6.2 SS OIL CONSUMPTION-PLEASE READ

[SSE 4 2SS]

Originally Posted by mexiken

So to avoid major oil consumption by the motor, how should I drive the vehicle during the break in period, and how long is that ????

It can be as short as 200-300 miles or as long as 1200-1500.... It depends on a number of factors...

Oil, synthetic, will take longer and the routine has to be followed more specifically...

Petroleum based oils, not as long nor as critical on the specifics...

I'll try to find the link to arguably one of the most knowledgeable builders to have written on the topic... Traci and numerous other builders on this site may have variations to this, but the principles are mostly the same...

The BEST Break for a new car. "very long"
“DISCLAIMER” Do not use the break in procedure below. Do not do hard acceleration runs and load your engine hard. You don't need this much power. I am not responsible for any damage, breakage or massive power increase caused by this crazy break in procedure. Just because every professional engine builder uses this procedure is no reason you should.


IMHO
The manual is written by people following “Corporate procedure” in order to mitigate the company’s exposure both legally and financially. If you don’t do what is outlined in there little manual they have ammo in court and for warranty if they so choose. It has almost nothing to do with how to properly break in an engine.
Some guy takes a new car out and turns the traction control off. He lays the coals to it like he has in his little import and WAMMO, he raps it around a telephone pole. Now what do you think the legal implications would be if the manual said to do 20 -30 hard acceleration runs and something like this happened. The manual has far less to do with break in and much more to do with legal exposure.

For over 25 years I, my family and every single person I am friends with, hang around with and work with build, test, tune, design and race for a living or sport. My brother and I have built some of the fastest engines in the world for just about every form of motor sports you care to name. Engines costing well over 100k-150k. I don’t say this to toot my horn but to give some measure of my background and experience. I do so because the statements I am making in this post will no doubt be controversial for those who have no experience with engine building, component design and high end research and development.

Ask 100 professional engine builders what break in procedure they use (no matter the form of motor sports) and I would venture that 100% would say LOAD them hard and change the oil often. It’s the ONLY way to properly break in an engine and anyone who says otherwise has not a clue what they are talking about. Why do you load the engine? The main reason is ring seal. From a metallurgical stand point both the rings and cylinder walls must “relax” and “conform” in order to properly mate and seal. If this is not done properly, quickly and in proper form the chances of a proper ring seal can be lost for ever. Your rings and cylinder wall wear could increase; the engine will use more oil and make less power. The worst the cylinder hone and free roundness of the ring are, the harder you better load the engine or you don’t have a chance in hell of getting the rings to seal. Some people are worried that they may break something. That may happen then again it may not. It may happen if you don’t use this break in procedure and then again it might not. For me, if its going to break its going to do it in the first thirty minutes of my taking position of the vehicle I assure you! I will find the weak link now, not later. The break in procedure here is the way ALL engines are being, and should be broke in.
When I say to make hard acceleration runs and load the engine I am not proposing you drop the clutch at 4200+rpm. The consequences of this could be a dropped drive shaft, input shaft, output shaft or the trans itself. Acceleration runs are not the same as drag racing the thing from stop light to stop light and acting like a 16 year old behind the wheel.. You must be in a rolling start and in the middle of low gear you floor the throttle and let the trans shift all the way to what ever speed you wish then let out of the throttle. DO NOT down shift, not ever, not even once during the course of these runs for at least 250-300miles. I put the car in neutral and release all loads after the run but that me. I don’t propose anyone doing this. Its dangerous and you could throw the thing into reverse if your not very careful. If you do not have professional driving experience, don’t do it. If you need more info go here

http://www.mototuneusa.com/break_in_secrets.htm



Here is what I do and what I am doing as well as the results from doing so.

Just drove mine off the lot. Has 21 miles on it. The dealer REFUSED to fill it with 93 octane. I told him that it was no big deal just leaves what fuel is in it from the factory and I will fill it at a station across the street.

I had about 25 miles on it when I laid into it with all it had and man oh man what a fricken pooch! It would not even begin to bark the rear tire from a dead stop/full throttle up to 30-35miles and even BOGGED the engine from a dead start.

I have kept doing hard acceleration runs then shift neutral when it hit 90mph. Its got 50miles on it and you can feel it coming around with each additional run. I let it cool down for a couple hours before I took it out again.

After the cool down I went back out. 50miles on the odometer and acceleration runs then shift neutral when it hit 90mph. She is starting to get a little life in her. You can feel the difference about ever five runs or so it gets a little more power.

At about 60miles of acceleration runs to 90mph. It will spin the tires up to second and the ass end will shimmy around a little now. I will let it cool down over night.

80miles on the odometer. Acceleration runs then shift neutral when it hit 90mph. . I can feel it pulling better and better after each acceleration run. Its finally started coming into some power and I mean right fricken NOW! It still feels a little sluggish on the shifts though.

135 miles on the odometer. Its really coming around now! It really wants to fry the tires all the way through low gear but wont quite do it. The traction control and stabiletrac are off but it won’t light them up and accelerate through low gear like a 400hp car should. I will let it cool down over night and lay into it in the morning and see how it goes. I have also noticed that the rear end is starting to squat when I accelerate from a dead launch. Good weight transition for the street but feels a little weird.



165miles on odometer and after overnight cool down. ITS ALIVE !!!! She will fry the tires anytime, anywhere all the way through first, shifts at 6200rpm and turns the tire some in second. Now this is what I wanted and hoped I would wake up to! It flat ass rips up the street all the way through the gears. I have driven a host of low 13, high 12 second cars on the street and this thing will do a low 13 second quarter right now, hands down, no question, no problem. I have driven a plethora of 10 second and 11 second cars as well so I have a good indication of where this stands. I was nothing short of shocked at the power increase. I should say that I was nothing short of shocked at the total lack of power for the first 50 miles or so. It didn’t have 250hp when I drove it off the lot and now, it’s a total animal!! I am loving this!

I now am driving it like I stole it and loving every single second. It’s unbelievable how the throttle response and acceleration has come around. It’s a whole new animal and what a mean little nasty animal it is. You hit the throttle and the power is right there, right now. When you hit the throttle it growls and barks, spins the tires and just hauls ass. I now have a perma-grin that a plastic surgeon could not hope to erase! This is, by far the neatest street car I have ever owned.


http://www.mototuneusa.com/break_in_secrets.htm
__________________
2010 Camaro SS/RS IOM, 475rwhp 415ft/lbs Cam-232°/245° .612 .612 113LSA. Precision 3500 stall, New Era CAI. Reher Morrison Heads, Manifold and TB. Ferrea H-stems, dual springs, Ti-retainers. American Racing long tubes-Xpipe, High flow CATs, "S"type Borla's. 160F Thermo.
VVT ACTIVE! Thanks to New Era Performance!

Darin Morgan

Originally Posted by Avalnch

I think my rings are in very good condition. I keep a large glass jar to dump my catchcan oil into. In total, it pretty much equals the amount of oil that I had to replace in the motor. This tells me I'm not consuming oil via the traditional routes.

BTW, I broke my engine in HARD. Full throttle everywhere ever since I took delivery.

Did you do a lot of engine braking during the break in period, I'm guessing not....

Originally Posted by 90503

My $.02 : I think the best/normal thing to do is vary your speed, especially on long cruises. They say to keep the rpms below 4K for a while, (I know I broke that rule a few times)...Hopefully that "helped" in hindsight..
If I had it to do over again, I might go with a different oil at first.

Get your tips from guys who know...can't say theyd recommend racing of course...but you get the ideal.

The 4000 RPM thing is written by legal dudes and companies looking to not have to pay out warranty monies... My car hit 6 grand within twenty minutes of driving it off the lot, numerous times... It was the beginning of my break in period as described by Darin Morgan above... I accelerated hard from just above idle to the redline and then threw her into neutral and let her gradually slow... I did this in third gear to ensure it pulled long and hard enough... First and second gear just runs up in RPM's too quickly... I never allowed for any engine braking... a habit I formed that is still with me today.... that's what brakes are for... In automatic cars I do not recommend throwing it in neutral, it's too easy to slip past neutral and into reverse.. just lift and let the transmission/torque converter take up the slack as it up shifts... and slow down gradually... Do not do this in manual mode

Originally Posted by mhood

Yes but did you avoid any back pressure at all? It's not just a matter of driving it hard...you have to do it right.

This... Again, engine braking causes back pressure which can float the rings in the ring valleys and this leads to poor sealing and ring break-in...

[2010ABM]

Every V8 burns a little bit of oil...just the way it works. Not a bad thing, not gonna hurt anything (unless it becomes excessive). How much oil is it losing, and per how many miles (thousands of miles, hopefully!)?

[SC2150]

SSE.....I think I know this guy!!! Pretty much sums it all up and I cant disagree with anything he states. This guy knows what he is doing, great source of info.

I'm 55 and have been building race and performance engines for 38 years, and we have multiple Divisonal, National, and World Chapmionships in both NHRA & IHRA in several classes and every builder we know uses the same procedures this guy does. On our 1000 hp plus alky drag motors, we use Joe Gibbs break-in oil at first fire. We get it to operating temp, retorque heads and check valve lash, then do a standard burnout and 1/2 track run to mainly check for leaks or saftey issues. Come back to the pits, check valve lash one more time to make sure nothing is "going away", do a full out run and check everything one more time, do several runs (each one of the first 3-4 it gets faster). After 5 runs we drain the breakin oil and put in a good synthetic and race. Our motors go 600-1000 runs a season and other than oil changes and regular valve lash, we swap valve springs and lifters at 1/2 season just for peace of mind. We do a complete freshen every season end and that says alot for the proper break-in.

[90503]

Originally Posted by SC2150

SSE.....I think I know this guy!!! Pretty much sums it all up and I cant disagree with anything he states. This guy knows what he is doing, great source of info.

I'm 55 and have been building race and performance engines for 38 years, and we have multiple Divisonal, National, and World Chapmionships in both NHRA & IHRA in several classes and every builder we know uses the same procedures this guy does. On our 1000 hp plus alky drag motors, we use Joe Gibbs break-in oil at first fire. We get it to operating temp, retorque heads and check valve lash, then do a standard burnout and 1/2 track run to mainly check for leaks or saftey issues. Come back to the pits, check valve lash one more time to make sure nothing is "going away", do a full out run and check everything one more time, do several runs (each one of the first 3-4 it gets faster). After 5 runs we drain the breakin oil and put in a good synthetic and race. Our motors go 600-1000 runs a season and other than oil changes and regular valve lash, we swap valve springs and lifters at 1/2 season just for peace of mind. We do a complete freshen every season end and that says alot for the proper break-in.

I hear you, but...
On behalf of those of us who may not have done a hard break in...or who may not do one in the future...
Are we doomed?? lol Is it just the luck of the draw as far as rings etc., whether or not the engine will be good to go or not??

Don't mean to have you repeat all of the great posts above....I gotta go catch can! I'm sold! (and a little worried)! lll I gotsta know for sure! lol

pm some info please

[mexiken]

Originally Posted by 90503

My $.02 : I think the best/normal thing to do is vary your speed, especially on long cruises. They say to keep the rpms below 4K for a while, (I know I broke that rule a few times)...Hopefully that "helped" in hindsight..
If I had it to do over again, I might go with a different oil at first.

Get your tips from guys who know...can't say theyd recommend racing of course...but you get the ideal.

I had a question about that too. What oil should I go with ???? It looks like the consensus is change after first 1K miles, go with conventional, then switch to full synthetic thereafter. Is this true ????

[90503]

Originally Posted by mexiken

I had a question about that too. What oil should I go with ???? It looks like the consensus is change after first 1K miles, go with conventional, then switch to full synthetic thereafter. Is this true ????

I think you might wanna go with conventional earlier, and change it often,

not sure...too late for me! lol

[SSE 4 2SS]

Originally Posted by 90503

I hear you, but...
On behalf of those of us who may not have done a hard break in...or who may not do one in the future...
Are we doomed?? lol Is it just the luck of the draw as far as rings etc., whether or not the engine will be good to go or not??

Don't mean to have you repeat all of the great posts above....I gotta go catch can! I'm sold! (and a little worried)! lll I gotsta know for sure! lol

pm some info please

If you are happy with the performance you currently have, then there is no point of doomed... I personally recommend a catch can regardless of how your car was broken in or the condition of the rings... How many miles do you have on the motor right now...???

Originally Posted by mexiken

I had a question about that too. What oil should I go with ???? It looks like the consensus is change after first 1K miles, go with conventional, then switch to full synthetic thereafter. Is this true ????

If I could do it all over again with the factory motor, I would have left the dealership and driven straight to an oil change place, and had conventional oil put in it... As it is, I only drove it for 13,000 miles and basically threw it away... for the monster in my signature...

My current motor had nothing but conventional oil in it until around 2800 miles, and this included driving it halfway to Phoenix for the Fest.... Long story...part of the growing pains of a major new build... I did drive it all the way home...

From there on it has had nothing but premium Amsoil in it... and that is all it will probably ever have in it... I love me some Amsoil... expensive but lots cheaper than a new motor or new Turbo's...

[mexiken]

Originally Posted by SSE 4 2SS

If you are happy with the performance you currently have, then there is no point of doomed... I personally recommend a catch can regardless of how your car was broken in or the condition of the rings... How many miles do you have on the motor right now...???

If I could do it all over again with the factory motor, I would have left the dealership and driven straight to an oil change place, and had conventional oil put in it... As it is, I only drove it for 13,000 miles and basically threw it away... for the monster in my signature...

My current motor had nothing but conventional oil in it until around 2800 miles, and this included driving it halfway to Phoenix for the Fest.... Long story...part of the growing pains of a major new build... I did drive it all the way home...

From there on it has had nothing but premium Amsoil in it... and that is all it will probably ever have in it... I love me some Amsoil... expensive but lots cheaper than a new motor or new Turbo's...

Gotcha. Now I know. What kind of oil comes with the car ???? Would I need to change the filter as well ????

[90503]

Just changed it at 3300 (that thirty three hundred)...11 months old!!

[SC2150]

This is just me, but I remove the syn immediately, put in a 5w30 good quality conventional (Valvoline or similar), run it somewhat easy for maybe the first 50-100 mile varying RPMs constantly, then beat the heck out of it for the next 500 miles, drain and put a good syn it and your set. Best ring seating possible and if something breaks it was a defective part and not from your driving.

For those that have not done this you may still be able to seat the rings better, but as the quotes in SSE's post the window to properly seat rings is short. Bearings and journals need NO break in time....they are good or there not period.

[Steve Dallas]

All I can say about this is that I've never had an issue. I've taken my oil life down to 5% on the DIC, usually changing it at 10-15%. I have 40,000 miles on the car and I believe I have changed the oil 4 times. Before changing it, it was always where it needed to be. I've never had to add oil.

[mexiken]

Originally Posted by SC2150

This is just me, but I remove the syn immediately, put in a 5w30 good quality conventional (Valvoline or similar), run it somewhat easy for maybe the first 50-100 mile varying RPMs constantly, then beat the heck out of it for the next 500 miles, drain and put a good syn it and your set. Best ring seating possible and if something breaks it was a defective part and not from your driving.

For those that have not done this you may still be able to seat the rings better, but as the quotes in SSE's post the window to properly seat rings is short. Bearings and journals need NO break in time....they are good or there not period.

Great advice, but how do I do this while in city driving ???? I mean, I can smash it on the fwy here and there, but the article mentioned 90 mph runs, which obviously, I can't/won't do, on streets, and anything more than a practically empty freeway.

[90503]

Originally Posted by mexiken

Great advice, but how do I do this while in city driving ???? I mean, I can smash it on the fwy here and there, but the article mentioned 90 mph runs, which obviously, I can't/won't do, on streets, and anything more than a practically empty freeway.

Dude, take it to the track...I think these guys will never advise you to drive in an unsafe manner!!! Hell, if GM is gun-shy, don't ask these guys to go out on a limb!! This could get way "out of control". lol

[SSE 4 2SS]

Originally Posted by SC2150

This is just me, but I remove the syn immediately, put in a 5w30 good quality conventional (Valvoline or similar), run it somewhat easy for maybe the first 50-100 mile varying RPMs constantly, then beat the heck out of it for the next 500 miles, drain and put a good syn it and your set. Best ring seating possible and if something breaks it was a defective part and not from your driving.

For those that have not done this you may still be able to seat the rings better, but as the quotes in SSE's post the window to properly seat rings is short. Bearings and journals need NO break in time....they are good or there not period.

In addition, you might try a detergent oil for that 50-100 miles, to help remove any buildup you may have, then change it out to a conventional oil like Traci mentioned and beat the heck out of it...

After 500 miles, change it out to a good synthetic and carry on... If there is a chance of seating them this far out, then you should be good... And 3300 miles of sedate city driving probably hasn't hurt anything... A good thrashing may be great for it....

Originally Posted by mexiken

Great advice, but how do I do this while in city driving ???? I mean, I can smash it on the fwy here and there, but the article mentioned 90 mph runs, which obviously, I can't/won't do, on streets, and anything more than a practically empty freeway.

You don't have to go 90 mph... That was just the authors example...

Do some fairly good pulls in second gear, or start in first and do steady to hard pulls, not smoking and spinning the tires, shift into second and continue up to highway speeds and then let off.... again, with no engine braking... I can't say this enough... engine braking is an absolute no no... Yeah some people like the popping exhaust... it sounds racy... but it's really bad on a new motor...

If you have an automatic trans, do not do this in sport mode where you are manually shifting.... run it hard enough so that the trans is keeping it in a given gear to fairly high in the RPM range, let it shift and go up through second gear then partially lift and let it shift up through the gears...then use the brakes to slow the car... rinse and repeat... do this for five or six cycles, then go find lunch, or breakfast depending on the time of day, let the car cool for a good hour and a half and then repeat.... head to the house as you do the second cycle and let it cool over night.. then repeat... after several cycles, you will notice the power coming on... and you will have seated the rings as much as possible...