I have had my new 355 running for about 600-700 miles. I have been burning my own proms to get my fuel maps so im not running rich down low and lean up high. I think that my car should be running better than it is. from who I have raced I think Im about a high 13 second car. stats on my motor include.. factory turned crank, Cat 6" 4340 rods, .030 over JE ultralight flattops, ported iron L98's with 2.02, 1.60 valves, LT1 intake CC305 cam (220/230 @ .50 .544/.544 lift 114 LSA 1.6 Roller rockers, 10.5:1 compression... The trans is a built one with shiftkit and corvette servo, with a 2200 stall converter, out back I have 3.73 w/ posi.

Also I have speed pro Sealed power plasma moly rings. I have been consuming oil, no oil leaks, so it must be burning it. I was wondering If my rings could still possibly not have seated, I tried the transmission fluid in the intake trick to help seal the rings but I didnt really notice an improvement. I was wondering what kind of power could be gained when the rings seal, and how can I tell If the rings have set yet.

Im sure Im going to have to get some timing added or taken away from some areas in the spark table. but I havent learned that much yet. I was Hoping I would run pretty strong even without tuning, I hear of people running 12's with no computer tuneing on setups close to mine

Sorry for the long post, but I also have another question, I am pulling codes 15 and 24, Im going to replace the coolant temp sensor, I was wondering if that would cause the car to run that bad, also My speedometer works, and also registers the speed on WinAldl but I am still getting a code 24, what could this be?
Thanks in advance for your help.
Chris

 

For what it's worth I was told by my machinist that it would take about 2,000 miles to be fully broken in. During that period be sure not to use synthetic oil. It actually lubricates too well and the engine won't break in. Now I know some new cars come with synthetic already in them from the factory, but you also here of say LT1's for example being fatser at 10,000 miles than when new. That should be a clue as to how long these things take to break in on synthetic oil. As far as the codes, if 15 is a bad coolant temp sender, when mine went the car wouldn't even run. That's if it's the one in the front of the intake which the ECM references. Hope this helps a little.

 

wow 2,000 miles? I hear the chrome moly rings take longer to seat also. I ran the motor with non synthetic 10W30 for the cam breakin, and then changed it with non synthetic 10W30 again, and at 500 miles i changed to 20W50 VR1 racing oil again non synthetic. yea the computer is thinking the coolant is a constant -38.7 degress, so i took off the connector and ran a wire across and now the computer is reading whatever the max temp is for the coolant temp, which is most likely keeping me from some power im sure. Thanks for the help :hail:

 

i know this is off the subject... but

what made you go w/ the JE ultralightweight pistons????


if you look in the Herbert catalog... they say not to use them in motors that will be over 400 hp...

as for the rings not sealing... is it burning oil when you drive it... like its blowing by the rings... or what??

 

To reduce the rotating assembly weight, I talked to JE and they said it would be good for what my intended use is, They said it can handle a 150 shot, The T-56's (94-97) are rated at 450 ft/lbs, but there are people with 700 on them. I think I should be okay with them. I was worried about that forawhile also.
I have stepped on it a few times and seen blueish smoke out the exhaust, and also im going through a about quart every 250 miles

 

it will probably work out... but when i bought pistons for my 355 i avoided thoes because of the questioins... cause i plan on dropping at least a 150 shot on it when all is said and done...

 

To test to see if the rings are the cause for your oil loss, do a compression test and then a compression leak down test with a constant 80 psi or so from an air compressor.

There is no set value for the compression test, but all cylinders should be within 20% of each other at maximum. Guessing you should see 190+ PSI or so cranking pressure.

With the compressor line hooked up at 80 PSI into the cylinder, the piston at TDC during the power stroke individually on each cylinder, take the oil fill cap off, or the dipstick out of it's slot... you shouldn't get any air moving out of those locations. You also shouldn't get anything out of the intake or exhaust. Air moving out of the oil fill or dipstick indicate bad or unseated rings, air out the intake or exhaust indicate a bad valve seat/seal.

Bad rings can sometimes be reseated with a soaking of kerosene sitting overnight in the cylinder too. Just make sure to clean it all out before firing it off!

 

I can second the new engine thing. In my truck which I bought new it didn't start performing like it does now till it hit about 3,000 on the odometer and changed my oil at least once.