Davin said:
I though it was a good idea to start with water in case there was a leak? The smoke or stream was immediate. Unfortunatly it did not run long enough for me to see if it would "burn off". I went to set the timing and as soon as I disconnected the spout the engine stopped. Didn't start after that. I disconnected the battery and will try again in the morning (gots to work)
Over the years I've been in this hobby, I've heard peeps give this opinion a time or two about starting a new motor.
They point out that even though you've got everything tightened to correct torque specs, all the gaskets are new and the motor is still unfired. They say to use water only for the first two heat cycles. After the two heat cycles and all bolts are checked for the correct final torque specs, drain the water and refill with the water/antifreeze mix.
The thinking is the water/af mix is more apt to seep between the gaskets due to it being more slick. You got a chance of that happening while the motor is still unfired ... and while the new parts/gaskets are going through those two heat cycles.
I can say for a fact, I've built a motor or two and done quite a few h/c/i combos in my day. I've never found ALL the bolts to be at the correct torque specs after the two heat cycles. Some of them have always been too loose.
As for not using the water/af mix at first start up .......................
I did it that way when I built my current combo and had no probs.
however
You would not want to permanently run water only for at least two reasons I can think of
1) Water only is not as effective at cooling as a water/af mix
2) A/F provides protection to the Aluminum parts
Grady