NMRAPaul
03-24-2006, 12:04 PM
Straightline:
How to Break In a Race Engine
This is a summary of a complete technical story that will appear in the July 2006 issue of Race Pages. Check out the printed version for the full story.
http://www.promediapub.com/vbulletinimg/nmra/rp0706sl/headshot.jpg
There is more to building a motor than just getting all the right parts and following torque specs. If a motor isn’t properly broken in, at best, it’ll be down on power. You don’t often see a “how-to” for breaking in a race motor, since it is usually taken for granted that a racer already knows, or knows someone who knows the process. Who better to ask about break-in than engine-builder, NMRA tech inspector, and Hot Street racer Tim Eichhorn? In his multiple roles, Eichhorn deals with every aspect of a motor, from initial assembly to final teardown. In a class where there is no boost to raise or intercooler to ice down, a properly built motor is absolutely essential. We had a chat with Eichhorn, and got the lowdown on the process to properly break-in a new motor.
When breaking in a motor, there is one major goal; getting the rings to properly seal in the cylinders. Eichhorn elaborates, saying “Your main concern is to seat the rings. Secondarily, the break-in process cleans out all the assembly lube, metal and garbage in the motor, but the main focus is the rings. If you don’t seat them properly, you’ll have blow-by issues, and blow-by costs horsepower.” So how does one go about properly breaking a fresh mill in? Per Eichhorn, “The most important thing when breaking-in a new motor is to put a load on it. Breaking-in a motor is all about time, temperature, and load. First thing to do is start up the car, making sure the vacuum pump is off, and get some heat into the motor. Once it’s warmed up, then you apply load.” That load can be applied in different ways, but no matter how that’s accomplished, a few rules always apply. “Keep the RPM low, like under 3000, and let the engine heat up and cool down completely. It needs to go through two or three heat cycles before you go racing, making sure not to get it hotter than 160-180 degrees,” Eichhorn says. One way to introduce load is by making a dyno pull. Eichhorn recommends a 20-minute session. “After 20 minutes of load on a dyno, and allowing the motor to completely cool, it should be fine.” Another method to break-in a race motor is through a few transbrake stands. “If it’s a transbrake car, I’ll put it on the transbrake for a few seconds, and then let it cool completely down. Then I’ll repeat that one more time. Then you change the oil, check your lash and you’re good to go,” Eichhorn concludes.
Now if you happen to have a street/strip motor, the break-in process is a bit different. “For a car that will be driven on the street, what I recommend is letting the car warm up for about 20 minutes, and then shutting it off for a few minutes. Then start it back up and take it out on the highway,” says Eichhorn, “then cruise in fifth gear at 60 mph for a while, then step up to 70, making sure not to get it hotter than 190-200 degrees. Those high gears put good load on the motor and really break-in a motor well. At the end of the night, dump the oil and you’re ready to rock.”
Whether you are breaking in a full race motor, or a brand new street car, Eichhorn says to use natural dino-juice to break the motor in. “The synthetic oil is too slippery to break an engine in with. You want a little ring-to-cylinder contact to bed them in there. I’ll usually break in a motor, change the oil, make three passes on the motor, and then make the switch to a synthetic oil,” explains Eichhorn. The process to break-in a motor is pretty simple as long as you know what you are doing, and will lead to greater ring life and more power out of your engine.
http://www.promediapub.com/vbulletinimg/nmra/rp0706sl/dino.jpghttp://www.promediapub.com/vbulletinimg/nmra/rp0706sl/syn.jpg
Eichhorn recommends using straight dino-juice to break in a motor. The high-performance synthetic motor oil is too slick, and lubricates too well, preventing ring-to-cylinder friction, hindering the bedding in of the rings. Once the motor is broken-in, and a few passes are on it, then you can switch to synthetic oil.
http://www.promediapub.com/vbulletinimg/nmra/rp0706sl/vacpump.jpg
You want to make sure that the vacuum pump is off during the break-in process. The negative pressure behind the rings can hinder the ring-seating process.
http://www.promediapub.com/vbulletinimg/nmra/rp0706sl/tach.jpg
Eichhorn warns to keep the motor under 3000 rpm during break-in. Load is the key to proper break-in, not RPM. He says that in a pinch, a few good, solid burnouts will break in a motor. Load, time, and temperature are all factors in getting everything properly bedded-in.
http://www.promediapub.com/vbulletinimg/nmra/rp0706sl/gauges.jpg
It's important to monitor engine temperature and oil pressure during break-in; low oil pressure is an immediate danger sign, and Eichhorn says that coolant temperatures for a race engine should stay in the 160-180 degree range.
http://www.promediapub.com/vbulletinimg/nmra/rp0706sl/tester.jpg
After you run the proper break-in procedure on the motor and let it cool down, you should run a leakdown test to make sure that all the rings seated properly.
ITEMS USED:
1 Canon Digital Rebel
1 Tim Eichhorn
1 Donut
1 eMac
15,000 Brain Cells
How to Break In a Race Engine
This is a summary of a complete technical story that will appear in the July 2006 issue of Race Pages. Check out the printed version for the full story.
http://www.promediapub.com/vbulletinimg/nmra/rp0706sl/headshot.jpg
There is more to building a motor than just getting all the right parts and following torque specs. If a motor isn’t properly broken in, at best, it’ll be down on power. You don’t often see a “how-to” for breaking in a race motor, since it is usually taken for granted that a racer already knows, or knows someone who knows the process. Who better to ask about break-in than engine-builder, NMRA tech inspector, and Hot Street racer Tim Eichhorn? In his multiple roles, Eichhorn deals with every aspect of a motor, from initial assembly to final teardown. In a class where there is no boost to raise or intercooler to ice down, a properly built motor is absolutely essential. We had a chat with Eichhorn, and got the lowdown on the process to properly break-in a new motor.
When breaking in a motor, there is one major goal; getting the rings to properly seal in the cylinders. Eichhorn elaborates, saying “Your main concern is to seat the rings. Secondarily, the break-in process cleans out all the assembly lube, metal and garbage in the motor, but the main focus is the rings. If you don’t seat them properly, you’ll have blow-by issues, and blow-by costs horsepower.” So how does one go about properly breaking a fresh mill in? Per Eichhorn, “The most important thing when breaking-in a new motor is to put a load on it. Breaking-in a motor is all about time, temperature, and load. First thing to do is start up the car, making sure the vacuum pump is off, and get some heat into the motor. Once it’s warmed up, then you apply load.” That load can be applied in different ways, but no matter how that’s accomplished, a few rules always apply. “Keep the RPM low, like under 3000, and let the engine heat up and cool down completely. It needs to go through two or three heat cycles before you go racing, making sure not to get it hotter than 160-180 degrees,” Eichhorn says. One way to introduce load is by making a dyno pull. Eichhorn recommends a 20-minute session. “After 20 minutes of load on a dyno, and allowing the motor to completely cool, it should be fine.” Another method to break-in a race motor is through a few transbrake stands. “If it’s a transbrake car, I’ll put it on the transbrake for a few seconds, and then let it cool completely down. Then I’ll repeat that one more time. Then you change the oil, check your lash and you’re good to go,” Eichhorn concludes.
Now if you happen to have a street/strip motor, the break-in process is a bit different. “For a car that will be driven on the street, what I recommend is letting the car warm up for about 20 minutes, and then shutting it off for a few minutes. Then start it back up and take it out on the highway,” says Eichhorn, “then cruise in fifth gear at 60 mph for a while, then step up to 70, making sure not to get it hotter than 190-200 degrees. Those high gears put good load on the motor and really break-in a motor well. At the end of the night, dump the oil and you’re ready to rock.”
Whether you are breaking in a full race motor, or a brand new street car, Eichhorn says to use natural dino-juice to break the motor in. “The synthetic oil is too slippery to break an engine in with. You want a little ring-to-cylinder contact to bed them in there. I’ll usually break in a motor, change the oil, make three passes on the motor, and then make the switch to a synthetic oil,” explains Eichhorn. The process to break-in a motor is pretty simple as long as you know what you are doing, and will lead to greater ring life and more power out of your engine.
http://www.promediapub.com/vbulletinimg/nmra/rp0706sl/dino.jpghttp://www.promediapub.com/vbulletinimg/nmra/rp0706sl/syn.jpg
Eichhorn recommends using straight dino-juice to break in a motor. The high-performance synthetic motor oil is too slick, and lubricates too well, preventing ring-to-cylinder friction, hindering the bedding in of the rings. Once the motor is broken-in, and a few passes are on it, then you can switch to synthetic oil.
http://www.promediapub.com/vbulletinimg/nmra/rp0706sl/vacpump.jpg
You want to make sure that the vacuum pump is off during the break-in process. The negative pressure behind the rings can hinder the ring-seating process.
http://www.promediapub.com/vbulletinimg/nmra/rp0706sl/tach.jpg
Eichhorn warns to keep the motor under 3000 rpm during break-in. Load is the key to proper break-in, not RPM. He says that in a pinch, a few good, solid burnouts will break in a motor. Load, time, and temperature are all factors in getting everything properly bedded-in.
http://www.promediapub.com/vbulletinimg/nmra/rp0706sl/gauges.jpg
It's important to monitor engine temperature and oil pressure during break-in; low oil pressure is an immediate danger sign, and Eichhorn says that coolant temperatures for a race engine should stay in the 160-180 degree range.
http://www.promediapub.com/vbulletinimg/nmra/rp0706sl/tester.jpg
After you run the proper break-in procedure on the motor and let it cool down, you should run a leakdown test to make sure that all the rings seated properly.
ITEMS USED:
1 Canon Digital Rebel
1 Tim Eichhorn
1 Donut
1 eMac
15,000 Brain Cells