Engine Break-in

[joncdeke]

Just got car my rebuilt 2.0 back from Black Forest. A job well done! They said I will need to keep it under 4,500 rpm's for at least the first 500 miles. Any other suggestions or advice to assure this engine is broken-in properly?

Thanks!

Jon

[John Rogers]

Well it looks like you might miss the time trial next weekend, but it will be worth the time spent taking it easy on the engine!! You might want to have the oil changed in a month or two and just watch for any leaks or funny noises, but they do a pretty good job. Good luck.

[Ian_G]

My experience is to do the following:

0-500miles Keep under 3/4 throttle
500miles change oil and filter, adjust valves
500-1000miles keep under 5K rpm
1000miles change oil and filter, check valves
1000+miles regulat oil, filter and valve adjustments ever 3Kmi

I got this regiment from a few differing air cooled VW mechanics. This is the basic break in that chiltons et all discribes for 60's and 70's vintage cars. It's just a little faster (chiltons stretches this over 3000 miles) because the whole engine is very soft. Thus the break in is accomplished quickly.

The one thing that I would stress is keeping the valves adjusted and checked every 500-1000 miles until 5000 miles has gone by. Durring the cam break in the valves should loosen steadily. You don't what to run them too loose as you will premature wear teh valve guides. This is an opinion/experience that I've gathered from non-shimmed engines over the years. After the cam breaks in the adjustments can be moved out to 3000 miles and really shouldn't move much.

Ian