3.0 Rebuild Nerves

[wilke3169]

When is it OK to relax and enjoy? I rebuilt my 3.0 and now have approximately 450 miles on it. At this point it is running great and has one tiny leak that appears to be from the oil cooler. When do you relax and enjoy, confident that all is done and the next 170,000 miles of dependability have begun? When is the engine "broken-in"?
Also I would like to thank Jon at EBS, John Walker, and John Dougherty aka Camgrinder for all of their help. With their knowledge and willingness to help, Wayne's book, and the endless information on this board what seems impossible becomes very straight forward.

Thanks,
Kevin

[mtelliott]

I've got 5000 and still check the gauges every few minutes. I even had a local Porsche garage change the oil and take a look just to make sure.

I still haven't taken it over 2 hours from the house. It's given me no reason to think otherwise but I still wonder.

Maybe after 50K I'll relax.

[jimbauman]

At 500 miles beyond the complete top end rebuild I took my 3.2 out to the track on a hot day - it ran perfectly - the only problem occured on the last run session of the day - I sprung a small but steady oil leak ( a drip - drip - drip..) on the left side tensioner oil line - the compression fitting by the T.

I was a little apprehensive - thinking about all the things that could go wrong - but in the end I was quite happy...

JB

[camgrinder]

Your welcome Kevin, Im always happy to hear about good running rebuilds like yours.

[Carrera3.5L]

Close to 4K on mine with not a leak to be found (knock on wood). Oil consumption was zero for the first 1,000 miles and so far about 1/4 quart during this next 3,000 miles with an oil change coming up shortly. I guess I'm one of the fortunate ones.

I still cringe every time I take it up to 6,800 rpm half expecting the thing to self-destruct but it doesn't seem to complain (at least not yet).

Ralph

[Wayne 962]

1000 miles is the safe point to stop worrying about it...

-Wayne

[wilke3169]

I ventured back here for the first time in a while. I don't know the mileage since the Odometer stopped at 225,000+ but it has been over 16 years so it seems it is going to hold up OK. Hard to believe...

[brighton911]

Well done ! Good that you checked in and after that kind of time and mileage, you can finally relax.

[arbita1]

Omg. I thought it was just me. I have 2,600 miles on my rebuild (done 4 years ago). I really don’t drive my car enough. But I’m always ready for the thing to blow up whenever I do.

[bavaria911]

Just drive and enjoy the rebuilt performance of the motor! After the first 500 miles you should check the underside for leaks and check the torque on a few bolts.

Scott

[Dpmulvan]

Originally Posted by wilke3169

When is it OK to relax and enjoy? I rebuilt my 3.0 and now have approximately 450 miles on it. At this point it is running great and has one tiny leak that appears to be from the oil cooler. When do you relax and enjoy, confident that all is done and the next 170,000 miles of dependability have begun? When is the engine "broken-in"?
Also I would like to thank Jon at EBS, John Walker, and John Dougherty aka Camgrinder for all of their help. With their knowledge and willingness to help, Wayne's book, and the endless information on this board what seems impossible becomes very straight forward.

Thanks,
Kevin

Relax and enjoy everything all the time, life is too short to worry about meaningless stuff that’s easily fixable. Going through life worrying will put you in an early grave.
I have to tell this to myself all the time.

[2jmotorsports]

~2500-3000 on my rebuild and Im starting to relax.

I mostly watched for leaks or stuff coming loose after the initial heat cycles. Like others I had to re-tighten a tensioner leak, one CIS fuel fitting, and basically it; all within the first 1K miles.

One time the wire that controls my Lambda frequency valve broke, the car leaned out, backfired a bunch, and had to be towed. Fixed the wire and back in business. I stomp on it after the oil is warm, all year round and it is a joy. If anything was going to blow up it would have blown up by now.