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Reply to "Engine Break-In"

http://www.stealth316.com/2-breakin.htm

One of the big factors in the break-in is the hone job done by the manufacturer/cylinder shop. This is out of your control.The key to this process is to do it reasonably quickly and with moderately high power. If it's done too quickly the cylinder walls will gall and ruin the rings; too slowly and the rings will anneal and glaze the cylinder walls.

The secret to break-in is allowing the rings to wear on the cylinder walls without getting them too hot.

The rings are made of tempered steel that's affected by temperature. The higher the temperature of the ring, the less time required to anneal or remove the "spring" from the metal.

When the ring anneals, it loses its ability to exert pressure against the cylinder wall. This inhibits the transfer of heat to the cylinder, causing the ring to retain heat and anneal further, thereby aggravating the situation.

So it would seem that a good thing to do is to keep the piston and rings cool and keep pressure on the cylinders and run at approx 70 percent power

Turbocharged engines run much hotter than naturally aspirated engines, especially as the pistons and rings are concerned.

With the constant and usually higher pressure on the rings in a turbocharged engine, the rings will have enough contact with the cylinder walls to break in quickly.

With cam and lifter contact is inevitable because of the extreme pressures put on the lobe and lifter. Each lifter and lobe wears into the corresponding surface in a particular pattern. Until broken in corrosion may be a problem so frequent use helps to break-in quickly.
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