1.6 Rebuild Questions - Almost There!

[JDiesel]

Hey Guys,   

I have been rebuilding my 1.6 NA Rabbit this summer.  I have so far been able to answer all my questions just from searching around on this forum.  But now I got two for ya. 
(BTW,  I have photographed all my progress and still plan on a build thread)   

I have the exhaust manifold gaskets that are fiber on one side and metal on the other.  I am aware that due to the geometry of everything that the gaskets only fit one way.  However, is this correct?     (The left two have the metal side toward the head,  the right two have the metal side toward the manifold.)  Or did they send me two wrong ones?   





My next question is on how I start the car for the first time after the rebuild.   I have read to use a lighter weight oil for the break-in period.
I am using non-detergent SAE-30 oil with a Bosch filter.     I plan on running the car until it gets up to temp and then immediately doing an oil change with another new Bosch filter and new 30 Weight oil.  Heres where I'm not sure:

Is it advisable to pour some oil directly over the camshaft and all of the valves before the first start up? 
Once I have it running and its on the 30 Weight break-in oil,  how should I drive it?   Is a 80 mile road trip at constant speed best?   Or do I wanna drive at all different speeds and start/stop a lot?   

Thanks everyone!
J.D.

[bajacalal]

The manifold gasket thing is a known source confusion, and it doesn't seem to make sense but that's the part.

Yes, pour oil on the camshaft and slather it with assembly lube. You don't want those parts to run dry.

I think you're going to find different opinions on break-in procedures. I honestly believe that the 80 mile trip is fine, because you will likely be varying the speeds some anyway, unless you live on the middle of an open highway. I think driving it too gently is worse for breaking in an engine because the rings won't properly seat without some good pressure behind them and the engine will consume oil.

You should also run a real diesel oil, at last after the initial break in, I'm not sure what 30 wt. you're using, but these things don't run so clean like the modern diesels, they really need the diesel rated (CJ-4 rating) engine oil, because it has extra detergents to keep the soot from forming deposits and it has extra anti-friction compounds.

[hillfolk'r]

the gaskets r ok..thats the way they are..
its nice if you could prime the oil system tho
someone said put a socket and extension on the oil pump drive and spin it with a drill
u know when u r turning it the right way cause the drill will load and be hard to hold....
yea pour oil over the cam....
get it running,and hold a high idle,like 1200-1500 or so.....i like to give it a full throttle blip after about a minute...dont let it rev much over 2500.......u gota load and seat the rings....hold the high idle...let it creep up to 1500 -1800or so after another minute..give it a wot(wide open throttle) blip like every 15-20 seconds...trust me u r not hurting it ya gotta seat the rings this is critical...
when i broke mine in after 15 minutes i was idling at 2500 and blipping it to 4k....then go out and drive it......dont redline it but up to 4k isnt a problem..wot blasts to 4k are ok..
ask me how i know,cause i disassembled my engine after 25k for another reason and the bearings and rings were mint......
oh btw if the rings dont seat in 5 mins they never will...thats why its critical to give it wot blasts in tat first 5 mins....
not that its a cat engine but when i worked in a rebuild shop the liners had a note in the box saying dont idle the engine for more than 5 mins or risk non seating rings

[JDiesel]

Great,  How will I know if the rings have properly seated?   



"Yes, pour oil on the camshaft and slather it with assembly lube. You don't want those parts to run dry. "


When I got the new head I did turn the camshaft over by hand a few times.  Did this have negative consequences? 

[hillfolk'r]

ah turning it a few times when ya got it isnt the end of the world.dont lose sleep over it,just dont do it again ok? 

usually you can tell if they are seated ok by pulling the pcv hose while its running and if you have a choo choo train blowing out,they didnt seat
within 10 seconds or so after starting you usually have full oil pressure,and wanna raise the idle to get some nice splash goin to keep the cam lubed...


i like to do my start ups directly from under the hood with a starter button,that way you got a better visual on whats goin on..just be absolutely sure you are in neutral please!!its no fun to run yourself over:)
id let it run 5-10 mins in the driveway doin the wot throttle blips..if all looks good go for a quick ride around the block. ...maybe leave the hood off too so you can see anything funny goin on...besides its fun to watch the rad fan turn from the airflow going thru it

[JDiesel]

Awesome, Thanks hillfolk'r   I will start it that way. 

You should also run a real diesel oil, at last after the initial break in, I'm not sure what 30 wt. you're using, but these things don't run so clean like the modern diesels, they really need the diesel rated (CJ-4 rating) engine oil, because it has extra detergents to keep the soot from forming deposits and it has extra anti-friction compounds.

So the 30 wt. is OK for the very first time it runs, for the purposes of cleaning out any remaining honeing dust.  But for the first actual driving I should be using a diesel rated oil?   Should it be a 30 wt. diesel oil or should I just go back to my normal Rotella-T  15w 40?

[hillfolk'r]

U better not have any grit in there.wash the cyls and whole engine afterwards with soapy hot water..sounds funny,but if you use solvent,it carries away the oil,but can leave the grit to penetrate pores.....


Lets talk cyl lube....
total seal quick seat

Basically its a dry lubricant.
yea you assemble and drop in your piston sets" dry"....
read up on it.good stuff

[theman53]

Awesome, Thanks hillfolk'r   I will start it that way. 

You should also run a real diesel oil, at last after the initial break in, I'm not sure what 30 wt. you're using, but these things don't run so clean like the modern diesels, they really need the diesel rated (CJ-4 rating) engine oil, because it has extra detergents to keep the soot from forming deposits and it has extra anti-friction compounds.

So the 30 wt. is OK for the very first time it runs, for the purposes of cleaning out any remaining honeing dust.  But for the first actual driving I should be using a diesel rated oil?   Should it be a 30 wt. diesel oil or should I just go back to my normal Rotella-T  15w 40?

Here is what I did last build. I put in 10w-30 rotella t-1, the NON synthetic. I started it and reved it by hand for about 30 seconds. I then shut it down and looked for leaks. After finding none I got the wife to follow me and immediately after starting went out the drive for a 10 minute ride round trip. Upon coming back I spun the filter off and added enough oil to get it full again. Why? If you do have stuff floating around in there I figured it was better to get it out sooner than later, that is also why I changed the oil at 100 miles. Oil and filters are cheap when you consider this engine may go well over 1/4 million miles, so I wanted to give it the best start I could... At 100, 1,000, and 4,000 miles I changed the oil and filter with the Mann filters and Rotella T1 NON synthetic. During those miles I never let the engine sit at a set RPM for any ammount of time. I had about 1/2 quart of oil to be added around the 4-5 hundred mile mark. I added more here and there but that was because of the o ring I didn't put in at the IM shaft seal carrier. I didn't use any oil other than that really and switched it to synthetic blend at 7,000 miles.
I liked the rotella 10w-30 NON synthetic blend for break in as the 15w-40 is thicker and the engine brand new is very tight. Mine was so tight I think the oil would have had a harder time flowing to the point of less oiling. This is a "to each his own" kind of thing but I will be doing mine like this again soon.

[JDiesel]

Yes,  this engine is running great now   I also used the Rotella-T 10w-30   (non-synth)   I changed the filter/oil after first warm up.  I just hit the 350 mile mark and the oil is taking on a little color. It was only today that I noticed it was a little over-full. When the oil was cleaner it looked like it was just at the full line but it was indeed going over the full mark on the dipstick. another newb-mistake.... I was worried about an oil seal going so I replaced the filter.  (Then realized I could have just emptied the oil filter out and put it back on. duh)  But it was too late and I did it in the parking lot at orielys.   But anyways, I have yet to run a compression test on it.  It certainly drives great and does not smoke.    When I take my pcv hose off there is still a small bit of white smoke coming out.   (Is a little bit normal?)  And if I hold my hand over it every great-once-in-a-while a small speck of oil will fly out and hit my hand.  It used to be a gyser....   Is that all normal?    I also plan to do another oil change at 500 miles.   Stick with the 10w-30? 

[theman53]

yes, vary your rpm constantly.

I used to do slow acceleration in 3rd from 40mph to 55mph *ags with 3.67* and when I got to 55 I would let off until around 40...repeat. I was pretty anal about it, but I had no oil loss or blowby.

[JDiesel]

I thought some blowby was inevitable (gaps in piston rings?)    Is it possible to rebuild these engines so that no smoke comes out the pcv? 

[theman53]

Mine had none. I left the cap off the oil once and drove to church, it didn't even move.

[JDiesel]

Well darnit.  Looks like I gotta start over. 

[TylerDurden]

Well darnit.  Looks like I gotta start over.

I read on a couple of boards that a vacuum leak can pressurize the crankcase - you might check that out before another teardown.

[theman53]

no, just vary the RPM like mad for the next little bit.