Breaking in motor

[Lucas03ES]

So im at the point where I am going to be breaking in my motor. I am going to motoman method the break in process. I have BC 280 cams with a t3/t4 Garrett, wiseco/eagle combo, 2G MAS, 510cc yellowtops, and a '90 non-eprom ECU. I was told that this injector/ecu/MAS setup would work for break in, but checking my AFR when I fire the motor and let it idle for a few seconds, it will jump from around a 15 AFR to all the way off the map (wideband in o2 housing, no exhaust currently). Adjusting my AFPR from 40-80 psi doesn't seem to affect anything. The car doesn't like to stay running either.

Now, I am going to run a SD setup with RC 1000s and my gvr4 eprom ecu and ostrich, with Jackal. I was told to break in the motor first before I make the switch to this setup though.

Does anyone have any helpful info on getting this thing running right so I can break it in and swap to the Jackal setup? I have not used Jackal before either, so any information about it would also be helpful.

I always appreciate all help, thanks guys! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/worthy.gif


Lucas

 

[MuffinMan7580]

You should atleast put the downpipe on for the O2 sensor to be reading correctly. You should be right on the money as far as air/fuel goes. When you started it up the first time, did you rev it for a few minutes? My motor didn't want to idle too well until after I held it at 3K RPM for about 5 minutes.

 

[Lucas03ES]

I have a downpipe for it, but it is a weird situation. Basically it is a 1 piece custom exhaust off of a gsx, and I gotta get the downpipe cut from the one exhaust so I can get it welded to my pipes for the vr4. I am going to do this as soon as I can get the car down to the muffler shop.

I was told that running the wideband (AEM) sensor in the o2 housing is okay for now, but it will lower the lifespan of the sensor. It will be in the proper location as soon as I get the exhuast fabbed up.

I did not rev it more than just a hit above idle, maybe 1300 rpms, as I didn't want to destroy anything if the motor was infact running that lean. Can anyone else verify that this is a goo tactic before I go an rev a lean motor and blow it up?

Thanks!

 

[SouthCaliVR4]

The 2k @ start up is an old school thing. to seat the cam lobes & lifters. It should not be needed on a roller cam motor.

 

[alansupra94]

^^^^

Yup. I was told by a DSM Engine Guru that you should also give the motor some boost to seat the piston rings. Not tons, just a little. Other than that, it should be standard stuff.

 

[Lucas03ES]

I know how I am going to be breaking in the motor, that isnt my issue here. My motor was not wanting to idle, but my timing was a little off, I reset it to 5* with the plug grounded, but it was cold. Also, my front o2 sensor was not hooked up because I had my AEM wideband in that location. Should I run the aux output of the wideband gauge to my stock ECU input? Would this cause the AFRs to go all over the place?

 

[alansupra94]

Yeah more than likely. You have a wideband outputting to a ECU that expects a narrowband, it is not going to run right.

 

[citymunky]

I have Jackal as well. Why not break it in with the base map with stock 450cc injectors and the native wideband setup?

http://wiki.ds-map.net/doku.php?id=full_installation_howto

DSMaps Wiki

 

[Lucas03ES]

I dont have the stock 450s or a 1g mas, the car didn't come with one. It came with a 2g mas and 510cc injectors. I figured they would be close enough. Do you think the car will run right with the cams on that tune, and with the o2 sensor signal hooked up?

 

[Lucas03ES]

So I wired the wideband to the ECU o2 input, and the car is running better now. However, my vacuum seems a little low, at around -10inHg. Is this around normal for 280 cams and not having seated rings yet? Also, the car doesn't want to idle and it dies somewhat often, should I just rev the motor a bit until it warms up and try taking it for a little cruise, or could this be a different issue?

I'm just looking for a little help here, this is my first built motor I have put together, and I REALLY do not want to not do something stupid and end up ruining my entire build.

 

[EMX5636]

10" Hg doesn't sound far off for those cams. When I break engines in, I do a lot of engine brake decels. Rev out in a gear, (light/medium throttle, little bit of boost) then let off, and let the rpms get down below 2500-3k or so. The decel will help seat the rings faster.

 

[Lucas03ES]

Okay that sounds good to me then. How about the car not wanting to keep idling? Could it be because of the cams and un-seated rings?

 

[bazeng]

What is your idle target rpm?
My 272s need around 1100 - 1200 rpm for a nice idle. I'm assuming 280s will require a higher rpm.

 

[Lucas03ES]

The idle is around 1000 right now, maybe I could turn it up a bit. I got a good base tune from another Jackal user, and it is idling now and running quite better. I still haven't driven it though. After letting the car idle for about 10 seconds, it will slowly rise from 14.9afr to leaned out, then it starts spitting and sputtering. I might wait until my datalog cable comes in on thursday to see whats happens even though id like to get it running sooner.