Car is almost done!
It's been a long time coming and my car should be finished up anytime now (this week I hope). Before I start it up I was trying to figure out what I should be looking for when I crank it over for the first time. I have an hour drive home from the shop, so I will have plenty of time to monitor and log information. It will be on a base tune, so I won't be boosting or giving it much gas. But what should my a/f be on such a light load around 14? What should the coolant temp be, and what would be the highest temp to tolerate before I should pull over? I am sure there is more to this but I ran out of time.
New built motor? or just new turbo kit?
New turbo kit only, used motor - then just run around 14 in light load is fine. Coolant should be normal - around 200F.
I would begin to worry if temps reach 220F, could be signs of air entrapment in the coolant. Get on a steep driveway front high. Check reservoir level, add coolant. Or let it cool down, take off radiator cap. Idle - add coolant as needed
For new engine build, this is what was recommended (use at your own discretion) to me on a built engine, not an F20c but for a flat4 Subaru. I would think it can be used for any boosted engine. Now, there are probably 3 other sets of guidelines that have different steps for break-in.
Breakin procedure:
For first oil, use non-synthetic weight of 10-30 or 10-40. Nothing too nice, it's only breakin oil. You must run the engine right away after starting for 20 minutes at 1500-2000rpms to breakin the cams. Failure to do this will ruin the camshafts. You should adjust fueling as needed to get the afr around 13.5-14.5:1. Try to run it closer to 14.5:1.
Once the 20 minutes are up, shut off the car and let it cool down and you should be checking for any leaks. If none, then after it cools a bit, start it up again and go drive it. You should not exceed 4500rpms and absolutely no boost for the first 300 miles. You should also try to keep the trans in gear as you come to any stops to help back-seat the rings. In other words, shift down gears as you slow down. Certainly try to run no boost whatsoever.
After 300 miles, change oil and filter and put back in the same weight and type as used at first. Now you can run up to about 10-12psi and start increasing engine speeds. Try to increase engine speeds about 500 rpms for every 150-200 miles driven. Do not go any higher than 7500 until you get at least 1500 miles on it. Same with boost, try to increase boost as miles increase. Also, do not run any boost until you can do some tuning while you increase boost. I can almost guarantee it will blow if you do no tuning while increasing boost. I've seen it lots and lots of times.
Keep an eye on oil level. It is quite common for a new engine to drink a little oil, maybe a quart or two during the entire breakin time.
Once you get about 1800-2000 miles on it, change the oil and filter again and now you can dyno tune the car as long as the oil comes out looking good.
The engine is actually pretty much broken in after about 500 miles, but you want to give it every chance you can to have a long life.
The biggest thing to remember is during breakin, run a little less timing and try to keep afr's on the leaner side so you do not overfuel the engine by mistake. Too much fuel will kill any engine in very short order and if it does not outright kill it, the thing will eat oil to something like a quart every 100 miles.
Two things to be sure to do: Cam breakin at startup and no boost for the first 300 miles.
New turbo kit only, used motor - then just run around 14 in light load is fine. Coolant should be normal - around 200F.
I would begin to worry if temps reach 220F, could be signs of air entrapment in the coolant. Get on a steep driveway front high. Check reservoir level, add coolant. Or let it cool down, take off radiator cap. Idle - add coolant as needed
For new engine build, this is what was recommended (use at your own discretion) to me on a built engine, not an F20c but for a flat4 Subaru. I would think it can be used for any boosted engine. Now, there are probably 3 other sets of guidelines that have different steps for break-in.
Breakin procedure:
For first oil, use non-synthetic weight of 10-30 or 10-40. Nothing too nice, it's only breakin oil. You must run the engine right away after starting for 20 minutes at 1500-2000rpms to breakin the cams. Failure to do this will ruin the camshafts. You should adjust fueling as needed to get the afr around 13.5-14.5:1. Try to run it closer to 14.5:1.
Once the 20 minutes are up, shut off the car and let it cool down and you should be checking for any leaks. If none, then after it cools a bit, start it up again and go drive it. You should not exceed 4500rpms and absolutely no boost for the first 300 miles. You should also try to keep the trans in gear as you come to any stops to help back-seat the rings. In other words, shift down gears as you slow down. Certainly try to run no boost whatsoever.
After 300 miles, change oil and filter and put back in the same weight and type as used at first. Now you can run up to about 10-12psi and start increasing engine speeds. Try to increase engine speeds about 500 rpms for every 150-200 miles driven. Do not go any higher than 7500 until you get at least 1500 miles on it. Same with boost, try to increase boost as miles increase. Also, do not run any boost until you can do some tuning while you increase boost. I can almost guarantee it will blow if you do no tuning while increasing boost. I've seen it lots and lots of times.
Keep an eye on oil level. It is quite common for a new engine to drink a little oil, maybe a quart or two during the entire breakin time.
Once you get about 1800-2000 miles on it, change the oil and filter again and now you can dyno tune the car as long as the oil comes out looking good.
The engine is actually pretty much broken in after about 500 miles, but you want to give it every chance you can to have a long life.
The biggest thing to remember is during breakin, run a little less timing and try to keep afr's on the leaner side so you do not overfuel the engine by mistake. Too much fuel will kill any engine in very short order and if it does not outright kill it, the thing will eat oil to something like a quart every 100 miles.
Two things to be sure to do: Cam breakin at startup and no boost for the first 300 miles.
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