Well, I finally got everything together for my new motor cam break in. It fired up, ran and got extremely hot, I let it get about to 210 then I shut it down. First, is it normal for the headers to get really cherry red/orange 6-7 minutes into break in? Next, I fried nearly all my boots on my plug wires. My drivers side header caught fire during the break in down near the collector. They are the painted hooker 2210's. I don't know if it was the paint getting so hot it caught a flame, or what. Now, (i think this is the term) my oil pressure sending unit, the unit above the oil filter is all melted and deformed, it is a good 1-3/4" to 2" away from the header itself. Now I am about half way in to the cam break in procedure and all of this has happend already, I don't know what to do. My motor is a 355 with dart iron eagle heads with the 215cc intake runners and 64 cc combustion chambers. I have a solid lifter camshaft. Any ideas on why this is happening to me. I have too much money invested in this already and don't want anything bad to happen. I need help badly. This is my first real motor break in, it ran pretty good btw untill it heated up really fast. The first attempt i wasn't using a thermostat, the next attemp I did. It didn't seem to make a difference. I have my electric fan wired up to a switch so that was on at all times. Can somebody give me some tips or help me get this thing to cool down?

Any and all help is greatly appreciated.

Zach

 

None of that is normal.

wow.. 6-7 minutes... I dont know where to begin..

Dont run the car again.. at all..

what kind of timing are you running?

what kind of cam do you have? you didnt over tighten the rockers did you?
the valves may be alittle open, letting fuel and air to enter the chamber at all times.. not sure if that would cause such a thing.. but id recheck everything..

you did fill the block and radiator with fluid right?

OUCH.. Tell us more about the cam and install.. do you remember doing anythingyou were unsure about?

 

Yea, flat tappet motors get pretty warm on break in. Shouldn't get THAT warm though. My headers smoked pretty good, due to paint heat curing, but never caught on fire. Burned a few plug wires too. Just bought a new set. Bosch gives freebie replacements

ok, motor is cold now? Pop off the water neck, and make sure that it's full of coolant in there. Then take off the rad cap, make sure that's full, and your overflow. If you're worried that your t-stat might be sticking, remove it. That's a good way to be sure you're getting fluid flow.

Is this a carbed setup?

Solid flat tappet cam i'm assuming?

Check your plugs. See if anything looks funny.

Replace your OPSU if it's screwed. Sounds like it is.

Once you are ready to restart it and finish break in, check oil level (duh). Then fire it up, and get someone to hold it at RPM. Now here's the crucial part, check your timing! Running 2500RPM should give you ~30* timing. Sounds like you're running closer to 50* or 5*. That would definately throw a LOT more heat. If you want, jet it up richer, running it lean would also get it hot. But you'd have to be running very lean to make it that hot while revving it in park. I'm betting on bad timing.

 

Btw, the sensor you were talkingabout.. 3-4 inches over the oil filter.... i think its the knock sensor.. which melted from the headers.. its pretty close to the headers.. but not that close.. lol

 

i bet the plugs are white with a bit of red and the insulator is a bit melted like..

 

Solid flat tappet cam. Holley 650 DP. I'm not to sure where the timing is at. Do you think that it got that hot because of the timing? It fired right up and ran pretty good. The first time I ran it, I did'nt have a T-stat in on purpose. I filled up the block with coolant, the radiator is full. I had my respectable engine buider intall the cam and heads completley. My buddy said it might be timing but I'm not to sure, can you guide me on what to do?

Zach

 

Odds are the timing is too retarded. The burn is starting late and is now finishing in the headers. Hence the heat / burning paint. Invest in a timing light, once the motor is running you should be in the 25 -30 degree range. Use the Idle control adjustment to hold th eengine at RPM during break in

You should never run the engine without a stat. If you have no thermostat the coolant can travel too quickly through the block kand not really absorb the required heat, and then travel too fast through the radiator and never get cooler...bad news all around. I use a 165 stat with a 1/8" hole drilled in the plate. this allows the rad / block to vent so that you can fill the entire engine with coolant without it running.

Before you try again, you need to inspect all the plugs, and if they are melted there is a possiblity that peices of melted plug are somewhere you nont want them..ie welded to pistons, valves, head... Safest bet would be to remove heads and inspect.....

 

Yea, check your plugs first.
Then, when you fire it up, and have it idling running at break in RPM, set the timing. You may need someone else to hold the pedal down, or
your call.

I don't agree with the "no t-stat makes it run hotter" thing, maybe someone else can chime in on that agruement.