Running in a new motor

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Awesum
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Running in a new motor

Post by Awesum »

I found this info and I would like opinions on it.

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

What's The Best Way To Break-In A New Engine ??
The Short Answer: Run it Hard !

Why ??
Nowadays, the piston ring seal is really what the break in process is all about. Contrary to popular belief, piston rings don't seal the combustion pressure by spring tension. Ring tension is necessary only to "scrape" the oil to prevent it from entering the combustion chamber.

If you think about it, the ring exerts maybe 5-10 lbs of spring tension against the cylinder wall ...
How can such a small amount of spring tension seal against thousands of
PSI (Pounds Per Square Inch) of combustion pressure ??
Of course it can't.

How Do Rings Seal Against Tremendous Combustion Pressure ??

From the actual gas pressure itself !! It passes over the top of the ring, and gets behind it to force it outward against the cylinder wall. The problem is that new rings are far from perfect and they must be worn in quite a bit in order to completely seal all the way around the bore. If the gas pressure is strong enough during the engine's first miles of operation (open that throttle !!!), then the entire ring will wear into
the cylinder surface, to seal the combustion pressure as well as possible.

The Problem With "Easy Break In" ...
The honed crosshatch pattern in the cylinder bore acts like a file to allow the rings to wear. The rings quickly wear down the "peaks" of this roughness, regardless of how hard the engine is run.

There's a very small window of opportunity to get the rings to seal really well ... the first 20 miles !!

If the rings aren't forced against the walls soon enough, they'll use up the roughness before they fully seat. Once that happens there is no solution but to re hone the cylinders, install new rings and start over again.

Fortunately, most new sportbike owners can't resist the urge to "open it up" once or twice,
which is why more engines don't have this problem !!

An additional factor that you may not have realized, is that the person at the dealership who set up your bike probably blasted your brand new bike pretty hard on the "test run". So, without realizing it, that adrenaline crazed set - up mechanic actually did you a huge favor !!
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Torker
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Re: Running in a new motor

Post by Torker »

This is how I see 'running in' an engine as well. If you don't hoof it in the 1st 30 or 40 k's you may glaze the bores and then it's tickets, nothing you can do about it afterwards...
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Re: Running in a new motor

Post by lawrence »

Interesting reading... makes perfect sense... thanks!
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Re: Running in a new motor

Post by MeanTdi »

You left out the important part:

"On the Street:
Warm the engine up completely: Because of the wind resistance, you don't need to use higher gears like you would on a dyno machine. The main thing is to load the engine by opening the throttle hard in 2nd, 3rd and 4th gear.

Realistically, you won't be able to do full throttle runs even in 2nd gear on most bikes without exceeding 65 mph / 104 kph. The best method is to alternate between short bursts of hard acceleration and deceleration. You don't have to go over 65 mph / 104 kph to properly load the rings. Also, make sure that you're not being followed by another bike or car when you decelerate, most drivers won't expect that you'll suddenly slow down, and we don't want
anyone to get hit from behind !!

The biggest problem with breaking your engine in on the street (besides police) is if you ride the bike on the freeway (too little throttle = not enough pressure on the rings) or if you get stuck in slow city traffic. For the first 200 miles or so, get out into the country where you can vary the speed more
and run it through the gears !

Be Safe On The Street !
Watch your speed ! When you're not used to the handling of a new vehicle, you should accelerate only on the straightaways, then slow down extra early for the turns. Remember that both hard acceleration and hard engine braking (deceleration) are equally important during the break in process."
Marco


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Re: Running in a new motor

Post by joggiep »

I broke my motor 3 times driving lightly and beeing carefull !

I stripped my mo#r and since then drove it like I stole it and the motor has been fine. yes I klapped 8 valves but that was noting to do with the driving in procedure as a matter of fact when the motor was opened the bores looked perfect with the hone marks still visable. My Seat saw the track with less than 2200km on the clock.. never had a days issues with it.
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Re: Running in a new motor

Post by Le Clue »

I also put load (go to the redline once on a journey) on my engines when new every now and then up until 1 000km's then I hoof it!!! I read about this a while ago on the Mk6 forum where quite a few guys also believed the rings seal better when this is done.
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Re: Running in a new motor

Post by ryanrich »

Yup, did the same on the GTI.
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Re: Running in a new motor

Post by LavernG5 »

Nice write up and interesting read guys
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Re: Running in a new motor

Post by Tdi jetta 4 ever »

Now my question is, does that brake-in procedure work for turbo cars also? Reason why i ask is that the turbo helps with pressure inside the cylinder which will help the rings to expand rather then to floor a n/a motor to get the same kind of pressures. Or is it the same?
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Re: Running in a new motor

Post by VokofWagen »

I think this should be a sticky.
Also a few questions. So the engine must be driven warm then driven hard 1st 2nd 3rd then left compression slow the car. This must be done for roughly 30km. Does this go for a freshly rebuilt engine with rings and bearings done as well?
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Re: Running in a new motor

Post by joggiep »

Fresh motor I have always let it idle for a while make sure there is no oil/water leaks make sure the fan comes on and so on maybe take it for a slow "shakedown" drive check all the pressures and levels.. from there dyno ! of the dyno oil change with new filter. from there drive it like you would normally drive it.
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VW Caddy 2.0 8V
Nissan X-trail 2.0 dCi
VW Jetta 2.0 16V Turbo
VW Polo 1.6 Comfortline
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Re: Running in a new motor

Post by MeanTdi »

Moving to "Technical: Frequently Asked Questions..."
Marco


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ALFAHOLIC wrote:What can go wrong, jarre you guys sound like you are describing an Alfa here...
My Corsa OPC wrote:Its not an oil leak, its just an Opel marking its territory :lol:
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