How to Ride with New Rings?
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Rule 1) DO NOT overheat the engine, no traffic jams, no extended idling, etc.
You must (in order to properly seat the rings) load the engine significantly, but for short bursts, run it up through the gears using 1/2 to 3/4 throttle, but short shift it, keep below 5K.
Frequent cool downs.
Lather rinse repeat.
Remember to torque your cyl head.
You must (in order to properly seat the rings) load the engine significantly, but for short bursts, run it up through the gears using 1/2 to 3/4 throttle, but short shift it, keep below 5K.
Frequent cool downs.
Lather rinse repeat.
Remember to torque your cyl head.
It would help to know if this is a case of a hone and new rings or a complete bore oversize/new pistons.
If it's just a hone and rings job the important principal to keep in mind is that the rings have a limited stretch of time to get seated, or worn in, by the rough surface of a newly honed cylinder wall. At the same time that the rings are waring in, the cylinder surface is waring in too. You need to get the job done on the rings fairly quickly because when the cylinder is worn smooth, it's over. It can take a very long time after that to finally seat the rings. Some people say never. The way to do that is to put a load on them. That is done with the throttle. Cylinder pressure is the main force that presses the rings against the cylinder. Short bursts followed by little or nor load fills the bill. Or as some people say, "Ride it like you stole it". BTW, that is the advice I got from the TotalSeal guys. This applies to a ring job, certain other considerations apply if there are new pistons involved.
If it's just a hone and rings job the important principal to keep in mind is that the rings have a limited stretch of time to get seated, or worn in, by the rough surface of a newly honed cylinder wall. At the same time that the rings are waring in, the cylinder surface is waring in too. You need to get the job done on the rings fairly quickly because when the cylinder is worn smooth, it's over. It can take a very long time after that to finally seat the rings. Some people say never. The way to do that is to put a load on them. That is done with the throttle. Cylinder pressure is the main force that presses the rings against the cylinder. Short bursts followed by little or nor load fills the bill. Or as some people say, "Ride it like you stole it". BTW, that is the advice I got from the TotalSeal guys. This applies to a ring job, certain other considerations apply if there are new pistons involved.
Also, I forgot to mention that you probably want to break the rings in with non-synthetic oil, something with an API rating of SH. The reason is that later rated oils have a friction lowering, mileage enhacing additve improving package that will get in the way of the seating process, I think it's mainly Molybdenum.
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Poor to ignorant choose of subject line wording as assumes rings are what is most concern by time ya leave nest. It'snot by a long shot.
Rings sealing run in should be mostly done by the time the oil pressure flow is enough to return sump oil to oil tank, 45 sec. with some continued improvement over next 30 sec or so at cam protective rpm over 2500 to 5000+. If still blow by smoke by time ya actually hit the road, then ya may have lingering seal issues the rest of those new fouled bore/ring life. Concept-principle-practice is to have rings knock off hi spots of bore finish and not melt-gall them over, which means hi-ish throttle blips ill smoke is about invisible before leaving nest site. If this dose not happen by first min or so then shut down to cool down and repeat with angry attitude another min or so. Any lube added to bores/rings will hinder this initial sealing and TSeal rings for last decade has followed the ole 50's Chevy dealerships by selling a Bon Ami type dry friction polish to help hasten sealing real quick before melt/gall mess up. TS knows many can't accept this fact so say can spray in wd40 which is a solvent cleaner, water displacer not a lube, so can flash off on first combustion to get back to the dry ring break in. There are plenty of tales of racers sticking in rings and taking right off to race and claims its the best good ring seal they got. In troublesome cases process is ride hard for a few minutes then shut off or coast till cooled well then repeat. Rod shells and main bearings and cam lifter surfaces may need the harsh road run in to finish up but the bore/rings should be long done by then. My reasoned practice is to run up wildly on first start till smoke clears in about a minute, then shut down to cool & gloat and maybe diddle timing or carb pilot or nip up fasteners then run a few minutes with hi throttle blips till about full temp then change oil and hit the road. I figure oil will be most contaminated it will ever be by then so trash the hi detergent diesel grade oil right away for normal oil and ride off avoiding tickets and crashes pensively enjoying new engine life.
Much as it originally went against my human grain of easy break in I've been corrected in concepts-practice by world wide web of info and my own folly.
Rings are pussy cats to run in but a new cam/lifter surfaces are more vital tricky to do right which requires like 20 min of nerve wracking rpms to get oil surf help, which conflicts with ring run in melt-gall practice. I am conflicted as anyone on how to resolve this so do a few min of ring run in cool offs then when nil smoke, run for the cam wear in - 10 min or so twice then change oil and ride off normally. Was surprised pleased to see on such low load low fuel running the engine temps and oil temps took about 10 min to even get to normal road use levels so now don't bother with a fan. Btw if new tranny parts it should have its frist lube changed soon too.
Rings sealing run in should be mostly done by the time the oil pressure flow is enough to return sump oil to oil tank, 45 sec. with some continued improvement over next 30 sec or so at cam protective rpm over 2500 to 5000+. If still blow by smoke by time ya actually hit the road, then ya may have lingering seal issues the rest of those new fouled bore/ring life. Concept-principle-practice is to have rings knock off hi spots of bore finish and not melt-gall them over, which means hi-ish throttle blips ill smoke is about invisible before leaving nest site. If this dose not happen by first min or so then shut down to cool down and repeat with angry attitude another min or so. Any lube added to bores/rings will hinder this initial sealing and TSeal rings for last decade has followed the ole 50's Chevy dealerships by selling a Bon Ami type dry friction polish to help hasten sealing real quick before melt/gall mess up. TS knows many can't accept this fact so say can spray in wd40 which is a solvent cleaner, water displacer not a lube, so can flash off on first combustion to get back to the dry ring break in. There are plenty of tales of racers sticking in rings and taking right off to race and claims its the best good ring seal they got. In troublesome cases process is ride hard for a few minutes then shut off or coast till cooled well then repeat. Rod shells and main bearings and cam lifter surfaces may need the harsh road run in to finish up but the bore/rings should be long done by then. My reasoned practice is to run up wildly on first start till smoke clears in about a minute, then shut down to cool & gloat and maybe diddle timing or carb pilot or nip up fasteners then run a few minutes with hi throttle blips till about full temp then change oil and hit the road. I figure oil will be most contaminated it will ever be by then so trash the hi detergent diesel grade oil right away for normal oil and ride off avoiding tickets and crashes pensively enjoying new engine life.
Much as it originally went against my human grain of easy break in I've been corrected in concepts-practice by world wide web of info and my own folly.
Rings are pussy cats to run in but a new cam/lifter surfaces are more vital tricky to do right which requires like 20 min of nerve wracking rpms to get oil surf help, which conflicts with ring run in melt-gall practice. I am conflicted as anyone on how to resolve this so do a few min of ring run in cool offs then when nil smoke, run for the cam wear in - 10 min or so twice then change oil and ride off normally. Was surprised pleased to see on such low load low fuel running the engine temps and oil temps took about 10 min to even get to normal road use levels so now don't bother with a fan. Btw if new tranny parts it should have its frist lube changed soon too.
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Good advice. Most important seems to be no overheating ,no hot day first rides.
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Nah, any weather ya can get out in is fine to do initial run in, but may reveal timing, tuning and octaneing faults quicker. The over heating to be concerned with has nothing to do with oil heating or what is felt through fins after a time, it has everything to do with the immediate temperature of the contact surfaces of rings in bores and lobes on lifters and balls in races and bushes/shafts and cogs meshes and sprocket teeth & chain flapping. Similar to sharpening with a bench grinder, its ok if done in fast-short enough contacts that it don't detemper the metal that remains or galls up on using hi speed drill bit. Its the time element on ring heating cycling to go by guess and by golly Butt even Norton bores and decades or ring material just don't need the really old time traditional rationals of long draw out creeping up on new surface burnishing. Keep in mind there is not ZAPP laid down nano thin until over boiling temps reached by the oil and contact surfaces to plate out and only takes one cold start up w/o oil flim surfing to remove it till reformed again before quick shut down or can wipe it off at low rpm for next kick on on base metala rubbing till surf rpm speed reached. Last new engine oil filled in rockers and crank pumped till wet sumped still took 43 sec well over 2000 rpm to see oil spit out in tank then about 15 sec or so till smoke essentially stopped by ring sealing, then kept it up another minute to shut down cool down, then next go was over 5 min till head hot then cool off then 10 min till fully hot, for done breaking in rings and new lifters on hand filed smooth cam lobes, changed oil and took off in glee to narry see any ferric dust on the sump magnet any time checked afterwards.
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