Rebuilt engine break in oil?

[rampart05]

I'm breaking in a rebuilt engine and need to know what kind of oil for the break-in and how many miles before changing to a quality oil. I've read that any cheap oil is fine, and also read that a straight 30 weight is best. I bought a bottle of Redline break in oil additive. The last engine I rebuilt, it used some oil (1 qt per 1500 miles). So I want to do it right this time. What do you recommend from experience of good oil ring sealing experience.


Thanks

Ramp

[sce30]

use the same oil that your going to use after the break in, then start it (if it has oil pressure)hold it at 2k rpm for about 15-20 min. then no wot, hard launches etc... for the first 500 miles. thats what i do. first couple of time it makes you uncomfortable, but that 15 ish minutes seats the rings work hardens the cam and tattles on you.

[jlevie]

I break in an engine with the same oil I'll be using in the engine. For me that is Brad Penn 20w50, though Valvoline VR1 20w50 is acceptable and easier to find. As sce30 said, get the engine up to temperature and run it at 2500rpm for 20 minutes to seat the rings and run in the bearings. Change the oil & filter after the first 500 miles.

The usual causes of oil consumption after a rebuild is excessive cylinder wear, improperly fitted rings (wrong ring gap), or not having the bores cross-hatch honed.

[M-technik-3]

Could do it the old way of using straight weight Mineral oil for 500 miles to seat the rings. Then change to oil you plan to use.

[LJ851]

Joe Gibbs makes a break in oil that i have heard very good things about. All of the oils in his line are excellent, actually.

http://joegibbsdriven.com/index.html

[TobyB]

for the record, unless you use a specific high- zddp oil, put a bottle of zddp additive
in just for safety. Can't hurt, might just save your cam...

t

[SmokeE30]

i usually run vr1 20w50 but ive used shell rotella t 15w40 in the past for break in with no ill effects, it has high zddp content and is cheap but then agian vr1 is pretty cheap as well

[jlevie]

Seems like I saw an unfavorable report that Rotella T no longer has the high ZDDP content. VR1 apparently still does.