My motor build is nearing completion. What do you guys recommend for a break in period? When should I change the oil? When should I turn the power up? Should I do any towing with it before I turn it up? Any tips and tricks on helping break in my motor are appreciated. Thanks!

After Eric gets it "shook down" change the oil and then I'd say hook a load to it like a truck on a trailer and run it with something of moderate performance. Something like a Edge EZ and let the turbos pick up the slack.

Come to think of it, maybe leave it stock fueling since you have injectors already. Run a solid timing only tune etc.

drive the wheels off of it ASAP!!! :D



Id probably drive it bone stock for 500 miles, change the oil once or twice, then slowly ramp it up from there....JMHO

Crack the whip. Engine break-in is for wussies! :D

With a stock tune and lots of oil changes, drive it like you stole it:)

I know with sleds and sportbikes, the one that seem to work the best are the ones broken-in hard

http://www.mototuneusa.com/break_in_secrets.htm

what i have been told is to drive it easy for 500mi or so, then run the piss out of it. suposed to help strech and seal and seat everything.

We fired ours up 10 mins later put the screws to it .Cut the filter open after first run A ok inside .But definitaley drive it around and let it settle and cut open filters to check is a good idea.Good Luck NLDP

min 500 miles driving...keep boost down, dont run it hard. change oil and filters a couple times.. 1000mi would be better but we only got 500 on mine..

5 burnouts later, I could tell things were getting better, it kept doing a longer burnout every time. Must be broke in now.

whats break in . I always broke it in like I was gona drive it HARD and FAST !

whats break in . I always broke it in like I was gona drive it HARD and FAST !


Drive it a round the block. Check for leaks. Do massive smokey burn!:D My will power sucks I can never hold back!

I've got a good story about this (courtesy of my Dad). Its not scientific in any way, shape or form...so take it for what its worth.

They had two Airport Authority Cars -- 1971 Olds Cutlass's with 350ci 2bbl auto -- both cars identical in every respect.

Brand new -- right from the dealership --

Car 1 was driven by my Dad and the Airport Manager to Mt Pleasant and back (roughly 120 miles) at speeds well above 75 mph on the freeway. They got on the freeway and put the hammer down.

Car 2 was driven straight to the airport at city speeds and parked.

Car 1 (which my Dad used for 9 years before giving it to me) ran like a raped ape. Car 2 was, as he put it, a "Pathetic Dog of a car". No pickup, lousy power.

Moral of the story...Drive it hard right from the get go.

When we overhaul semi engines at work, the first thing we do is hook a loaded trailer to it and take about a 30 mile drive lugging the engine. This helps get the rings seated. I have seen trucks not get broken in and they tend to smoke and burn oil more. This is big trucks though.

Cylinder pressure seats/wears in rings. It's best to do so shortly after the build and WITHOUT excessive RPM.

Of course todays rings seat instantly, but the full wear in is sped up by cylinder pressure...

It hauled a Crew Cab Cummins Dually from MI to TN and a 28ft Haulmark enclosed trailer from TN to MI this weekend. There were 200 miles on the clock and the oil was changed before the trip. The oil is getting changed again with 1500 more miles on it. I'm going from Dino over to Ams Oil with a new Ams Oil EA Filter. It should be broke in enough for me to tune it up Monday night.

That truck runs like an absolute top. I cant wait to see how it runs with a tune in it.

Bobo,
That truck is Sweet!!! 0-80 in just seconds. Eric has my approval for upgrades on our truck:D

Bobo,
That truck is Sweet!!! 0-80 in just seconds. Eric has my approval for upgrades on our truck:D

You and my wife need to get together sometime. I seem to lack "approval" most of the time.:D

What is the recommended "break-in oil" for a new motor?

Excuse me, by "new" motor I mean rebuilt.

What is the recommended "break-in oil" for a new motor?


IMHO, the best that you can afford/justify to waste with a short duration service. Synthetic no problem, just hard to justify the cost. I'd use Mobil Delvac 1300 personally...

I would definitely NOT break a new engine in with synthetic engine oil. Break it in with conventional and then switch to synthetic later on if you prefer.

GM puts synthetic in LSx engines from the factory (Corvette/SS Camaro/Firehawk Firebird) with excellent results. We had zero consumption issues or HP loss breaking in our Camaro and Corvette on synthetic.

Whether this is true for diesels, I do not know.

Synthetic is probably the BEST oil for protection at the "point of contact" during break in, but it's just not practical to dump it after a few hundred miles.

A Filtermag also goes a long way to remove iron particles generated during break in.

Working with gassers when i built a motor I would use the cheapest oil I could find as it was getting dumped quickly anyway. Aded a bottle of GM EOS to it as well. Rings got assembled and lubed in a mix of oil and engine honey, bearings smeared in assembly lube as did anything else that moved like cam lifters. Prelube the motor, then motor got fired and cam broke in in the garage. oil filter changed, then drove for a few hundred and broke in, then oil changed. If it wasnt a flat tappet, run it in the garage a bit and make sure everything was OK then change the filter. Always started it in the garage with just water so it wasnt quite a mess if there was a leak and then dumped some water out and added antifreeze if it was used. Just how I have done it and if building a D max i would probably follow the same procedure.

Synthetic is probably the BEST oil for protection at the "point of contact" during break in, but it's just not practical to dump it after a few hundred miles.

A Filtermag also goes a long way to remove iron particles generated during break in.
With amount of money some people are spending on there motors? If it's better, then it's practical.:)

If your assembling it with an assembly lube dont see how syn will realy help those first few seconds of contact. JMO :)

But it probably is better and I dont see it hurting......just dont see it helping

I've alway heard to break in with conventional oil. I am going to run rotella T 15-40 through mine for a few hundred miles, then switch to amsoil.

Most engine manufacture have already seated the rings and broke the bearings in long before the engine gets installed into a vehicle these days. They have test stands that spin the engines while tests are run before it ever gets fired up. At the end of this test the rings and bearing are seated and they know if there is going to be any issues. So the syn. oil gets added after the break in. I like to give them 500 easy miles at various engine speeds and loads. Change the oil a couple times during this time. After that if everything is OK let it rip as hard as you like then follow that with easy driving for a few miles then let it rip again.

When we overhaul semi engines at work, the first thing we do is hook a loaded trailer to it and take about a 30 mile drive lugging the engine. This helps get the rings seated. I have seen trucks not get broken in and they tend to smoke and burn oil more. This is big trucks though.

This is how we do it also. Go out and put a few miles on it with no load make sure coolant is good and full with no gauge fluctuation and then lock it in a high gear and make good strong low rpm pulls with out it kicking down so that it will help seat the rings. Do this for 5-20 miles and you should notice everytime it pulls a little better than the last. When you have completed this with no problem then put the hammer down and see if it is going to stay together or fall apart. This is the time to find out. If she stays together than keep driving it how you intend to use it and change the oil at 500 miles and then 1000 miles and then 2000 miles till you get to your normal service interval. I personally recommend using standard 15w40 turbo diesel approved oil for the first5-10k miles and then switching to Valvoline Premium Blue Full Synthetic 5w40 and going 6,000 miles between services.(We broke Taz's new engine in on the Premium Blue due to the time element that we were dealing with and is a ok. Runs like a rocket ship on four wheels!) This is how I have always done this so take it for what it is.

back elky out of shop, ignite and proceed to leave 230 feet of tire tracks down street. still runs so i guess it worked :)