Lots of people talk about 3 heat cycles after installation, what exactly is that ?!~
I am getting mine installed tomorrow, anything I should know about in detail ???
How do I do that heat cycles ?!~

Thx

 

Heat cycle

Drive for 15-30 minutes, then let the car sit until the diff is cold to the touch. Repeat.

 

ok....so let's say i drive to 20 mins. to get it heated up, then pull over to shut off the car to let the diff. cool down for let's say 20 mins. ??? and repeat 3 times.......holy, i will be sitting in the middle of no where then....but that's ok, as long as it's good for the car.............

i am gonna be installing it myself with another mechanic, he hasn't done any s2k diff. but he has done domestic diff. anything that we need to look out for?? how do u guys usually measure the back lash ???? need a special tool??? or can it be measured by a feeler gauge????

thx

 

the richmond manual said drive 10 miles then cool off for 30 minutes. Do this about 2-3 times.

 

You're taking it far too literally. 20 to 30 minutes is the "about" what it takes to get the diff up to operating temp. Nothing says you can't just drive and go about your business for the day and then park it for the night. That would be considered ONE heat cycle. Go about your normal business the next day for the SECOND heat cycle, etc. After the 3rd one, you can let 'er rip.

I can just see you with a stop watch and then pulling over and sitting there for another period of time. Besides, once the diff heats up, it's going to take much longer than 20 minutes to cool down.
This is kinda funny.

 

so after the 3rd heat cycle I can drive like I noramally would (VTEC)? I thought you were suppose to break it in for 1000 Miles after the heat cycle...

 

xviper Posted on Jun 29 2006, 06:48 AM
I don't know if its good for the ring&pinion to be at a higher then normal operating temp (new gears) for a longer period of time right after install.
IIRC Stratocaster posted a failed set while doing that - On a dyno!, not daily driving.
Something about "eating through the hardened surface".
IMHO I would stick to the short 10 mile / cool down heat cycle.
I've asked the same question about the "10 mile" too, now I think Richmond just means to say "Do not drive it all day".


There are some pictures of a complete install in the Technical forum.
I hope they will help you.

 

That's the way I used to do it till Richmond came out with their procedure. I used to just break in gears the same way I would break in a new car (engine). That's the way I broke in my 4.44s and oil analysis shows they are just doing great after over 55K KMs.

 

If that's true, then I don't consider that as being anything remotely close to normal driving and certainly not the kind of driving one would subject a car to during break in. Putting a car on the dyno is a sudden, WOT, "pedal to the metal", high gear, high load, redline situation. This would produce extreme temperature differentials within the parts of any component. A failure here would not be a good example of how "not" to break in anything.

 

that's great info guys.....
thx