I just swapped in a 350 TBI into my RS. I was hoping to take it to the dyno to fine tune the computer and just to see what she's putting out. I've got about somewhere between 300-400 miles on the new motor.

I have a real paranoia about breaking my car on the dyno (that's how my last project meet its death), and I don't want to run it that hard too soon.

Thanks.

 

wait till you;ve got about 2000 miles on it, should be broken in enough that you'll be good to go

 

2000 miles?!?! I barely drive 2000 miles in a year.

 

When the rings are seated, it should be fine for the dyno. Put synthetic oil in it first (a real synthetic, not the pretend stuff some of the majors market).

Refresh my memory - what happened to the last one?

 

72 Lincoln Mark IV / 460 ci

Lots of time and money put into it. Rebuilt EVERYTHING on that car, including the motor, which then promptly spun a bearing while on the dyno. NOT COOL in the least. I put so much money into it, and then to have it spin a bearing like that, especially since the guy who did it, was more than qualified, really chaps my ***. Now my baby just sits in a storage unit, collecting dust. I try to sell it, but nobody wants a car that doesn't run. Everything but the spun bearing is perfect, but . . .

It's quite depressing talking about actually.

Anybody want to buy a beautiful 72 Lincoln? I'll let it go EXTREMELY cheap

 

Actually, I ran conventional 5W30 in it, and had no plans to put synthetic in it until 5,000 miles.

 

Not a bad plan at all. I'd at least give it a few hundred more miles before you try to jump on a dyno with it. And no, I don't have any scientific data or background that proves 500 is enough or not.... JMO

 

I've never spun a bearing, but I wiped out all the bearings on the 396 with 400 miles on it the first time I got on it. In that case, I had Pep Boys conventional oil in it (wanted that extra "break-in"), and the original oil pump (the Melling wouldn't clear the stock pan baffle, and I was too intimidated to modify it at the time). The problem was poor oil and oil starvation.

Synthetic will give you an extra cushion against a marginal oil delivery problem. If you're that anxious to get on the dyno, put in a crankcase and filter full of synthetic, go to the dyno. Afterwards, if you think you need more "break-in", drain the synthetic and put the petroleum in until you're satisified that it's ready.

More than likely, your rings are already seated. Any additional wear will just reduce life.

 

What??
I'm sorry 5-7, but - you're saying you'll get an "extra" safety margin by simply using synthetic during a dyno pull? And that's with an oil starvation problem?? I know you're a dealer of a top brand synthetic oil, but c'mon now!

Yes, synthetic maintains it's viscosity during extreme hot/cold better than dino oil, and doesn't break down as easily, more stable.....that might help a tiny bit, but an oil starved bearing is...well... an oil starved bearing!

But from what you are saying, back in the day when no one had synthetic oil for their cars, people were "breaking in" thier engines the entire life of the engine!! There's got to be a point where the engine is broken in already, and the dino oil is acting as some type of lubricant, is there not??

Not intending to bash at all 5-7, just trying to understand the opposition to dino oil, that's all!

 

Once the engine is "broken in", from then on it is wearing out. So, no, with petroleum oil you are no continually "breaking it in", but rather wearing out your engine faster.

As for synthetic protecting with no oil flow - you left a door wide open that I have no choice but to go through.

Year: 1990. Vehicle: 1980 Chevrolet Citation, 2.8l V6, automatic - purchased by my parents new, I took it over in 1987 with 120k miles. It had been switched over to AMSOIL in 1984 with 65k miles. That morning in January, 1990, it had just turned over 150k miles the night before when I drove it home from work and parked it in the driveway. I started it up, put it in reverse to start backing out of the driveway, and heard a "snap". I stopped, put it in park, left the engine running, and got out to see if I had run over a tree limb or one of the kid's toys (it was parked outside, almost under a tree - things got under the car all the time). I didn't see anything, got back in, backed out of the driveway, and headed for work.

Now, in those days, I used to have to drive almost 30 minutes to work, in San Diego freeway traffic, so I saved time by shaving with my cordless Norelco on my way to the freeway (the first 10 of the 30 minutes were on surface streets). I buzzed away, stopped at a few stop signs and stop lights, and finished shaving about 5 minutes/3 miles later. I shut off the razor and heard the lifters clattering. I then for the first time thought to look at the oil pressure gage (no idiot light), and saw it pegged on zero. Shut the engine off, pulled over, opened hood, pulled dipstick, it was almost to the "full" mark. Called home, wife knew a lady whose husband worked for a wrecking yard, he came out with a flatbed and hauled it home. He said, "You'll be needing a new engine. We do them for the County fleet for these cars all the time."

That weekend, pulled the pan, discovered a broken oil pump. It looks a lot like a SBC pump, except a little smaller, housing made from aluminum, and the driven gear shaft goes into a hole open to the top of the housing. The shaft had been riding up and getting tapped by the crank counterweight just above it (the whole circumference of the pin top had been "shaved" a little - I was always adjusting the rockers because I'd hear this soft tapping every once in awhile). Apparently that morning, it jumped up a little higher and the counterweight wacked it good and broke the pump housing in two. The housing was broken in such a manner that even if it had still turned and sucked oil into it, it would not be able to send the oil on to the engine lubrication system. When I pulled the pump off, the drive shaft to the distributor (a hex shaft, not a round/slotted shaft like SBC uses) was twisted in two. Whether the "snap" I heard was the housing breaking or the drive shaft breaking, I don't know. Admittedly, I didn't look at the oil pressure gage right away, but I'm sure one way or the other it wasn't pumping oil through the lubrication system after the snap.

I pulled the front rod & main bearing caps to check for damage. There was a light film of oil on each insert/journal, and plastigage showed they were within factory tolerances. There were no new scuff or scrape/gouge marks in the bearings or journals. I put them back on, torqued them up, strained the oil through a paint filter, and put the same oil back in with a new pump and pump driveshaft.

In late 1994, my younger brother took over the car with 210k miles. He drove it until 1998, when the body basically fell off around the drivetrain. The speedometer quit with about 225k miles showing, sometime around 1996, and he never fixed it. So, we don't know exactly how many miles the engine had on it, but it was never taken apart before he had it towed away, and still ran fine.

Do I think AMSOIL protects better than petroleum?

What do you think?

 

You left out film strength. Big factor. Why do you think you aren't supposed to use synthetic for ring or cam/lifter break-in?

There's a difference between "opposition" and "information". I wasn't opposing the use of petroleum oil, I was recommending an alternative to aleviate an expressed concern.

 

the shop that did the machine work on my 383 said theyd break my engine in on the dyno for a couple a extra bux.This make any sense?

 

Yes, except for the "for a couple a extra bux" part.

How much exactly did they quote?

 

This will cause ruckious LOL. I used to be a firm believer in "proper" breakin with themulti-oil change, part throttle for so long, start it up, shut it off, yada yada. I then found a few sites talking about breaking in engines and they showed cylinder wear, piston wear, bearing wear, etc...put simply, internals looked day and night different with the start it up and run it like you stole it-still looked near new, while the proper break in produced leaky rings and carbon build up.

Find me one machine shop owner with a dyno that takes and puts 2000mi on a motor before making a pull, or a race car that gets "proper break in" Motors that are built right and either gonna live or gonna die, it does not take but a miniscule error to wipe out a engine and I firmly believe run it like you stole it produces better results.

I would say the greater majority of folks buying new cars do not adhere to proper break in proceedurers and they're still running.

I agree with 5-7 on the synthetic, there is no real comparison of the added protection offered by the man made stuff. Again, talk to any engine builder and I would bet money the guys in your area will tell you the motors they freshen up (because racers are **** like that) that have run sysnthetic oils look just as good as the day the bolted on the oil pan- and these are motor seeing the extreme cases their entire life, many of the drag strip guys are now finding they can go 2-3 seasons with no freshen up on the lower end needed.

 

Thanks for the clarification 5-7!

Good story BTW. Don't get me wrong, I agree syn. oil is superior to petroleum oils, I use syn. in all my motors....even in my boat and lawnmower!! lol

If you tear down a motor that ran synthetic oil compared to one that ran petroleum oil, you'd understand why instantly. I know which one will be much cleaner...

I just never realized it left any type of protective film that would last any longer than pet. oil would. I know the stores still have Slick-50, which claims to be a superior protectant. They even drain the oil and the engine still runs for, like what?, an hour later?

I have a story of my own....

From age 16 to 30, I owned a 72 Dodge Charger. Anyways, when I lived in Ca. I got a 360 from a 77 Charger for 50 bucks - complete -, and rebuilt it. .030 over,hyper pistons, Crower cam, headers, Eld intake etc....

I probably put 5000 miles on it, when I decided to try Slick-50. I celebrated by topping off the tank with "Premium" gas for a change at the same time. So I use this stuff according to the instructions, and the next day I all the sudden hear a slight tapping noise.....hmmmm - must be the premiun gas, doesn't like it I guess. Maybe pinging...

I had a 30 mile trip, and by the time I arrived at my destination, the tapping started sounding kinda like a knocking noise. I started to worry...then I figure I'll stay a couple hours, and get this car home and see what's up. On the way back, the knock quickly turned into a banging noise, and it locked up!! Couldn't move the balancer by hand. Paperweight....2G down the tubes.

Turned out what happened was a rod cap nut backed off on me. Threw the rod, and stroked back up and took a chunk out of the bottom of a cylinder and cracked it all the way up. Paperweight...

Rod looked like a banana, only thing left of the piston was little chunks in the pan but the rod cap nut lay intact sittin sweet at the bottom of the pan!

Not a problem till I used Slick-50. I suppose I could have missed torqing that nut.....although I hate to admit it.

Maybe the Slick-50 is really in fact, the perfect "penetrating" oil!!. lol

 

I'm a firm believer in beating on a motor ASAP! Everyone I know who has fired a motor up, broken in the cam, then immediately began racing it has NEVER had a problem and they've all run great (me included)...

Check out this article: http://www.mototuneusa.com/break_in_secrets.htm

 

Sure. I woulda jumped all over it if my shop only charged me a coupla extra bucks to dyno mine. Ended up costing me around 275...if you consider plugs, wires, oil, water pump,valve covers, oil pan etc....required to dyno it. Unless you have him use old parts you have on hand...

 

well his exact words were if you have ANY money left after you get it built bring it back and well break it in and set it up on the dyno.But i didnt have ANY money left so it aint going to happen.Was pretty funny when he was showing me around the shop though rows of racing engines,i was drooling :hail: then i seen the dyno and commented on what a nice toy that would be to have,he quickly replyed its not a toy its a tool hehe and i said noop thats a toy .Its kind of interesting ive been to a few machine shops over the years building the odd engine here and there and man is there a big difference in some shops compared to others.This last shop i was at the fella asked me a tonne of questions and made sure i didnt miss anything whatsoever then explained all the machining process that they do,i was amazed at how in depth he got.Where as other shops dont ask ya anything half the time.But no i never even asked about how much, the machine work was 1500cdn so that was enough to put me away for awhile.

 

i am a firm beliver in the thought that if you put a brand new motor in your car, and you cant crank it up and beat on it, then someone didnt do a good job of ckecking clearnces. if a motor was properly built then it is ready to be driven. no break in, never. i would take it easy backing out of the driveway and then hammer it when you get to an open spot.