that did the work for you.

A good idea is to remove all s/plugs and wind over the engine until the oil light goes out which means you have oil pressure up.

As far as oil changes go my new forged pistons state to do a change of oil and filter after 500km and to give the engine some work during the first 20km. Im sure its a good idea to load up the engine for alot more km's but id say that the first 20km is the most crucial. By the way that doesnt mean lots of revs, keep the revs pretty low but make sure you use perhaps 4th gear and load it up up hills. They say going for a drive up through mountains is a good idea due to lots of climbing involved.

I too am building up my new engine and will be going by exactly what my machinest tells me to do.

Deren

Edited August 28, 2007 by Godzilla32

[Scooby]

MINERAL OIL for the run in. i used penrite 10w-40 as it was the closest weight mineral oil i could find.

[mattymagoo22]

don't keep the revs low and DONOT load the engine up in high gears with low vehicle speeds. Ideally you should give the engine a decent amount of revs anywhere between 3000- 5500 or so up a winding hill to put load on the engine in its peak torque range, don't bounce it off the limiter or go flat sick everywhere. Using the mineral oil to bed an engine in is best as it still contains some impurities which helps to take the top off the peaks left after honing the bores. Theoretically synthetic oils are supposed to prevent any where at all that why it a bad idea to use it running an engine in. Its my understanding that you want to knock the top off the peaks left from honing the bores but not take them completely all the way off. by taking the tops off it still leaves a valley where risidual oil can sit and help to lubricate the rings and piston against the bores.

synthetic will not allow where so in turn the bores glaze and never achieve a good wear pattern allowing oil in to burn. the first 800ks or so are the most important when running in an engine i wouldn't use synth until after at least 5000ks.

thats my opinion hope its useful.

[BlackR32]

Thanks for your help guys,

I think I will pick the brains of the mechanics I know for a while before anything, but mineral oil it is.

Really appreciate your help.

cheers

[Simon-S14]

yes the idea is to purposely wear the engine in, that is after all what happenes during the bed in process. During the first few kms the rings must wear against the boors to ensure a proper seal, without this you'll never have a good performing engine.

And there is nothing wrong with a cheap oil for running in motors, there is no difference in running 4 dollar oil or 40 dollar oil during the first 500 or so kms, as the oil is still going to get contaiminated from the wearing in of the various engine parts. Thats why it is crutial to change the oil as soon as the ben in is complete.

As for running in motors... low revs and 4th gear is labouring the engine far to much too early in its life span, your best bet would be 3rd gear and go through hills continually accelerating and decelerating and varying the load via the throttle.

But hey, your machinist knows best

I dont think thats the best way to describe it, nor is it the best idea to buy 'cheap' oil. Thats just ridiculous! Its not the right idea to purposely wear the engine. That is not whats reffered to as wearing in the engine.

The idea is to bed in the rings correctly using the proper oil and proper driving style. A mineral based oil is best from what im told, deffinetly not synthetic! As previously mentioned there are specially formulated running in oils, but its best to consult the machine shop that did the work for you.

A good idea is to remove all s/plugs and wind over the engine until the oil light goes out which means you have oil pressure up.

As far as oil changes go my new forged pistons state to do a change of oil and filter after 500km and to give the engine some work during the first 20km. Im sure its a good idea to load up the engine for alot more km's but id say that the first 20km is the most crucial. By the way that doesnt mean lots of revs, keep the revs pretty low but make sure you use perhaps 4th gear and load it up up hills. They say going for a drive up through mountains is a good idea due to lots of climbing involved.

I too am building up my new engine and will be going by exactly what my machinest tells me to do.

Deren

[Godzilla32]

Coming from someone who doesnt even know how to spell the word 'bore' im not going to take your reply too seriously.

The engineer (John at JHH) that has machined my 26 has built 3-4 RB's alone a week and clearly knows his stuff regarding high performance engines. So yes im quite confident to go off what he tells me to do. Being a mechanic myself i can tell when someone knows what they are talking about and know when not to listen to the comments like yours about aggreeing on using a syntheic based oil for running in an engine. A good quality oil is important in order to not wear other components such as bearings. Afterall the there is more to lubrication than just cylinder bores. A crap oil will not protect bearing surfaces as well as a quality oil does and will not resist the same pressures.

By the way i didnt mean use ultra low engine rev's when loading it up. Normal driving rev's with varying loads.

[Simon-S14]

i never said i was agreeing with the use of synthetic oils during run in. I was however suggesting that cheap mineral oil is just fine.

Please tell me how a crap oil is not going to protect a bearing surface? vIm sure that your aware that when new bearings are used there are highs and lows on the surface, and part of the bed in process is to wear down the highs so that the surface is uniform.

Im a mechanic myself, i know how to spell bores, typing is not my forte however.

[Bumblebee]

i build engines.

Use a straight oil say 30 weight or 40weight.. thinnish.. make sure it has no friction modifiers so the rings and bearings bed in properly without glazing the bores. Dont let it idle for long (5mins+)

Dont baby the motor (u will only make it a baby for life, less power than others of same engine and so forth)

Dont load it too much

Dont over rev the engine. Hitting the limiter or even going near the redline can have severe consequences.

Dont load the engine down low, less than say 3000rpm up a hill..

Dont Boost engine above standard.. so running 15psi instead of 7psi...

Do drive the car under varying loads.

Do drive it reasonably hard sometimes (that doesnt mean WOT and redlines. just like around 75-80% throttle and around 5k-6k rpm

Best thing to do would be to have the car on a dyno and load it to around 150hp-200hp with varyin revs for around 2 hrs and thats all

Edited August 31, 2007 by Bumblebee

[BlackR32]

BumbleBee : cheers for that, you clarified what I was thinking... the only other question is how long must I run the engine in before I change the oil?

then to what oil? I understood that I needed to do so for 2000 to 5000 ks.

also someone suggested that going from mineral oil to synth oil would cuase it to curdle, but I don't see how that can occur.

any help?