TD Break-in

[wolfsburged]

As I'm coming up on reinstallation and finally running on my freshly rebuilt 1.6TD I have some questions as I've never rebuilt an engine before.

I've heard to run a non-synthetic oil for the first oil change. Any specific suggestions? Still needs to be diesel rated, right? And approximately how many miles before changing? I plan to run Rotella-T 5w40 once broken in.

I hear that you should run a varied range of RPMs to seat the rings, so no super long highway trips right off the bat.

What coolant would you suggest? I had some generic Prestone in the car before. All cooling system bits are new or have been thoroughly cleaned out. Would going to a new VW coolant like G11 or G12+ be a better idea? I know this is more critical on newer VW motors (I had a VR6 which had corrosion issues with offbrand coolant).

Any other tips/tricks?

[theman53]

I just rebuilt mine and this is the first diesel rebuild I have done. I went with rotellat 10w-30. I am going to keep the 10w-30 until about 15,000 miles as I figure if it isn't broke in by then it won't be. Probably whenever the thing doesn't use oil would be the time to switch it. I don't think I will run 15w-40 in syth or conventional as I have 50lbs of oil pressure at 55mph in 5th and 20 or so hot idle...it pegs the 80lb gauge cold idle with the 10w-30.

As far as break in I don't have a bullet proof procedure. I just didn't let it idle and always was varying the RPM for the first 1,000 or so miles. The first 100 I would leave it in 3rd most of the time and go from bottom RPM to top back and forth. So far in almost 4,000 miles I haven't used but maybe 1/2 of a quart of oil. I think the only sure way to break an engine in from what I am told is to take it to the dyno.

[RabbitJockey]

it was recommended for me to use total seals quick seat powder, but you gotta do that before its all back together haha.

[GEE-BEE]

same , Rotella non syn, G12 plus

Just a fresh top for me, it's much quieter

GB

[ffgb]

I thought by switching from 15w-40 to 10w-30 on my new motor I would see lower oil pressures.  I really didn't see any difference.  My cold idle pressure is pegged on the gauge 80psi, and my hot idle pressure is about 45psi, and my 55mph psi with the 4-speed is pegged  on the gauge 80psi.  All of these readings are from the sensor on the cylinder head!

[rabbitman]

I don't think I will run 15w-40 in syth or conventional as I have 50lbs of oil pressure at 55mph in 5th and 20 or so hot idle...it pegs the 80lb gauge cold idle with the 10w-30.

I doubt the oil weight will really change whether it pegs or not. I use delo 400 15w-40 in the summer and delo 400 10w-30 in the winter (with a half pint ar so of lucas oil stabilizer), a cold start any time of year with either oil and the needle will point almost straight down at a highish idle.


I'd change the oil at or before 100 miles. You are supposed to vary the rpm a lot and make it work quite a bit. I don't think it should be allowed to smoke black during break-in since that'll force even more soot past the rings than normal.
Always use diesel rated oil in a diesel engine, it has to combat/neutralize the corrosive acids that will get in the oil.

I thought by switching from 15w-40 to 10w-30 on my new motor I would see lower oil pressures.  I really didn't see any difference.  My cold idle pressure is pegged on the gauge 80psi, and my hot idle pressure is about 45psi, and my 55mph psi with the 4-speed is pegged  on the gauge 80psi.  All of these readings are from the sensor on the cylinder head!

That's a little higher that it should be, I'd worry about blowing the filter up. Is the gauge accurate?

[theman53]

I always have lower oil pressures in my gas stuff by switching grades. Not a big deal to me either way.

I also after the first 5 to 10 minutes of driving I spun a new filter on and topped it off. Then did a full oil change at 100 miles. I did another after 1,000 and will now do 3,000 mile intervals. It maybe overkill, but when new I am sure these make a bunch of metal shavings and it won't hurt anything but the wallet if I am wrong in doing it. If it saves me some miles on the backside of this engines life it was worth the extra oil and filter:D

[ffgb]

My oil gauge isn't as accurate as yours.  I do have a VDO gauge, but it is labeled up to 5bar.  I just drove back from the store, fully warmed up, just got off of the freeway.  I looked at the gauge, it was at 3bar hot idle.  I did notice that with the Mobil Clean 5000 10w-30 and Mahle filter from the dealership, the hot idle oil pressure was at 2bar.  The filter that I am using now are the Mann oil filters made in Germany with only 4 small holes instead of the multiple smaller holes on the dealership Mahle oil filter.  I wonder if that is also contributing to the increase in oil pressure.

[wolfsburged]

So locally all I could find at the Walmart was Shell Rotella T5 10w30. It seems to be a synth blend.

Would this be an appropriate oil to run for break-in, or no due to the synth blend?

[theman53]

No, due to the synth blend. Go to your local big truck place or have the auto parts store order you in a case or 3 of what you want. Just make sure the oil is diesel rated and dino oil

[truckinwagen]

wally should have Chevron Delo 400.


good stuff...

-Owen

[R.O.R-2.0]

delo 400, rotella, any of them.. i personally havent found a reason that any one of them are better than the others..

my rabbit likes them all.. dad burns rotella dino in his duramax. 275k miles, no useage.

oh yea, dont forget to give it some spirited driving.. no full throttle drag racing launches and that kinda thing, but some spirited driving for sure.. and keep your foot out of the throttle (boost) before the RPMs build.. then it wont blow soo much soot past your new rings.

and its gonna take a long time for it to break in. 10k miles is not unheard of to take a diesel to break in..

my 1.5 used a little oil for like 5000 miles.. then it cleared up and even started getting easier to start. im thinking the rings finally seated at that point.

[wolfsburged]

Was talking to a coworker about initial fire up, he mentioned with his background of Chevy 350 type motors that he always would start it up and hold ~2000 RPM for about 20 minutes to seat bearings in. Should I do something similar for this motor?

[theman53]

Was talking to a coworker about initial fire up, he mentioned with his background of Chevy 350 type motors that he always would start it up and hold ~2000 RPM for about 20 minutes to seat bearings in. Should I do something similar for this motor?

IMO no. There is no load on the engine free reving at 2,000 RPM. If it were a brand new camshaft and all its pieces then maybe I would cycle 10min at 1,800 and 10min at 2,200 just for the cam only. I think idling and no load conditions are about the worst conditions for new rings. I am no expert though, but I have around 5,000 on mine and it really never has used any oil and starts instantly.
I too came from a small block chevy background. It seems like you could get rings to seat in those engines even if you didn't hone them.

[Toby]

The reason for the V8 initial run at 2,000 rpm is to break in the cam, not the bearings. SBCs, like most V8s, don't oil the cam very well at idle and with a new cam and/or lifters it is vital the cam be lubed by oil slung off of the crank, which won't happen at idle.

An initial idle also does not sling any oil up on the relatively dry cylinder walls, either, so idling a fresh motor is probably not a very good idea either until we have lots of oil slung all over.