Break in procedure

[Ricko1966]

Use a Zinc additive in your oil. Especially important for the flat tappet cam. The oil we have today does not have zinc.

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Rotella 15w40 does that's why it's all I run.Have been for years, got that info from I think it was the shell oil hotlinecwhen I was building a BB chevelle and was worried, big cam, stiff springs no DZZP so I was paranoid.BTW STP will not tell you the DZZP content of their oil additive all they will say is yes it contains DZZP so I won't use it.It may have 1/2 a gram in 10000 gallons for all we know.

 

[Matt69olds]

Like so many other oils, the zinc level has been reduced in the Rotella oil. Either use dedicated break in oil, or a break in attitude.

I would run the engine on plain water during break-in. Put a garden hose down the radiator filler neck as far as possible, leave the drain open on the radiator, and turn on the hose just enough to keep the radiator full. Doing this ensures the radiator is full of cold water, ensuring it won’t overheat.

I have heard some people overfill the engine with a couple extra quarts of oil. The theory overfilling the engine will ensure the crank counterweights will splash oil onto the camshaft. Since the engine isn’t under any load, the oil aerating isn’t a concern. Obviously I wouldn’t run the engine long term like that, but during break in it would be fine.


It’s easy to set initial timing exactly where you want it without starting the engine. Make sure the engine is on the compression stroke, slowly rotate the crank in the direction it normally spins until the timing mark reads your desired setting. Remove the distributor cap, make sure the rotor is pointing to the number one plug terminal. Loosen the distributor, slowly rotate the distributor until the teeth on the pickup coil and the pole piece are aligned. Tighten the distributor and reassemble.

It’s easy to make sure the distributor is installed correctly. Once the engine is static timed, reassemble the cap and wires but leave the distributor loose. Install a spark tester or grounded old spark plug in the number one plug wire. Turn on the ignition, but don’t crank the engine. Rotate the distributor by hand, every time the pickup coil and pole piece line up and then move out of alignment, you should see a spark at the spark tester. If not, the distributor, crank, or firing order is messed up. Once your sure it’s correct, line up the pole/pickup coil at tighten the distributor.

If you do this correctly, when you put a timing light on it you will find the timing is almost perfectly set at whatever your desired setting is. I say almost because the slack in the timing chain and distributor gear/cam backlash will have a small effect. But it’s much more accurate that just guessing and hoping for the best.

 

[DoubleDingo]

may i ask a question what if you are unable to let it run for 20 min. ?

Then wait until you can

 

[DoubleDingo]

Also, once broke-in, make sure you do long heat cycles to further harden the camshaft. I have shared this story before, but you may not have read it. In 2017 I was getting married in Texas. I had some heads reworked, and while they were being worked on I replaced the camshaft, and resealed the engine.

One thing I do before loosening the the distributor is get the rotor pointing to #1, and the mark on the dampener to be at zero on the timing tab. I then take a pencil and lay it across the top of the rotor, making sure it is centered on the top of the rotor, and in-line with #1 as well, and mark the firewall. Then I mark at least two or three spots on the side of the rotor and distributor body that are in-line with each other. Having more than one mark on the side of the rotor and distributor is easier to match-up. This way it doesn't matter what you do to the engine. You can get the distributor back in exactly like it was before removing it, and the timing will be spot on because you have all the marks to line everything back up.

Back to the story. Got the heads back, engine assembled, broke in the camshaft. Didn't have time to road test. I only got about an hour's worth of time driving around town to make sure any leaks were taken care of, etc. Got back home, changed the oil and filter, and loaded up and off to Texas. My road test was a 4,000 mile round trip. Truck did great, cam got nice long heat cycles, and it runs like a champ to this day on conventional Valvoline 10w30.

 

[Bextreme04]

Use 30w break in oil for the first cam break-in and initial few hundred miles. This is the oil I'm using in my 454 for initial break-in. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00INXYZH0/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Here's the Chevrolet performance guidance on their crate engine break-in procedure. It pretty well lines up with what everyone else has said. 2000-2500rpm for 30 minutes. https://paceperformance.com/p-3978-gm-crate-engine-start-up-procedure.html

There's also some good guidance for engine break-in to help with ring seating after the initial cam break-in.

 

[jake wells]

Use 30w break in oil for the first cam break-in and initial few hundred miles. This is the oil I'm using in my 454 for initial break-in. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00INXYZH0/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Here's the Chevrolet performance guidance on their crate engine break-in procedure. It pretty well lines up with what everyone else has said. 2000-2500rpm for 30 minutes. https://paceperformance.com/p-3978-gm-crate-engine-start-up-procedure.html

There's also some good guidance for engine break-in to help with ring seating after the initial cam break-in.

^^^ THIS!!
use break in oil

 

[Bextreme04]

Rotella 15w40 does that's why it's all I run.Have been for years, got that info from I think it was the shell oil hotlinecwhen I was building a BB chevelle and was worried, big cam, stiff springs no DZZP so I was paranoid.BTW STP will not tell you the DZZP content of their oil additive all they will say is yes it contains DZZP so I won't use it.It may have 1/2 a gram in 10000 gallons for all we know.

The diesel oils no longer have the high zinc content. You need to make sure you read the specs for the specific oil you are using to make sure it has enough. The Rotella T4 15w-40 actually does better than most with about 1100ppm of zinc and 1000ppm of phosphorous https://pqia.org/shell-rotella-t4-sae-15w-40-heavy-duty-diesel-engine-oil/, but depending on the source most places say 1000ppm is the absolute safe minimum and that you really want between 1300-1600ppm.

I've been using the Mobil 1 15w50 for a while now and really like it. You can get it for a few bucks more than the Rotella at Wally world and it is full synthetic designed for use in flat tappet applications with claimed levels of 1300ppm of zinc and 1200ppm of phosphorous.

 

[mtnmankev]

I run rotella 15 40 always not just for break in. I also change my oil hot after breaking in the cam, yep it's kind of a waste of 5 quarts of oil, but I feel better getting any contaminants out that maybe there from the build or the break in immediately, I also change it again at 300 miles. I don't know if anyone mentioned this I also fill my carb float bowls through the vent tubes using a dish soap bottle full of gasoline so it has fuel immediately.If anything does go wrong you can shut it down just don't bring it down slow,and bring it right back up in the 2000 range when you restart it.Italia mentioned he varies the rpm, me too,from 2k to about 2500 up and down for 20 min. One more thing take the thermostat out or wedge it open with an aspirin before first start up.

Wedge the thermostat open with an aspirin ??
Why, is the new engine going to get a bad headache ??

 

[Ricko1966]

You don't want an air pocket keeping the Tstat from opening during break in. The aspirin will desolve after the system has bled, so next use the thermostat is normal.

 

[CrazyArk]

When the break in was done on my engine, we used Castrol GTX 10-30w, ZDDP Plus. A 165 degree thermostat. Also took time filling the cooling system.

Add in the two core aluminum radiator and it's capacity with a slow refill to let the air slowly leak out, the end result was good on break in, coolant level barely dropped at all, but definitely helps having the right break in oil and following the break in procedure.

 

[DoubleDingo]

When filling a drained engine I fill it through the heater hose hole in the intake, that way the engine is full before filling the radiator.

 

[79K15 HIghSierra]

pay attention to header primary tubes and manifolds during the break in, if they start to glow red fatten up the carb with more fuel to try and lower EGT temps

so tried breaking mine in this evening, first had to shut it down because it overheated, believe there was an air pocket, removed tstat and got it running again, but headers were glowing red hot and blue flames out the back (I don’t have it running through mufflers yet I don’t have them) so I ran for another 8 mins but the flames were too much and I didn’t feel safe. Temp was fine second time, guessing I just need to get air out of the system, but the glowing and flames out of headers is worrying me. Hated to stop halfway through. Fuel mixture or timing or both?

 

[Blackbeard44]

it is normal for them to be super hot, but if they are red, it is either too lean or to much timing, did you have a timing light hooked up?

 

[79K15 HIghSierra]

it is normal for them to be super hot, but if they are red, it is either too lean or to much timing, did you have a timing light hooked up?

Yes, we have a light hooked up, I guess it’s just a matter of adjusting that AND fuel mix. So fatten it up a bit on the mix and slo the timing down. Gonna give it it another shot tomorrow!

 

[Blackbeard44]

how much timing did you have at 2,000 rpm?
there is a defference in initial timimg and total timing, at 2,000 rpm the timing will be increased from what it is at an idle, its been a while since I broke in a new motor but i wanna say at 2,000 rpm you want between 15 and 20 degrees, i might be wrong though, so do your homework