Hey EvoM,

Sorry for the plethora of questions I've been asking, but I've been breaking in my new MAP Stage 2 2.4L, and I'm kind of concerned, as my Amsoil Break in Oil (SAE 30), and my first oil change at 50 miles, has been completely clean.

From what I've heard, the oil is supposed to be very metallic-ey, however, my oil is super clean. I've done everything MAP stated to do for the break in procedure, to the T, but my oil is extremely clean. My magnetic oil cap has a few little break-in particles, but other than that, the motor is completely clean. It hasn't consumed any oil, either.

What should a non-broken in compression test read? Is this normal for the oil to not have a metallic hue?

Will it hurt it if I drive the car and the rings aren't seated? The car feels extremely ballsey and doesn't feel like there's any power lost. I've done ample vacuum pulls, etc, and the clean oil is really making me wonder if my motor is breaking in properly or not...

Thanks.

 

I changed my oil the 1st time (BP 30wt) after letting it idle for a few minutes and the oil came out shiny from the metal. I changed it again the other day after putting 50 miles on it with plenty of vacuum & WOT pulls and had a small amount of shavings on the magnetic drain plug but oil looked good. I say go ahead and beat on it then change it again.

 

That's exactly what happened with mine. First change was metallic (shiny), but after the 50 miles there were a few shavings but clean oil. I suppose it's healthy.

Thanks for the response, man.

The car drove perfect on my 50 mile, but started breaking up under 3K on the way home. Just took it out again and it won't even run under 3K.. who knows what this could be.

 

I was going to say something in your build thread, i would never break in a motor that easy. Toss it on the dyno and give it hell. No boost=poor ring seal.

 

this.

 

I was doing WOT pulls before I was doing vacuum pulls. I think you just need to drive it the way it was built to be driven and not worry too much about it.

 

Really? I'm literally following MAP's exact break in procedure. Don't the bearings need to break in?

 

interesting thread, keep us updated on the oil and compression of the motor. I want to know how it turns out for i am interested in building one also.
From the readings here, I am a fan of a hard break in.

 

Give that motor some boost, but don't red line the thing. You are more concerned about seating the rings than anything else at this point, it's important to do it right. I hit 4k rpms a good amount of times and hit boost as much as I could. Changed the oil, threw in SAE 30 again and hit 6k rpms and boosted the car often but didn't beat the **** out of it. Drove the car 280 miles and dropped it off for an oil change. I've heard you want to run 600 on dino oil because it absorbs better.
I had a url to a guy who used to rebuild motorcycle engines, I believe he did over 60 documented engine builds on his own personal race bike, that showed the difference between brake-ins and oils used during break-ins. The best results for his builds were to beat on the motor but not red line it. Run dino oil until 600 miles then drive the bike hard. I really really wish I had the link it was a really nice read and well documented.

 

This guy?

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

Oh, and I'm remote tuning which I figured would be a pain, so I can't get in it until I send him some logs, as I'm only on a base map.

 

sorry for the ignorant question: what's dino oil???

 

Conventional motor oil/Non-Synthetic

 

A good filter should catch the majority of metallic particles; not finding any in your oil is a good thing! If you followed procedure and are using proper oil then you have nothing to be concerned about.

 

Perhaps I could cut apart a filter and see what it looks like. I only use Wix filters, so that could very well be it .

 

so is it safe to say that there are 3 oil changes up to 600 miles?

Start up
50 miles
600 miles?