Guest bastaad525 Posted September 30, 2003 Share Posted September 30, 2003 Okay I know this is a cheesy question and it's gonna make me look bad but I gotta ask.... I dont remember when or from where I heard this, but I remember hearing that there is a 'quick' way, perfectly safe, to break in new rings on a rebuilt block. I can't help that I'm anxious to be able to drive my Z and have fun with it... it seems I really haven't gotten to do much of that in the 2-3 mos now since I've done the turbo swap. I'm getting the car back tonite or tommorow, and I"m really not looking forward to having to drive it another 500-1000 miles to break it in before I can have fun with it... that's like another month! Surely there must be some way to break in the rings faster?? Edit: I found one thing, here, in everyones favorite Sport Compact Car mag One of the writers has a sentra project race car, that he ended up rebuilding then engine for himself. He says to break in the new rings, he just threw in straight 30 weight oil and revved the engine at 3000rpm for 30 mins.... would that be good enough to seat the rings? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cody 82 ZXT Posted September 30, 2003 Share Posted September 30, 2003 I would think that after all the trouble and expense you've gone through you could find the time to break the engine in right. Use straght ND30 and the atleast the 500 mile breaking in period. Make sure to vary your RPM's and try to stay out of the gas if you can. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest bastaad525 Posted September 30, 2003 Share Posted September 30, 2003 hey I had to ask... yeah if I must I will, I just figured maybe someone had some 'short cut' yeah yeah dont flame me for asking hey you never know what 'secrets of the trade' there are until you ask. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cody 82 ZXT Posted September 30, 2003 Share Posted September 30, 2003 Sorry, not trying to flame you but, you certainly had your share of proublems with this swap and I would hate to hear that you had more trouble when it could be avoided. I don't blame you for wanting to get it rolling with all the goodies working correctly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest bastaad525 Posted October 1, 2003 Share Posted October 1, 2003 heheh actually dude I should apologize I was really tired when I read that post this morning... reading it again it's not a flame at all... and you're absolutely right about... having as many problems as I have had... definately shouldn't screw around with it. Okay... 500 miles it is ah well at least I'll be driving it. I coulda swore I'd heard of some trick to break them in faster though... hehe dont' worry I wont I wont... I'll take it easy scouts honor. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Neil Posted October 1, 2003 Share Posted October 1, 2003 I put 1500 miles on my rebuilt engine before I finally stopped getting smoke out of the breather. I've talked to a couple of people about it. My mechanic (well, not my personal mechanic, but the one I take our cars to) said it may take up to 6000 miles for rings to seat. A fellow at AUTO ZONE recommended trying 5W 30 oil. He also said there was a product for restoring old rings that may help. I looked at it. It is an oil addittive which increases the viscosity of the oil (which would be contrary to his advice on using a lighter weight oil). Anyway, I think the best thing is to just run the engine in normal break-in mode and change your oil fairly often for the first couple of thousand miles. And just like going to the local mexican food restaraunt, the rings will seat themselves (har har). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Aaron Posted October 1, 2003 Share Posted October 1, 2003 Check out Grumpyvette's posts in these threads. http://www.hybridz.org/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=20232 http://www.hybridz.org/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=1845 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest rick458 Posted October 1, 2003 Share Posted October 1, 2003 Don't forget to change the oil after the first 500 miles then drive it how you want to Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest bastaad525 Posted October 2, 2003 Share Posted October 2, 2003 okay someone explain something to me... what exactly HAPPENS when an engine breaks in... I keep hearing 'seat the rings' okay what exactly does it mean for the rings to seat??? details please! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest bastaad525 Posted October 2, 2003 Share Posted October 2, 2003 Uh... Grumpyvettes post contains a lot of conflicting info there dude.... the first section says go the commonly recommended 500-1000 miles taking it easy ... all kinds of stuff, but then later in the same post he quotes I guess from a different source?? Where it says everything is seated after 100miles switch to synthetic and drive however you want after that... doesn't make sense man Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blueovalz Posted October 2, 2003 Share Posted October 2, 2003 I've heard from two independent (race oriented) sources that the way "they" set their moly rings is by not oiling the pistons/rings when they assemble the motor. One source used a little WD40, but no engine oil. They both report the rings seat almost instantaneously and NO damage results from this practice. I chose the traditional route of oiling everything, and I'm only just now (about 500 miles) seeing a slight improvement in exhaust oil and ring seal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest bastaad525 Posted October 2, 2003 Share Posted October 2, 2003 So with new rings the engine is still gonna smoke/burn oil???? for the break in period?? Grrrrrrrrrrreeeaaaaaaaaaaaat so I'll have no way of knowing if my problem is solved!!!! You know... when I had my N/A engine rebuilt from top to bottom... i dont remember ever seeing it smoke during the break in period. Man I hope that it's not gonna smoke ... I mean the whole reason I did all this and spent all this $$$ is to make it stop smoking... I swear I have a feeling it wasn't the rings anyways... compression was good and the rings looked damn near new when he took the pistons out.... valve seals were new... turbo is fine... WTF???? WHERE ELSE could it be coming from?!?!?!? going a bit crazy here with the suspense... I should be picking the car up tommorow..... anyways ... what's the deal with this break in issue everyone has a slightly different or even extremely different methods for safe break in... who originated all these break in rules anyways? I was talking to the machine shop guy who build my N/A motor.. this guys been building them for over 15 years, and HE says that the rings seat within the first 10-20 minutes of operation after warm up, and that if anything the cam needs more of a breakin in than the block/rings do! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cody 82 ZXT Posted October 2, 2003 Share Posted October 2, 2003 I really think that it's a matter of every engine is different and the 500 mile "rule" is a good and safe guideline. When I did my engine last year it bearly smoked at all during the breakin process. Others I've talked to say theirs took forever to stop smoking. I did the no oil on the rings thing that Blue Oval talked about and it makes sense to me to use some WD-40 lighted coating the walls. I think most if not all of the oil or what ever is burned off during the first minuite or so of engine operation. I just don't see how anything could hold onto the cylinder walls with the engine firing and the rings scraping it clean. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
80LS1T Posted October 2, 2003 Share Posted October 2, 2003 It also has a lot to do with what kind of rings you have and what kind of finish you put on when doing the final hone on the cylinders. When I built my engine I had my cylinders honed with a platue(sp?..."plaa-toe") stone. This is the best stone possible for break-in. It is way better than a 500 grit stone. Supposedly there is NO break-in period for the rings, other than intitial start-up, when you use this stone to finish hone. 500 is still good but if you can get your cylinders platue(plaa-toe) honed. There is almost no oil burning from my fresh LT1 rebuild....although I am still running rich so I have some black smoke when I get on it. But that will all be fixed soon! You will still have to break the cam in no matter what though. And I would still suggest taking it easy for the first 500 miles.....engines arent cheap! Guy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest szlash280z Posted October 2, 2003 Share Posted October 2, 2003 I rebuilt my 83L28ET engine myself. I was expecting lots of smoke when I first started it up. I barely got any. I didn't really wait for any kind of break in period either. I hit the boost on my first test run actually (just a little bit-'cuz it blew off a 5/8 vacuum cap that I didn't put a clamp on.). I still haven't changed the oil yet, but I put in straight weight ND30 oil and I oiled the rings in assembly even though I kept reading things that said it wasn't necessary. I haven't had any problems at all. well, no mechanical problems other than 2 dead distributors and a dead NA fuel pump which are unrelated to piston rings. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SleeperZ Posted October 2, 2003 Share Posted October 2, 2003 So with new rings the engine is still gonna smoke/burn oil???? for the break in period?? Grrrrrrrrrrreeeaaaaaaaaaaaat so I'll have no way of knowing if my problem is solved!!!! You know... when I had my N/A engine rebuilt from top to bottom... i dont remember ever seeing it smoke during the break in period. Man I hope that it's not gonna smoke ... I mean the whole reason I did all this and spent all this $$$ is to make it stop smoking... I swear I have a feeling it wasn't the rings anyways... compression was good and the rings looked damn near new when he took the pistons out.... valve seals were new... turbo is fine... WTF???? WHERE ELSE could it be coming from?!?!?!? I hear you on the n/a motor. When I rebuilt mine, it never smoked past startup, and used no oil. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Afshin Posted October 2, 2003 Share Posted October 2, 2003 I did a full rebuilt on a l28et, no smoke after 5-10 minutes. the engine ran absolutely great for eight years (I was careful with the break in)until the car was totaled after being hit in the rear by a Ford F150 . Hopefully your's won't smoke either while the ring are seating. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fl327 Posted October 3, 2003 Share Posted October 3, 2003 the only quick way to break it in is to drive it very often, with a light foot of course, with varying speeds. I did smoke a little after the first rebuild, but it went away after the first oil change, didnt use very much oil, I was VERY generous with the assembly lube. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest bastaad525 Posted October 3, 2003 Share Posted October 3, 2003 yeah I'd be surprised if it smoked during break in... anyways... I definately will be worried if it smokes as much as it was before doing this... I mean it was smoking a LOT. So I guess as long as it doesn't smoke as much I wont worry too much. I'll still be a little surprised if it smokes at all though after warming up. szlash - it's good to know I'm not the only impatient one about the cam break in no worries there I already broke that in since I rebuilt the head first and already put some hundreds of miles on it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest szlash280z Posted October 3, 2003 Share Posted October 3, 2003 well, my impatience did bring me some bad luck. on that same run my 2nd distributor ate $hit and died on me 2 miles from my house, I blew off a vacuum cap because I didn't have it clamped down (sounded pretty cool though! like a bullet hitting the car! But I knew it was bad so it actually sucked!) I doubt hitting the boost that early caused the distributor to die, but I did lose that $2 vacuum cap, it was a 5/8 cap! I went home and got toasted because I was pissed about having to buy a new distributor and didn't have any money, but drove up and got a $230.00 new distributor anyway. it's worked fine ever since! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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