Breaking Engines In - Secret to doing it ?

TaKeN

TaKeN

TaKeN

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


According to this bloke there is..

The pictures of the piston ran in under his method, against the piston ran in under the manufacturers method is shocking.


Not sure if it applies to cars and bikes , but i'm going to try it with my Motorcross bike :)

If this bloke is correct, then why do manufacturers put damaging information into their manuals.. ?
 
TaKeN said:
http://www.mototuneusa.com/break_in_secrets.htm


According to this bloke there is..

The pictures of the piston ran in under his method, against the piston ran in under the manufacturers method is shocking.


Not sure if it applies to cars and bikes , but i'm going to try it with my Motorcross bike :)

If this bloke is correct, then why do manufacturers put damaging information into their manuals.. ?
Click to expand...
Cos they put more research into it than some nutter in his shed, go with the manufacturers advice.
 
TaKeN said:
If this bloke is correct, then why do manufacturers put damaging information into their manuals.. ?
Click to expand...

Because they dont want to be liable when you hit 10,000 RPM on that GSXR two seconds after getting out of the dealership ;)
Also they would like to see you back for parts etc. Same way as MS/Sony loose money on the console they sell you but claw it back in accessories and games over the next 12 months.
I ran my bike in as motorman suggested and not had any issues with it at all so far (12 months though)
 
If you had just spend a years wages on a brand new car, would you even dare thrash it the very same day?
 
Not to mention when you get the car from a dealer the engine will already be out of this "golden period". Think of the tests at the factory, the PDI, some random guy driving your car on to the transporter... so on, so forth.
 
Defcon5 said:
If you had just spend a years wages on a brand new car, would you even dare thrash it the very same day?
Click to expand...
He's not talking about "thrashing" it at all. You don't load or rev the engine until it's fully warmed up (oil temp, not water temp) and then progressively load the engine during the first couple of hundred miles to bed the piston rings in. The theory is that, if you take it too gingerly in the first couple of hundred miles the rings will never "seal" properly and you'll end up with blow-by for the rest of the car's life, harming performance and oil consumption. I did this with the current car and it's yet to use a drop of oil in 3000 miles.

The "take it easy" guidelines from the manufacturer are just a blanket catch-all to prevent people revving or loading the engine from cold, which is never a good idea. It's easier for the customer to digest than specific "don't do it when cold but load it a bit when warm" type instructions, plus they don't really care if the car ends up with slightly worse performance or oil consumption as a result. The only possible negative is that the engine may last slightly longer if you treat it gently but if this means it does 150k instead of 140k before blowing up, who really cares?
 
Well i've always let them warm up, and then driven them hard (bikes and cars). I believe its got a warranty of 3 years, and so if it goes wrong, better to make it go wrong within warranty. Plus i dont keep cars once the warranty is out, so treat it well, but basically drive it like you stole it.

Not sensible, but has resulted in good performing, reliable (over my ownership period) cars and bikes.
 
I thrashed my saxo VTR from day one (letting the engine warm up first of course), and it ended up being a lot smoother than any other VTR I had driven before or since, it made more power than stock also.
 
Depends on the...

Oil.
Load
Bore finish
Bore material
Piston ring material
Piston to wall tolerance
Piston material (thermal expansion rates)
Air Fuel ratio.

No real rules of thumb to apply to this just remember OEMS want the least number of warrenty returns, they dont care about absolute performance, mpg nor oil consumption.
 
It's quite common for engines that haven't been babied during running in to make more power than ones that have. That's why hire cars go so well :D

Most manufacturers don't recommend you drive around like a granny anyway, most commonly they suggest to treat the engine to a wide range of loads/RPM, avoiding very high RPM and very heavy loading (labouring).
 
All he is doing is using the same method used to break-in a race engine...

It DOES result in more power, and better fitting components, however, you run the risk that if something is wrong, the engine will detonate..

I posted all this info in a previous thread about engine break-in as its the
method I have used for many years, since first starting racing..

I will admit I have had mixed results...

All of my bikes have been fine, nearly all of my cars have been fine, with the exception of the rover kv6 in my zs180..

That had 2 new engines... the first failed after 3500 miles using my method, the second failed after 8000 miles using the manufacturers method..

I think I just prolonged the agony by running it in more slowly.. lol

Interestingly the first engine failed imho due to me thrashing it, the second failed due to oil consumption of 1ltr per 600 miles, and me not checking it often enough!

1st was replaced under warranty, second was replaced at my cost...

The choice is always yours, but when most manufacturers say oil consumption of 1ltr per 1000km's is acceptable, you have to wonder about their methods...

:eek:
 
zenith10 said:
i take it this method of thrashing it doesnt work for 2 strokes?
?
Click to expand...

It does... In fact it can be even more beneficial if you do it right, as a good piston seal affects primary compression as well...

:cool:
 
TaKeN said:
Its what i'm going to be doing on my 2 stroke KX 125 :)
Click to expand...

With a motocross bike thats just had a new nikasil, you should build up to it slightly more gradually... heaven forbid but the tolerance may not be entirely perfect!

Use 5 minutes running accelerating in 3rd gear with max half throttle, closing, slow down, then accelerating again... repeat as much as possible for the 5 minutes.. allow engine to cool slightly, rest for 5 minutes.. dont let engine cool completely

same again with 5/8ths throttle

same again with 3/4s throttle

same again near max throttle

then go an give it some stick..

This is the method we used with CR250 race engines and we never had any siezures or longevity issues...

DO NOT add extra oil to the fuel, ever! it leans the air fuel mixture and will likely overheat the engine...

I believe kawasaki recommend shell castor based race oil at 20:1, if you use synthetic, you may need to drop a jet size once the engine is run in.. as they only use 40:1 roughly.. this means the fuel air mix is actually rich.

:cool:
 
I'm running 33.1 with expensive castrol TTS Oil..


Seems to be doing the job. - Will go up to 40.1 after the tank runs low.


Here is how ive been breaking the bike in so far...



I hope i havn't already damaged the engine :(


I warmed the bike for 5 mins, then lot it cool down completely.


Then warmed it up again and rode if for five mins constantly gear changing.

Then warmed it up and rode it again for ten mins constantly gear changing.

Then last night i warmed it up and took it across the field for about 15 mins accelerating not too hard,


Then about 20 mins later i took the bike onto a flat bit of field and opened it up... not revving it flat out. But pulling quite hard :eek:

Then towards the end of the field i would pull the clutch in, then throttle forwards and backwards to lube the cylinder a bit, i went up and down the field about four times.

Then i shut off the bike and let it cool for five mins before putting it into the shed...

Is this likely to have damaged it ?

and do you consider it to be RAN IN now ?
 
Sounds good to me..

Do a plug chop to check on the mixture, you may already find it is a little rich..

:cool:
 
:D


Will check the plug as soon as i'm home,


It should be a nice chocolate brown colour right ?


or inbetween straw and light chocolate :p
 
Straw to light chocolate, the colour of the white bits when chocolate sweats..

To plug chop properly... run it flat out and then hold the engine kill and pull in the clutch..

:cool:
 
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