cam break-in

[mbandit]

what's the routine for breaking-in a new cam on my 440?

[Chryco Psycho]

try not to crank the engine much , fill the carb with gas & get the timing set , start the engine & immediatly bring the RPM to 1800-2200 & leave it running for min 20 minutes , do Not rev the engine during that time , adjust the timing while it is running to keep the heat down , & set the carb as much as possible to keep it from running lean

[Ghoste]

After that initial break in, is it worthwhile to pull the intake and check the cam lobes?

[Runner]

   i like to have my wife sitting in the car when i do a fire up so she can monitor the oil presure .   most cam companies advise to very the rpm a little to promote lifters to spin.  i also lke to prime the motor with the valve covers off before hand and turn the motor over 2 full revolutions to verify im getting oil to the top end of the motor.

   keep an etye on the water temp during break in as well. it can get hot fast on a warm day.  have a garden hose handy, a fire extingusher handy.

[Chryco Psycho]

you will generally hear if a cam goes bad as it will pick up a miss , not really nessisary to pull the intake
I always like to have 2 people for a break in so I can tune it & someone can watch the guages
the cam lobes are designed with an angled ramp which rotates the lifters , changing RPM will make no difference , I have seen a few cams that either did or would have failed very quickly as the ramp was not ground correctly & the lifter failed to rotate

[General_01]

My engine got warm pretty quick. I would run it up to about 220*-230* and then shut it down. I had to shut the engine down four times during break-in. I was worried about the cam, but everything was fine and I now have about 700 miles on the rebuild and everything is running great. Probably not the ideal way to break in a cam.

[Beer]

When they broke mine in on the dyno, they did not allow me to run my new headers, due to the ceramic coating.
Seems the ceramic coating needs to cure, so the procedure for the headers is warm them up, and let cool them off, warm them up and cool them off. They said running the new headers during the breakin may damage the coating being its a twenty minute run for break in.

Just in case ya got new headers too...

[Runner]

not trying to be argumentitive here but,  the cam manufacturers say to very the rpm in there instructions. (at least crane and comp).    ill follow the manufacturers procedure for no other reason than if you have a problem at least you did it thier way.     

[Chryco Psycho]

Engle states the opposite so I do it their way for the same reason , follow the mfg suggestion

[Ghoste]

Any theories as to why one mfg would say one method and another the opposite?

[firefighter3931]

not trying to be argumentitive here but,   the cam manufacturers say to very the rpm in there instructions. (at least crane and comp).      ill follow the manufacturers procedure for no other reason than if you have a problem at least you did it thier way.        

I've blipped the throttle intermittently on every cam i've broken in over the years. Making sure the lifters rotate in their bores is important during the break in procedure. I even did this with an Engle cam this past spring.

Ron

[kamkuda]

I did the same, blipping the throttle, and I also used the exhaust manifolds instead of the ceraminc coated headers. (to protect the finish of the headers)

[WINGMAN]

well how to break-in a new cam, each application is going to be different. is the engine stock, does it have hp valve springs? i have worked at a dodge dealership as the engine man for 11 years and on stock engines i just put it together and go. do change oil at less than 1k.on hp engines it will help if you run it at 2000 rpm for five to ten minutes and change oil when the engine has one hour on it.

[mbandit]

No problems.  Ran the engine for 20 minutes about 2000 rpm, blipping the gas every now and again.  Changed the oil a little later.  I have ceramic coated headers fitted and I have broken 2 cams in on this engine, no problems with the headers ( they look cool too when glowing bright red during the break-in!).

Now I need to find a cheap vacuum pump for the brake booster...

[Charger72SE]

met with my engine rebuilder today and he talked to a guy at cam company that recommends using ZINC additive in the oil for cam break-in, or "not for street use" oil or doing both.  This is suppose to make it easier on the cam during break-in.

have you guys heard of this before?

thanks

[Ghoste]

Yup.  As per Neil and Ron I now add a bottle of GM engine oil supplement at every oil change.  You can get it at any Chevy shop, it's cheap, and it's mostly zinc.
Finally, General Motors turns out a useful product.

[Runner]

Yup.   As per Neil and Ron I now add a bottle of GM engine oil supplement at every oil change.   You can get it at any Chevy shop, it's cheap, and it's mostly zinc.
Finally, General Motors turns out a useful product.

   i had planed to do this as well, but when i read the bottle i changed my mind.  they recomend against using it as a regular oil additive. inact i still have a bottle in the shop. i still think its a great break in lube.

  fast68plymouth recomened to me to use valvoline 20-50 racing oil and a bottle of stp oil additive, that was good enough for me so thats what i run.  i emailed stp and asked what was in it, they said it was aniscuff additives and zinc, they obviously wouldnt give there totally formula.    he had some very good reasons for using it, most of witch had to do to camshaft life and long down times and cold starts. all made sence to me.

[cudaken]

 When we broke in DFS68 Cam, changed RPM's alot. It was a huges cam. DFS68 replaced it after 5 miles. May have been other problems but cam lops where wiped out.

My 440, Reed Cam, broke in per Neil and cam is fine. 440 is a nother story.

I broke in all my cams the way Neil said long before there where computers, well in the house that is.

As far as the coating on the headers, there may be some merit to that. Blued up the chrome on my Hookers on cam break in my 68 Runner. But also found a vacuum leak as well.

                                I turst Neil, Cuda Ken

[Ghoste]

Actually the GM engine oil supplement does NOT say that they don't recommend it for regular oil changes, it says that it is not necessary.

[Runner]

um i have a bottle right in fron of me. on the back side it says "GM RECOMMENDS E.O.S. ASSEMBLY LUBRICANT ONLY FOR THE SPECIFIC PURPOSES LISTED ABOVE. GM DOES NOT RECOMMEND THE USE OF THIS OR ANY PRODUCT AS AN OIL ADDITIVE TO ENGINE OIL"   

[Ghoste]

Bizarre.  I have a bottle right in front of me and it says;
" REGULAR USE OF SUPPLEMENTAL ADDITIVES IS NOT NECESSARY.  GM ENGINE OIL SUPPLEMENT IS THE ONLY SUPPLEMENTAL ADDITIVE PACKAGE TESTED AND RECOMMENDED BY GENERAL MOTORS."

I just bought it about three weeks ago, so it's likely a recent packaging.

[Runner]

mines about 3 monthes old. i was very perniod after loosing the .484 cam in my 383 that basically started as a cleanup and install a new cam into the 452, solid lifter cam ect. i bought a few bottles becasue my intent was to use it as an oil additive.   it says what i typed on the back just above the health warnings.

[Ghoste]

Mine has the health warnings at the very top.  Everything else is underneath it.  The stuff may be good for cams but I'd have to say that the differing labels might be a good example of GM at it's best?

[Runner]

honestly theres probably nothing wrong with using it at every oil change, its a great break in lube.  however i trust fast68plymouth's recomendations so its hard for me to justify a 8 dollar bottle of eos every oil change over a 1.50 bottle of stp, when stp has zinc as well.     

   i did a little (and i mean very little) research on zinc when i first put this motor together, it seems that zinc is great to a certain point and then you gain nothing from putting more in however the results from excessive amounts is a sludgy motor.   like i said though, i didt do enough research to accept that as a fact.

[Ghoste]

Could very well be.  Engines seemed to be a lot sludgier back when their was more zinc in the oil.  I thought it was because the new ones ran hotter but who knows?
Anyway, some use it some don't and as long as neither of us ruin an engine over it, it's all good right?