Engine Break In Procedure

[Apex Motorsports]

Originally Posted by willhe64

That sounds exactly like the flat tappet solid cam break in procedure I got from crane with my gen 1 cam.

[Indydriver]

Originally Posted by White_SS/RS

I don't see what an engine being designated for race use or street use has to do with how it's broke in. They all operate the same

You can't be serious.

Our LS3s certainly do not operate the same as race engines. They most certainly do not have the same life expectancy. A race engine has to be broken in quickly simply because they don't have time to do it over several hundred miles.

What real life experience teaches is that there is a very, very wide window for successfully breaking in an engine, especially if ring seal is the benchmark for success. To put it another way, both fast and slow work. If this were not true, 99% of street vehicles would be billowing oil smoke and this simply isn't happening. Again, I offer up my wife's Toyota V6 minivan as the poster child of a successful slow break-in. This vehicle was driven from day one as "normal" which means never seeing 3000 rpm. It burns zero oil with factory spec'd 0W-20 and 10,000 mile OCIs. I don't expect my Camaro to burn oil either after going on the dyno at 1500.

[White_SS/RS]

Originally Posted by Indydriver

You can't be serious.

Our LS3s certainly do not operate the same as race engines. They most certainly do not have the same life expectancy. A race engine has to be broken in quickly simply because they don't have time to do it over several hundred miles.

What real life experience teaches is that there is a very, very wide window for successfully breaking in an engine, especially if ring seal is the benchmark for success. To put it another way, both fast and slow work. If this were not true, 99% of street vehicles would be billowing oil smoke and this simply isn't happening. Again, I offer up my wife's Toyota V6 minivan as the poster child of a successful slow break-in. This vehicle was driven from day one as "normal" which means never seeing 3000 rpm. It burns zero oil with factory spec'd 0W-20 and 10,000 mile OCIs. I don't expect my Camaro to burn oil either after going on the dyno at 1500.

If that were the case then you could also assume that "engine break in" could occur on track and forgo any formality. And everything would be quite alright. Secondly, does a race engine have rings? Does a LS3 have rings? There is no difference in the operational function of the rings. Only difference is the intended use of the engine.

[Apex Motorsports]

The debate is eternal. In my opinion, for a performance engine I feel your best best is to follow the engineer's recommendations for their performance engines. But for my wife's baby hauler I am not going to stress about it too much.

[Bizaro]

I break in all my ls engines hard no problem

[Apex Motorsports]

Originally Posted by Bizaro

I break in all my ls engines hard no problem

[Chap2010SS]

Last new vehicle I bought was a 2001 Silverado Single cab with 4.8 LS engine. I drove it like I stole it from the very beginning. Lots of heavy acceleration and deceleration so I could listen to my loud exhaust system. I've always serviced my vehicles properly as well. I sold the truck in 2008 with 225,000 miles on it. Didn't use a drop of oil between changes. I normally used Mobil 1 10w40 and a K&N filter. Never had a tranny issue or rear end issue either. But I kept those lubes changed out as well. My 2009 Silverado I just traded in on my 2010 SS had 87,000 miles on it when I got it. I was second owner of it. A older couple had it before me and I doubt they drove as spirited as I do. So I imagine it was broken in softly. It would use a quart between changes of around 5000 miles.

[AITI]

These instructions are for ALL replacement GM engines...not just the crate connect & cruise. I'm a GM tech (not at a Chevy dealer, but same engines) and this is what we have from the factory. The owners manual will almost always result in poor ring seat and oil consumption issues down the road. We get non stop complaints of excess oil consumption on all GM engines...but some luck out and do fine following the owners manual. I broke in my new 2015 1LT this way and have 9k miles on it and 2 oil changes, not a drop used between changes (as far as dip-stick shows). I also will NOT run the DEXOS synthetic blend...only a premium full synthetic as I don't plan on hving to do the timing chain replacement in the future either.

[Keachj06]

If I learned anything Engineers vice mechanics/operators will and always have had two completely different views on requirements to maintain proper operation, engineers use calculations to determine their answers. mechanics / operators use experience and report back to the engineers how their recommendations and calculations would work in a perfect world. thus like stated early sparking the never ending debate, Yes ill take it easy the first 1000 miles however if you don't let those rings see normal operating pressure and cylinder sidewalls getting used to normal operating compression for proper ring wear, the cylinders may not wear correctly meaning rings will leak by. I after 1000 miles hammer the piss out of the thing to ensure I get compression up and make the engine get used to its "normal max" working load to ensure proper operation. but as always like I said engineers "scientific numbers and theories" vice mechanics/operations "running the equipment under conditions routinely" will never see eye to eye.

[Indydriver]

It is easy to "properly seat the rings" within the recommended 4000 rpm limit.

In order to believe that one must use the "hard" method, one must also believe that it is impossible to properly breakin the engine using factory recommendations. Real world experience simply does not support this theory.

The real question is, does ignoring factory breakin recommendations by exceeding rpm limits hurt reliability or longevity in any way? And that's a tough one to answer.

[Keachj06]

sure you can in 3rd or 2nd gear the key is to force peak compression at varying loads, heat stress so the metal can expand and contract to mate with its final surface area to "mesh" and create that seal that is required. so yes you can seat with the 4k rpm limit however you should not baby it all the way to 4k in first, you need to have as much air coming into that engine so fuel can match the amount of air to generate a much more powerful combustion creating normal operating temperature and pressure. so yes if you pick a higher gear to satisfy those requirements and not go over 4k then yes it can be done, the break in written procedure is a general guideline to the princepals under which to follow to ensure proper breaking in for those who don't understand what it is doing to their motor.

[Vroom_vroom]

I had a gm master tech that taught the automotive class back east. I remember when we cam swapped a crate motor in my lemans I asked about breaking in the cam. He said "fu%k it lets go racing" lol

[AITI]

Keach...have you ever torn down a new engine with say 1000 miles on it? Next time, look closely at the cylinder walls with a bright light. The cross hatch is still clearly visible from the initial hone, but now look at it from a steep angle and you can see the "mirror" like glaze that has set over it. This generally has set in and formed by 300-500 miles and once it forms, the only way to further seat the rings is to re-cut the cross hatch and start over. By 1000 miles, that window has passed....and again, I see this nearly daily as I am one of the few that are put on the tear downs for excessive oil consumption. And get this, GM will NOT reimburse for a hone....They tell us to just install new rings and hope they cut the glaze enough to seat them....I always hone and remove the glaze. I can only assume for liability purposes is why the owners manual is different from what we get for instructions as some idiot will crash following the correct break-in. On the honing, almost none of the techs have ever trained on proper honing so I assume many were cutting excessively causing even more issues. Then again, a replacement engine and sending the oil user back is more common than re-ringing.

So easy to make general assumptions, but the reality is we have a "dumbed down" car buyer now days that have no idea how to even check their oil!! When I ask most they reply "You do the oil changes here, why would I check it?"!

[Firefighter]

It's amazing how little the average car owner knows about their own car. What used to be a joking stereotype for a woman driver as far as her mechanical knowledge is pretty much the average driver male or female.

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