Really not enough information to be helpful. What engine? Fresh rebuild? Just a re-ring job? Piston clearance? Type of rings? Running a PCV valve?
When I had my engine shop in the 80's, the breaking procedure was to accelerate to 60 , let up on the throttle, then do it several times. The theory was it heated up the rings on acceleration, then ****ed oil up to the rings on deceleration. Worked most of the time
^^^^^ That’s how I learned to do it^^^^ One upside down 2nd ring will make for a problem engine. Keep an eye on your plugs. Check every 500 miles or so. If one gets oily change it for a good one. If they reverse, bad rings or installed incorrectly or bad intake valve guides..
Bird man and Jimmy have it right, same as I was taught. I remember Dad telling me “just keep checking the oil and adding it till 500 miles”. Depending on the rings and cylinder finish it could take that long. That’s why the comments about the rings, etc above. Still change the breaking oil, etc. But give it time. Older engines aren’t like the new ones.
1124 - Did you follow the ring manufacturers ***embly and break-in recommendations during the break-in, would be my first question ? Mike
You did stagger the ring gaps? I've pulled a couple of "high blowby" engines apart in the past that had most of the ring gaps lined up in nice tidy lines. I've some re-ring jobs that had far too much taper too. over .020 in one case. Those cylinders were shaped like pounders at the local bar. Still I woudn't get too excited until I had at least 500 miles or more on it and I would dry the take it out on an empty road and run it up to about 60 and let it slow down against compression a number of times and see if that helps. I'm another one of those who was taught to do it that way.
Get some miles on it, run it hard, see if the rings seat. Go old school: Old army mechanic method. Mix up comet cleanser in water, rev it up and slowly pour the mix down the carb. Sound horrible, but I've seen it on old duece and halfs and some sbc's in army blazers, go from smokers to smooth runners, they sit for so long or just idle for hours, the cylinders have rust or get glazed. Generally reserved for well worn engines though.
Same concept as others have said. Only find a decent hill. Up hill, put a load on it, short of lugging it but not full throttle. Down hill coast with engine breaking. Was always told it give rings pressure out in both directions.
My late brother-in-law was a regional service rep for Chrysler from the '50s to the late '70s, and that was the factory- devised cure for rings that wouldn't seat. I've heard of it used in diesel engines as well. Good luck!
If it smokes, you need to work the rings. Rings don't seat from tension, they seat from cylinder pressure getting behind them, which pushes them out and down. You have run the engine up and down the revs, and not run it at any constant RPM. Pressure pushes the rings out to seat them. you need pressure on teh rings to wear in the rings and cylinders. Do not idle a new engine too long. You want the hone on the cylinders to help wear in the rings. Without cylinder pressure, you will knock down the hone without wearing in the rings. Drive it, don't idle it.Some of the best engines I ever built smoked during initial start up. Work those rings!
My method was written by a well known technical author for Harley Davidsons, but I’ve used it on everything from Harleys to 15 liter ***mins Diesels. Get it running, do not idle it anymore than necessary, then, take it out in second or third gear, let it get down to almost idle speed, than full throttle up to 3500-4000 RPM (high idle speed on a diesel), then, let it coast down to idle, repeat ten times, your rings are now seated. I’ve used this on the several hundred engines I’ve overhauled and never had a problem.
As mentioned above, you need to provide some more details about who performed the rebuild and how it was done. My first question would be who honed the cylinders and what type of hone did they use? The ball type hones simply put honing scratches in the existing contour of the cylinder and do nothing to true the walls of the cylinder. The hones with stones actually true the cylinder walls as they resize the cylinder for final fitting of the piston/rings. You have to start with good cylinder walls if you want your rings to seal. So tell us a little more about what you have and maybe we can give you responses that are directed at your specific issue.
I had a freshly built 383 Chevy that had a 600 grit finish hone on the cyls (against my wishes) and it used about a qt. in 300 mi. I didn't like it, so I beat on it for a few thousand miles. It didn't matter... nothing changed. I knew the guides were a little loose, so I decided to put some Brodix street heads on it, and found all 8 cyls were scored bad. The machine shop didn't get it clean after boring and it was full of cast iron. So, I took it all apart again and honed it to .040" over with a 280 grit finish and it barely cleaned up at .005"-.006" clearance. I ran it a thousand miles or so, and it got about 600 miles to a qt. but it was a little noisy on cold start ups. It was better, but I still didn't like it. So, I was at a show one day and the dyno guy was there. I decided to run it and made 2 pulls. It pulled 387 hp and 495 tq. at the wheels, but it smoked a little. After those 2 pulls it quit smoking and went right to 1200 miles to a qt.! I never had a sbc Chevy that got that much oil mileage, ever! Made a believer out of me, to run it like you stole it!
" seating" the rings is totally dependent on ring type , bore concentricity , bore surface finish . Proper information avoids confusion & failures . If you prep for chrome rings , that won't work for moly filled rings & vice versa.
I 'heard' the same trick as some of y'all.......Use Bon Ami and shake some of it down the carb while reving the engine by hand. The fine grit was suppose to seat the rings instantly. I never had the stones to try it. I always did the accelerate in high gear from 30 mph to 70 mph and then ...let off the gas until reaching 30 mph and then repeat several times. The last time I talked to a real-live-engine-builder I trusted he said....."With moly coated rings, they seat almost as soon as you fire the engine...forget all that bullsh-t about Bon Ami and 30 to 70 back to 30 again ****. When you fire the engine...the rings seat almost immediately". Take your pick.... Looks like the OP 'done-left-da-building anyhow!! 6sally6
Like others have said , It depends on how cylinder is prepped/ finished & what type of ring pack witch Method is required for seating in, One of the Famous Drag racer & engine builders in Va , name well known in drag , boat , pulling & Cl***es below NASCAR , ( before certain builders took & specialized in round the round & road race engines mid late 80s ) He / his shop would fire engine up with No water if a wet bocks same for filled / solid block , bring to 200-230 degrees, then Shut down , back to room temp , then again 3 times , then ready for pulls on Dyno, this was before more exotic Materials where started to be used in ring packs , mid 90s
I once bought a very expensive sprint car 410 c.i. engine from Gaerte Engines in Rochester, Indiana. I asked how to break it in. Earl Gaerte told me to "let it pull itself around for 2 laps. For 2 laps you're breakin' it in. After that you're wearin' it out.
Wow for all the responses,been occupied with other “stuff” lately. In Santa Maria this week end for fabulous cruise last night and big static show today. Had late flathead built by professional shop that is responsible for multiple Bonneville record setters. I use Driven oil and when changed at 80 miles there was the distinct smell of gasoline. My breakin is tradition of running thru gears with limited constant speed. I will read all messages and respond as well as I can in the next few days,thanks for your input.
On a recent rebuild on a 425 Olds engine the builder used moly rings and a fine grit hone. Same break-in as described above varying rpm, load, speeds. Engine was going through a qt every 120 miles.(Lucas Hot Rod oil, $12 bucks a qt) Engine builder says don't baby it, run it hard. Turns out the valve covers were poorly baffled, and oil was pulled in through the PCV valve. Changed covers, replaced the PCV (for now) w/ breather cap. another 500 miles and oil consumption is now under control. Mine however, did not have the degree of blow by described by the OP
If your engine is running rich enough to smell gas in the oil, that could easily contribute to thinning the oil, and getting blowby. I'd figure out why it's so rich first, and then see if it stops the issue, or at least slows it down. I'd also suggest you do enough driving to get the rings to seat, and make sure it's not just cruising along, but slowing down under compression also. New rings need both acceleration, and deceleration under compression to help them seat well.
The last two engines I rebuilt (both needed to be bored) came back from the machine shop with cylinder walls with almost a mirror finish with a very slight cross hatch. I questioned my machinist about the surface finish because it appeared to be too smooth. His reply was that you needed a rougher finish on cylinders that weren't perfectly round. With his equipment he can get them very near perfectly round. I went ahead and ***embled both engines and neither smoked or burned any oil. At least not enough that I have to add between changes. The 312, ***embled about 12 years ago doesn't smoke and never did. My 401 nailhead now has about 800 miles with the same result. I didn't use any type of break-in oil or any special procedure. Broke in the cams then just drove them. I did change the oil after about the first 50 or so miles the first time. I quit using any special break-in procedure after becoming involved in sprint car racing. We just put the engines together and took them out to the track. Never had a problem with seating rings.
Same here. Accelerate, let off gas, accelerate, let off the gas. Repeat. Don't let it idle too long and when breaking in, stay out of high gear.
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