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Engine Break In Procedure?

smlobx

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ShadowsPapa

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Also have a link for a study done by an oil company in conjunction with a major university on the impact of ZDDP in engines. Basically, the oil companies didn't know HOW or WHY it worked, just that it worked.
The study showed that it built up a thin film or layer and then STOPPED building! Once it reached a certain point, more simply caused TROUBLE, didn't improve anything.
More than one study has shown that in most cases additives actually end up reducing protection because they need to be blended with the oil at manufacturing time, not simply dumped in later and mixed by the engine. That blog mentions that, I believe.
I never run additives.

Since the 1990s the oil companies have been forced into finding alternatives to the old stuff - and they have done just that. Modern oils have better protection even with less or no ZDDP and other compounds the older oils had. They were forced into a corner and came up with better stuff.

My vehicles have all gone many miles - some well over 100,000 and one went over 200,000) with no engine failures or issues.

Anyway, the break-in procedure is talked about in rat's blog,
here's what Perfect Circle, maker of piston rings for decades, had to say and how I was trained in HS and college (my degree in automotive) -
Make a test run at 30 mph and accelerate at full throttle to 50 mph.
Repeat that acceleration cycle from 30 mph to 50 mph at least 10 times.
No further break-in is necessary.
The idea is to thrust the rings against the cylinder walls to wear off the microscopic high points from machining.
Turn the vehicle over to the owner with these instructions -
Drive the vehicle normally but avoid sustained high speed during the first 100 miles
.

That's all I ever did with any engine I have ever rebuilt.
 

ShadowsPapa

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Thank God for oil-related threads on forums - every forum needs 'em and we gottem

oil-jpg-jpg.jpg
They wouldn't exist if there wasn't so much bad, wrong, just plain incorrect info out there.
So it will go on as long as people perpetuate the oil myths by posting them over and over.

You don't necessarily 'need' the BEST oil under all conditions. You don't have to buy the world's top rated oil if you don't push the thing to the brink and run it in extreme temperatures and loads - you may get by just fine with "ok oil". A lot of people do just fine.
And what's believed to be the best isn't always. It's often based on OLD information (or like everything else on the web - "popular opinion")
Walmart sells oil, they don't make oil, so some of what they sell is fantastic oil!

Buy it, drive it. You can use synthetic, or whatever from day one unless for some WEIRD reason a factory says not to in writing. (and usually that's their paranoia - you should see the weird recommendations that went on with the T5 transmission years ago. AMC/Jeep changed lube recommendations at least three times!)
(Funny thing - even with college education, a degree in automotive, folks still prefer to believe "well I was told by a guy that xxxx")
Just trying to get facts, engineering info out there and help folks keep their vehicles running for hundreds of thousand of miles. I make nothing on it.
 

Hootbro

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They wouldn't exist if there wasn't so much bad, wrong, just plain incorrect info out there.
So it will go on as long as people perpetuate the oil myths by posting them over and over.

You don't necessarily 'need' the BEST oil under all conditions. You don't have to buy the world's top rated oil if you don't push the thing to the brink and run it in extreme temperatures and loads - you may get by just fine with "ok oil". A lot of people do just fine.
And what's believed to be the best isn't always. It's often based on OLD information (or like everything else on the web - "popular opinion")
Walmart sells oil, they don't make oil, so some of what they sell is fantastic oil!

Buy it, drive it. You can use synthetic, or whatever from day one unless for some WEIRD reason a factory says not to in writing. (and usually that's their paranoia - you should see the weird recommendations that went on with the T5 transmission years ago. AMC/Jeep changed lube recommendations at least three times!)
(Funny thing - even with college education, a degree in automotive, folks still prefer to believe "well I was told by a guy that xxxx")
Just trying to get facts, engineering info out there and help folks keep their vehicles running for hundreds of thousand of miles. I make nothing on it.
Human nature I guess, but most people think they are smarter than what is placed in the owners manual for fluid recommendations and specifications and like to play "engineer" based on an anecdotal life experience and upbringing of bad habits passed down from their parents and peers.

Simple fact that it is like winning the lottery finding real and provable instances where following OEM recommendations in all regards has caused a oil related failure. Outside of no name oils you find in convenience or dollar stores in the hood, there really is no bad name brand or repackaged house brand oils out there with differences only being measurable on the red pubic hair scale.
 

WhatExit?

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Just trying to get facts,
Hilarious!!! Trying to get facts on oil on a forum is like trying to find Jimmy Hoffa's body

You may be able to get oil facts online but even then it's hard to tell which "facts" are true
 

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ShadowsPapa

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Trying to get the facts OUT THERE is what I should have said.
I have the facts - I have a degree in automotive (4.0 GPA) and 45 years experience that should count a tad more than "I heard that" or "a buddy told me"........... right?
I've built my share of engines over my years in the automotive field. (0 comeback rating as well) Can you say that? Can those spewing bs about oil say that? Or are they repeating what someone once told them?

So if someone comes with the absolute bottom line on oil testing, info from people in the industry, you still won't accept it?
LOL I see........ ok.

If it comes from an engineer or professionally trained tech, it's more likely fact than most of the stuff floating out there.

I'm trying to get the true stuff out there, actual facts, not what some spread. They can't point to a valid source.

It's so funny - I STILL see people posting junk about gas that it loses its octane as it sits, or that high octane gas burns slower, all sorts of wild bs stuff about gas, not a lick of it true. It's about as bad as the bunk floating around out there about oil.
No wonder my boss called the internet the misinformation stupid highway.
 

smlobx

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Trying to get the facts OUT THERE is what I should have said.
I have the facts - I have a degree in automotive (4.0 GPA) and 45 years experience that should count a tad more than "I heard that" or "a buddy told me"........... right?
I've built my share of engines over my years in the automotive field. (0 comeback rating as well) Can you say that? Can those spewing bs about oil say that? Or are they repeating what someone once told them?

So if someone comes with the absolute bottom line on oil testing, info from people in the industry, you still won't accept it?
LOL I see........ ok.

If it comes from an engineer or professionally trained tech, it's more likely fact than most of the stuff floating out there.

I'm trying to get the true stuff out there, actual facts, not what some spread. They can't point to a valid source.

It's so funny - I STILL see people posting junk about gas that it loses its octane as it sits, or that high octane gas burns slower, all sorts of wild bs stuff about gas, not a lick of it true. It's about as bad as the bunk floating around out there about oil.
No wonder my boss called the internet the misinformation stupid highway.

I finally finished reading the blog you posted earlier and if I understand it correctly the thinner the oil the better as long as it a high psi wear protection rating. So the question I have for you is what oil will you be running?
 

ShadowsPapa

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I'll likely run a 5w30 oil - I've been running 10w30 in my Eagle but that never sees what I consider cold weather since I got it painted and the underside as clean as your Jeep as it rolled off the production line.
Anyway, since that car is almost always driven in higher temps, I have run 10w30 in it. A vehicle that gets winter use I'll stick with 5w30. Better when first starting it, less likely to kick the filter bypass, and it returns to the sump faster and literally the oil temps have been shown to run COOLER with a lower viscosity oil because thicker oil generates heat from the sheer, and flow more slowly back to be cooled.
Bottom line - thicker oil is a mistake - it is slow to get to the parts that need protecting, causes more heat generated from the film sheer forces, is slower to circulate back to be cooled so runs hotter - sump temps run higher. It's not oil pressure that protects, it's oil FILM. You can run pressures down into the 20s if the oil gets to every single part. Pressure doesn't keep the crankpin and rod bearing apart, it's the strength of the oil film and viscosity isn't what does that.
I've run Mobil 1 in the built 4.0 in that Eagle SX4 for several years - it's what several of the auto makers put in at the factory as their first oil and it's right up there in wear protection -over 117,000 psi.
I've started running my race car, my 73 Javelin 377HP 360 with 5w30 BioSyn Xtra. I did that after the car got caught in a massive 5" per hour rain storm and the dual quad air cleaners acted like funnels filling the engine with water....... It actually idles smoother and a bit faster - the idle RPM climbed after I switched to that oil. Had to back the idle screw off a half turn.
I'll likely pick a 5w30 from the top 20 of that list - determine where the JT likes to run oil temperature as I also check the oil's thermal breakdown data - when does it break down, and how much protection does it drop when it hits 260-275 degrees.

I'm out in my shop prepping parts for more zinc plating and some wiper motor and alternator restorations I'm behind on so don't have my notes handy - they are on my house laptop. I have a chromebook in the shop and haven't fully connected it to my server yet......
 

PyrPatriot

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So I had never considered the engine needing a "break-in" period. I just drove my car normally. Drove 20-30 miles from dealer to highway. Then 40 miles home. Then a couple hundred miles highway the next day. Then half highway half city (55/35mph) at under 10mi intervals. I am a pretty mild driver, especially with a brand new car. I did have to hit the accelerator a few times to pass a car or because someone was driving stupid. I think the engine went to 5000rpms about 5 times total. Like I said, commute driving mostly. Drove a couple hundred miles today to get some rails, car is just under 500 miles. I'll honestly admit I drove the thing very carefully. Today it performed better, didn't feel as sluggish. MPGs still aren't where I want them to be though.

Did I ruin my engine? If not exactly ruined, how bad would you folks say it was?

Also, when is the first oil change? Last car I bought new was a Honda, in 2006. First oil change was needed at 6000mi for that "special factory oil" to work.

Please advise.
 

ShadowsPapa

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The so-called special factory oil is off-the-shelf Mobil 1 in many cases. Nothing special. Not in any vehicle I've ever owned.
I use the exact same oil when I first run an engine I've built as I'm going to later. I just change it sooner. I go only about 500 or so miles on the initial oil then go to my normal change interval.

You didn't ruin anything. Drive it - the factory has already run the thing. Sounds like you did what they'd want anyway - vary the speed and load for a while. Looks good to me.
All they really want is varied speeds and loads for a while - sounds like you did.
And yes things will indeed "loosen up" a bit with time. Things will be naturally more tight at first.
The computer learns, too - that's part of today's vehicles compared to years ago. When I changed injectors in the 4.0 in my little Eagle - it didn't respond very well at first, just wasn't what I expected then after driving a while, it's where I thought it should be.
 

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Hi.

I took a look at this thread because I’m picking up my Gladiator today! I’m wondering - what does the dealership do? They wouldn’t let me come in and pick it up when it came off the truck. They told me the service guys had to get it ready. Ok. How?

Thanks.
 

ADK Tiro

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Hi.

I took a look at this thread because I’m picking up my Gladiator today! I’m wondering - what does the dealership do? They wouldn’t let me come in and pick it up when it came off the truck. They told me the service guys had to get it ready. Ok. How?

Thanks.
Oh, and it wasn’t for registration and all that bs. The registration is already done. He said, "the guys need to get it prepared from the factory" - or something close to that.
 

ADK Tiro

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Oh, and it wasn’t for registration and all that bs. The registration is already done. He said, "the guys need to get it prepared from the factory" - or something close to that.
Ok. Google is a great thing! A PDI and sticker/plastic removal and thorough washing seems it takes a few hours, if your service department isn’t backed up- and ours is pretty busy most of the time.
 

wannajeep

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I recently did my first oil change at 7K miles. Factory oil was nicely dark, looked normal for 7K miles. I inspected the drain plug and found no signs of metal shavings or sheen. When I recycled the oil at the local dump (er, sorry, "resource recovery facility" ;) ), the used oil didn't pass the sniff test on their scanner. Maybe there was some water mixed in from my oil drain bucket, or maybe this was some kind of additive from the factory that got flushed out on the first change. Had the exact same thing happen with my wife's van on the first oil change. Filled with full synthetic 0W-20 and off we go.
 

ShadowsPapa

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Ok. Google is a great thing! A PDI and sticker/plastic removal and thorough washing seems it takes a few hours, if your service department isn’t backed up- and ours is pretty busy most of the time.
Your first new vehicle, or experience with a dealer?
More than just taking plastic off and washing it. There are some parts that are shipped not on the vehicle (in some cases, some options, some vehicles).
Dealer prep goes back DECADES. Nothing unique to Jeep, nothing new.
BUT -odd to find the question here as it's not break-in that they do.
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