After break in

Hi all, I have just successfully broken in my first ever engine. 300 block, rover heads, HEI, chevy rods, and some other mods with a custom cam to tie it together, nothing crazy, but it was still a little nerve racking. Dumped the oil after and there was absolutely no metal of any kind in it, not even tiny sparkles like I expected from fresh rings and bearings, magnet found nothing either. My question is: do I need to prime again for the second run or can I just run the engine like normal now that the cam and lifers are broken in? Any other special requirements? I know the revs need to vary for the next couple hundred miles to finish seating the rings, but the engine will live on a stand for a while, and I'll probably run it at most three or four more times before it sees an engine bay. Also, is there anything I should look or listen for while it runs a few more times?

 

Just make it sure it has the right amount of oil, and start it as normal.

Congrats! and good luck.

 

And change the filter, if you have not.

 

Drive it, take it on the highway.
Full throttle to 70 mph, back off to 50 mph, full throttle again to 70 mph, repeat a few more times, ONLY IF ITS SAFE TO DO SO.
This will seat the rings, DO NOT BABY IT!

 

Will do, thank you!

 

Already changed, brand new Wix ready for further action. May cut the old one open to see if there's anything important caught inside.

 

I'll be running it on the stand again this weekend, is going up to 4.5k rpm, down to idle then back up a few times while holding it at 4.5k an okay substitute for that right now? Biggest reason I want to run it again is to hear it idle since I couldn't do that during break in of course. I know it needs a real load to actually seat the rings, and I don't want to mess it up before I can get it into a car eventually.

 

Don’t bother doing that on the stand, there’s no load on the engine.

 

Exactly^^ need the load to break in the rings.

 

Agreed w/above. See post #9 and beyond: https://www.v8buick.com/index.php?t...he-inner-valve-springs-after-break-in.391483/

Then, drive it like you stole it.

Devon

 

I always pre-fill my filters. You can get quite a bit in a Buick oil filter and it helps with the dry start time until it builds oil pressure.

 

Makes sense, but running it on the stand for a few minutes won't hurt anything will it? I'm thinking at the very most it'll be ten minutes run time before it gets put into a car. I want to check for leaks now as well, since the excess WD-40 I had to keep it from rusting melted off during break in, obscuring any potential oil and water drip.

 

Just read through that thread, I don't have dual springs so I'll skip that part, but I'll definitely follow the procedure for seating the rings to a T.

 

I'll do that too then, haven't poured new oil in so I'll fill the filter then fill up.

 

Your fine running it on the stand to check for noises/ leaks

 

Then throw it under the hood take it out and floor it !!

 

I personally wouldn’t run it on the stand anymore. Oil won’t reach operating temp to eliminate condensation. I was advised to drive on highway for 20 min after motor reaches operating temp before shutting off to avoid condensation contamination.

 

I agree!
If there are no leaks or noises, go directly to the engine bay with the engine, bolt ‘er up and burn rubber!!

 

I've got a radiator and fan setup and it can run long enough to burn out any condensation. I can also measure the oil temp to ensure it gets up to operating temperature and stays there before shutting off. The problem with putting it in the car is that the car doesn't exist yet