Another Cam bites the dust...

[Stan H]

Pretty sure that is going to necessitate replacing the whole battery tray. That is a bit of a pain as there is plenty of stand offs, brackets and Christmas tree clips that attach to it and taking out the aux battery also. Need to look over the work pretty good if they replace it to make sure they did not gack up something else.

Edit: Here is a pic of my engine bay when I took the battery tray out for doing a full aux battery delete. The battery tray goes all the way against the firewall and also requires disconnecting the fuse panel assembly.

I just want through the fender. Much easier and that fuse connections was afraid it would never go back correctly

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[Hootbro]

I just want through the fender. Much easier and that fuse connections was afraid it would never go back correctly

Yeah, that was a full delete, wiring also which requires removal of the battery box.

 

[KevinM60]

Pretty sure that is going to necessitate replacing the whole battery tray. That is a bit of a pain as there is plenty of stand offs, brackets and Christmas tree clips that attach to it and taking out the aux battery also. Need to look over the work pretty good if they replace it to make sure they did not gack up something else.

Edit: Here is a pic of my engine bay when I took the battery tray out for doing a full aux battery delete. The battery tray goes all the way against the firewall and also requires disconnecting the fuse panel assembly.

I got my Jeep back yesterday. They did replace the battery tray after all because the tray was broken where the power steering reservoir attaches and also the reservoir itself. They actually did a pretty good job. Everything was buttoned up real clean.
Now comes the break-in.
I put the first 60 miles of moderate driving as recommended on last night and will be working on the 300 miles at 50-55 miles for the next few days and also digging around to make sure nothing got left un-done.
It'll be nice to get back on the trail again.

 

[Lochsa]

I got my Jeep back yesterday. They did replace the battery tray after all because the tray was broken where the power steering reservoir attaches and also the reservoir itself. They actually did a pretty good job. Everything was buttoned up real clean.
Now comes the break-in.
I put the first 60 miles of moderate driving as recommended on last night and will be working on the 300 miles at 50-55 miles for the next few days and also digging around to make sure nothing got left un-done.
It'll be nice to get back on the trail again.

Congrats, hope everything goes smoothly from here. I am still fighting with my dealer. The cam just came in at the dealership, not sure when they are going to put it in. I guess based on their workload. I have been advocating for a new engine, but does not seem like they want to play ball. I noted at the very least I want a 10 year/120,000 warranty if they don't do a replacement. I imagine but the time I get it back I will have 24 days in the shop on a vehicle with 8000 miles.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

Old-skool cam and lifter break-in:

Immediate RPM Increase: Start the engine and immediately increase the RPM to 2000-2500. Avoid idling, as this doesn't provide sufficient lubrication.
Varying RPMs: Maintain the engine speed within the 2000-2500 RPM range for about 20-30 minutes, varying the RPMs occasionally to ensure oil splash to different areas of the cam.

 

[KevinM60]

Old-skool cam and lifter break-in:

Immediate RPM Increase: Start the engine and immediately increase the RPM to 2000-2500. Avoid idling, as this doesn't provide sufficient lubrication.
Varying RPMs: Maintain the engine speed within the 2000-2500 RPM range for about 20-30 minutes, varying the RPMs occasionally to ensure oil splash to different areas of the cam.

Something they've done at the dealer service was run the engine (assuming at idle) for 45 minutes to make sure it didn't overheat before road testing. I was never too keen on that for the reason you stated.

 

[KevinM60]

Old-skool cam and lifter break-in:

Immediate RPM Increase: Start the engine and immediately increase the RPM to 2000-2500. Avoid idling, as this doesn't provide sufficient lubrication.
Varying RPMs: Maintain the engine speed within the 2000-2500 RPM range for about 20-30 minutes, varying the RPMs occasionally to ensure oil splash to different areas of the cam.

Back on the break-in subject.
in my experience with rebuilding motorcycle engines we always ran a certain miles at medium rpm/mph while casually running the rpm up and down to keep from glazing the cylinders. I’ve somewhat used that method with breaking in new cars when we buy them but running the break-in for about 500 miles.
Comparing your recommendation with the Gladiator owner’s manual and reading other posts about new gearing and transmission break-ins I’m wondering how much of that new vehicle break-in pertains to the other parts of the drive train vs the engine and how much is needed for an engine replacement. When I got my second engine I went longer on the break-in which I don’t think hurt the engine but now I’m thinking that it wasn’t necessary to go that far with it so this time I’m shortening to the owner’s manual recommendation.
Comparing your 2000-2500 rpm range to the mph, that means running about 70-75 mph vs the 50-55 in the manual. At 55 mph I’m running between 1500-2000 rpm so I’ve been using the manual gear selector to stay in a higher gear to maintain the rpm between 2000-2500 but also giving it some gas here and the to momentarily jump up to about 3500 and then coast back down to the cruising range.
It may be possible that I’m overthinking this but each engine only gets one break-in and I’d like to have one that gets me at least 100k before I have to rebuild or swap out for another.

 

[MPMB]

<snip>
Now comes the break-in.
I put the first 60 miles of moderate driving as recommended on last night and will be working on the 300 miles at 50-55 miles for the next few days and also digging around to make sure nothing got left un-done.

Old-skool cam and lifter break-in:

Immediate RPM Increase: Start the engine and immediately increase the RPM to 2000-2500. Avoid idling, as this doesn't provide sufficient lubrication.

Varying RPMs: Maintain the engine speed within the 2000-2500 RPM range for about 20-30 minutes, varying the RPMs occasionally to ensure oil splash to different areas of the cam.

Back on the break-in subject.
<snip?
Comparing your 2000-2500 rpm range to the mph, that means running about 70-75 mph vs the 50-55 in the manual. At 55 mph I’m running between 1500-2000 rpm so I’ve been using the manual gear selector to stay in a higher gear to maintain the rpm between 2000-2500 but also giving it some gas here and the to momentarily jump up to about 3500 and then coast back down to the cruising range.
It may be possible that I’m overthinking this but each engine only gets one break-in and I’d like to have one that gets me at least 100k before I have to rebuild or swap out for another.

Wait, you guys are breaking in cams?

I fired mine up, let it idle for a few, then just warmed it up, holding it at ~2500 a few times. Then a handful of short drives (5-15min), and two 30-40min drives on mixed surface streets and highways.

I just ran the numbers - Cam and rockers replaced at 62828 on 8/2. The short drives. Saturday a 220mi jaunt to Moab, a couple trails, lunch break, and 220mi back home. Subtracting gas and food stops, the engine ran for ~15 hours.

And yes, after a couple short drives I did test breaking the 5k RPM threshold - no misses, no falling on its face.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

Wait, you guys are breaking in cams?

I fired mine up, let it idle for a few, then just warmed it up, holding it at ~2500 a few times. Then a handful of short drives (5-15min), and two 30-40min drives on mixed surface streets and highways.

I just ran the numbers - Cam and rockers replaced at 62828 on 8/2. The short drives. Saturday a 220mi jaunt to Moab, a couple trails, lunch break, and 220mi back home. Subtracting gas and food stops, the engine ran for ~15 hours.

And yes, after a couple short drives I did test breaking the 5k RPM threshold - no misses, no falling on its face.

I posted the process........mine get started, run to check leaks and oil pressure, then driven for ring break-in, done.

 

[Stan H]

I posted the process........mine get started, run to check leaks and oil pressure, then driven for ring break-in, done.

The dealership I bought mine from it had 41 miles on it. It is 50miles from home. Drive it 55 to the house . Took a couple short jaunts after that . Then went to highland scenic highway and climbed through 1.5-2.0 of snow . 133,241k later here I am .
Edit : might I add that snow climbing was 22miles long most if it in 4low and at higher RPM .

 

[KevinM60]

Wait, you guys are breaking in cams?

I got a whole brand new engine. I wouldn’t worry much about cams alone.

I posted the process........mine get started, run to check leaks and oil pressure, then driven for ring break-in, done.

That’s where I think I’m at at this point. I’m not thinking brand new vehicle break-in. Only an engine that’s already been test run for about an hour. I’ll be driving highway for extended drive time and just avoid driving it like a race car.

 

[MPMB]

just avoid driving it like a race car.

That's the first thing you do with a new car.

That's what my dad did with his new cars back in the 60s. Take it out to some dead street and flog the s**t out of it. If it was going to break, it would have done it then. Man, simpler cars, simpler times.

Did they have warranties back then?

 

[KevinM60]

That's the first thing you do with a new car.

That's what my dad did with his new cars back in the 60s. Take it out to some dead street and flog the s**t out of it. If it was going to break, it would have done it then. Man, simpler cars, simpler times.

Did they have warranties back then?

One old method was to get on the freeway right away and drive it at 75 mph for about 1k and done.

I’ve got 100 miles on this one so it’s onto the freeway I go.

 

[Jrgunn5150]

I fired mine up, let it idle for a few, then just warmed it up, holding it at ~2500 a few times. Then a handful of short drives (5-15min), and two 30-40min drives on mixed surface streets and highways.

That's more than any factory does.

Can't tell that to people who have never set foot in a factory though. They're out in the driveway killing batteries cranking things with no coils to build pressure and lord knows what else.

 

[MPMB]

That's more than any factory does.

Can't tell that to people who have never set foot in a factory though. They're out in the driveway killing batteries cranking things with no coils to build pressure and lord knows what else.

I am lucky that I spent my time in a somewhat mechanical world where things look like they're thrown together to an outside observer.

One time my wife tried to volunteer me to help someone change a transmission. "You've worked on race cars, you know what you're doing."

Yeah, no. Race cars and street cars may "technically" share the same components, or at best, same classification of components, but they are not the same. Our race cars had minimal electronics, sensors, hoses, add-ons, not to mention the openness of the vehicle.

If production cars were closer to how race cars were built - on an infrastructure and mechanical level, not structural - working on the engine and suspension would be breathtakingly easy in comparison.

In a racecar, you can take off the valve cover in under 2 minutes. The checklist to yank an engine is less than 30 items/steps and takes 3-4 guys less than 45min to accomplish. 30min if it's race day (fluid drain and line capping take the longest, followed by pulling the engine out without banging the transmission against the chassis).

I'll be lucky if I can disconnect the electrical connections without breaking any in 45min.

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