aircooled break in oil? New build...

[996AE]

Break in oil or Brad Penn 20-50?

Any experts out there care to share thoughts.

Full bottom up build stock specs 3.2. Balanced and polished rotorating parts but stock.

[Jesse16]

When I did my 87 a number of years ago but coming up on 90 k miles ago I seem to remember me using a straight weight for a short time. Something about the "break in oil" has different additives but only is appropriate for a short time like a few hundred miles. Use the brad 20-50 otherwise because I can know their distributor here in NC and the price is extremely competitive with everything else so why not. In my case, the engine has been performing great.

[Lyle O]

Joe Gibbs 30wt break-in oil worked great for me. Used for first 500 miles or less (to seat cams/rockers and rings). Oil analysis afterwards showed all good. Wear on rockers and cams was beautiful. Engine has been flawless 4 years on...3.4 with 20/21 cams, etc.

[wildcat077]

Amsoil makes a break in oil ,although like mentioned , to be used only for a short period.
Anyhow , that's what i'll be using to break in my fresh 944 race engine on the dyno !

Definitely worth the expense for a new engine ...

[JeremyD]

Joe Gibbs Break in oil - definitely

[175K911]

For the lightly modified 3.6 I just built I used Gibbs Driven BR30 break-in oil for the first 30 minutes at 2000 rpm to break in cams and rockers. Then BR 15W50 which is their recommended oil for dyno pulls and limited additional break-in.

[trond]

i used motul 10w-40 break in oil and loaded up the engine properly too. Ran it for 300 miles+ followed by a 10w-40 mineral liqui-moly. Still stinks of oil after 4000 miles. I suspect the EBS nikasil cylinders after reading numerous posts here. But then here is where paranoia thrives. Still first time for me a hard break in did not take. not a real problem but the smell is embarrassing

[Steve@Rennsport]

I use either Driven BR30 or Brad-Penn Break-in oil (its a 30w). Both are excellent products.

Remember, the procedures are every bit, if not MORE important than which oil you decide to use.

[tailwind22]

Plus 4 for Gibbs break in oil. After the break in their DT 50 (15-50 with an air cooled designation) is a great option.

[996AE]

Originally Posted by Steve@Rennsport

I use either Driven BR30 or Brad-Penn Break-in oil (its a 30w). Both are excellent products.

Remember, the procedures are every bit, if not MORE important than which oil you decide to use.

Build shop doesnt use a dyno.

I'm told;

Start it, look for leaks and odd sounds. If none drive it under load.

Do you have a link to break in procedures?

new Mahle US spec 3.2s and rebuilt heads. Full bottom end refresh.

[3rd_gear_Ted]

Used this for VW motors, same thing with a Porsche
You are to be both gentle and firm.
You gently warm the engine up to operating temperatures by driving it within one minute of starting it, like the owner's manuals have been telling us all for a half century. Any engine wants to get warm quickly, these air-cooled engines particularly do. So get a load on it right away, but drive gently, no bazai rev runs.

Once it is warm (20 minutes), you need to apply good pressure to the rings so they will seat against the cylinder walls. If you are too gentle, the rings will not knock off the minor imperfections placed on the cylinder walls by honing. You want your rings and your cylinders to become good friends, and some serious contact is the way to do it.
So find a level quiet road and get up to 20-25 mph in 3rd gear. Now accelerate with just under full throttle to 45-50 mph, then release the accelerator and allow the engine to slow the car back down to 25-30 and repeat five times. Then drive normally for a couple of miles and repeat the whole shebang another five times at full throttle. This is no excuse to drive like a maniac, just ease on to full throttle on it ease off into your coastdown. When you accelerate, you let metal shed off the walls, coasting down in gear lets the engine rinse the metal flakes down into the sump. Heat is an issue with fresh rings, the friction is substantial, so we want to let your engine dissipate the generated heat with these coastdowns as well, the couple of miles of normal driving in the middle also helps. When you get home, change the oil right away. Let it drip for an hour even. Then refill and change the oil again in about 100 miles (you may be beyond this if you have already been driving it for a few days, but there is no such thing as changing it too frequently with a fresh rebuild).

[996AE]

update

Sleepers Speed Shop recommended and ran 20W50 Motul dino oil for break-in.

At 500 mi oil change and valve check.

P U this morning.

Thanks for the feedback everyone.

[86911cab]

A local Porsche race shop did a top end rebuild on my ‘86. He went back with Schaefer supreme 7000 synthetic plus racing oil 20-W50. Its been in the engine ever since. Almost zero oil usage between changes. I took it into the shop for a this rebuild because, when I bought it, it had Castrol in it. I have always used Castrol on my other vehicles. I decided to change to Brad Penn oil, from the Castrol, for the zinc content. It immediately started smoking, I mean bad! Tried running the oil at different levels with no change. I had about a case of Brad Penn oil left after the rebuild that I took to the dump and, with pleasure, poured it onto the recycled oil bin. Hope that didn’t ruin the other oil in there. I’d pour water in my engine before I touch another bottle of Brad Penn.

[stownsen914]

Remember to do cam break in procedure if either the cam or rockers are new or reground.

[356RS]

Originally Posted by stownsen914

Remember to do cam break in procedure if either the cam or rockers are new or reground.

+1 Yes, before you take it down the road for a warm up and seating the rings.

[Trakrat]

Originally Posted by stownsen914

Remember to do cam break in procedure if either the cam or rockers are new or reground.

How do you specifically break-in the cam and/or rockers without breaking in the new engine?

[stownsen914]

Originally Posted by Trakrat

How do you specifically break-in the cam and/or rockers without breaking in the new engine?

I've heard that with new/reground cams and/or rockers, that upon first startup (and of course confirmation of proper oil pressure, no major noises or leaks, etc), to run the engine at a constant 2500 RPM for 20 minutes.

Not sure how to avoid breaking in the rest of the engine at the same time