break in

[ooraceredgt]

i'm looking to get me a new 06 or 07 mustang gt and i was going to get it turbo charged and i was wandering is there a break in period i should run the car to a certain mileage before installing the turbo.

 

[anthony05gt]

I wouldn't worry about that. Put a few hundred fairly hard miles on it, then the turbo. Don't baby it.

 

[APowers]

You need to really look for a post from "Big Cat", see what he says.
Just curious, but why a turbo instead of a blower?

 

[DarkFireGT]

no need to break it in. the gaskets are seated by the time it leaves the factory. you're good to go.

 

[iskwezm]

no need to break it in. the gaskets are seated by the time it leaves the factory. you're good to go.

gaskets have NOTHING to do with break in. Usually any engine should have 500+ miles before it sees any boost. I gave mine 800 before i put the blower belt on.

 

[Blaven]

With a turbo you see more of the power unlike a charger. Plus u have that power almost all the time when a charger doesn't hit the power until later on in the RPM range. I'd do a turbo over a supercharger if i was going to do forced induction.

 

[iskwezm]

With a turbo you see more of the power unlike a charger. Plus u have that power almost all the time when a charger doesn't hit the power until later on in the RPM range. I'd do a turbo over a supercharger if i was going to do forced induction.

and this has what to do with a break in period????

 

[srothfuss]

What is turbo lag if the "power hits instantly?"

A twin screw supercharger or a roots style blower will produce more boost in the lower RPM range than either a turbo or centrifugal style blower.

Most new turbos (like the one in a 911-Tubro) have vains that adjust the size of the impeller to eliminate most of the turbo lag...


For breakin's... Peeling out while leaving the dealership lot is the best way to get acquainted with your new Mustang. Enjoy!

 

[Blaven]

and this has what to do with a break in period????

That was in response to APowers. Reading FTW!

 

[310stanger]

these new engines these days, they are so well built and designed you can pretty much drive it hard right away. jus dont be popping off the limiter for no reason. the "break in" isnt necessary anymore. some people prefer to "break in" and thats their choice though. but theres no evidence of engines failing because the driver didnt break the engine in. also the engines see redline before they even leave the ford plant. then it goes to a shipping yard, then on a truck. you think those guys that load trucks dont take your car for a ride? you think the people that test drive mustangs at the dealer dont beat the snot out of it? my dealer gets "test pilots" all the time who jus come to drive the car and as hard as possible. now as far as turbos and superchargers goes, the turbo will make more power down low then a centrifugal but not a roots style blower. at any rate, centrifugal, turbo, roots. they are all great choices. but id have to say id be using a supercharger if i had this car and i was adding forced induction. the kits are much more well sorted out right now, and the installation is less involved if you were to tackle the install yourself. i installed a paxton 1200 on an 05 and the instructions were so good, and the kit was so well put together and at the time it was one of the first on the market.

 

[bigcat]

You need to really look for a post from "Big Cat", see what he says.
Just curious, but why a turbo instead of a blower?

post

 

[DarkFireGT]

gaskets have NOTHING to do with break in. Usually any engine should have 500+ miles before it sees any boost. I gave mine 800 before i put the blower belt on.

Then what is it exactly that you're breaking in? The gaskets need to get seated, as I said, is done by the time the car makes it to the lot. The engine has seen plenty of oil and time on it before it makes it to the lot. It's been heated up enough to keep from any metal pieces expanding or contracting due to high heat. So what needs to break in? I'm not trying to be a jerk here. If you have a good answer, I'd like to hear it. If there's a good reason, I'd like to know. But from everything that I've been told, and all logic I can see, there's no reason. Cars come from the factory with superchargers and turbo chargers. And while they may not be putting 20lbs of boost thru the engine, you know the GT-500's get taken to redline several times before they leave for the dealer's lot. So what's the difference?

 

[iskwezm]

Then what is it exactly that you're breaking in? The gaskets need to get seated, as I said, is done by the time the car makes it to the lot. The engine has seen plenty of oil and time on it before it makes it to the lot. It's been heated up enough to keep from any metal pieces expanding or contracting due to high heat. So what needs to break in? I'm not trying to be a jerk here. If you have a good answer, I'd like to hear it. If there's a good reason, I'd like to know. But from everything that I've been told, and all logic I can see, there's no reason. Cars come from the factory with superchargers and turbo chargers. And while they may not be putting 20lbs of boost thru the engine, you know the GT-500's get taken to redline several times before they leave for the dealer's lot. So what's the difference?

Nowadays, the piston ring seal is really what the break in process is all about. Contrary to popular belief, piston rings don't seal the combustion pressure by spring tension. Ring tension is necessary only to "scrape" the oil to prevent it from entering the combustion chamber.
The honed crosshatch pattern in the cylinder bore acts like a file to allow the rings to wear. The rings quickly wear down the "peaks" of this roughness, regardless of how hard the engine is run. There's a very small window of opportunity to get the rings to seal really well ... the first 20 miles !!
If the rings aren't forced against the walls soon enough, they'll use up the roughness before they fully seat. Once that happens there is no solution but to re hone the cylinders, install new rings and start over again or deal with burning oil.Because cars see redline when brand new doesnt make it right. If you wanna buy a car for $40+K, and beat the **** out of it, because the gaskets seated, go ahead. But im not gonna take that chance to have my engine last 4 years instead of 10 years. Ive built a "few" motors and been a master tech for Ford for about 12+ years, so I would assume the the training i get from Ford and the engines I built in my time are still running with no problems.People always bring up top fuel cars and they dont break them in, right, but on a daily driver do you rebuild after a trip to 7-11????Read the owners manual of ANY new car and there is a break in process, weather or not people belive it,its up to them. I still wouldnt break my engine in with excessive boost. I know a few people that felt its been "long enough", and they just spent 15-20K on new blown/turbo mod motor.Was it from not being broken in???Who know, but i wouldnt take that chance.

If a gasket seats, what is it really doing????If you torque the the part down, they will expand/contract, so does that mean the gasket is changing its thickness constantly???Wouldnt it leak from different materials having a different rate of contraction/expansion????

 

[metalmike6]

So what you're saying is that with 170 miles on my mustang gt taking it to 120 mph and driving hard today for the first time wasn't a bad thing? hehehehe... It sure as hell didn't feel like a bad thing, new owner here... first sports car ever, I'm loven this thing!

 

[anthony05gt]

Gaskets have absolutely nothing to do with break-in. The main concern for break in is crank and rod bearings, piston rings and such. Running a new engine fairly hard puts substantial pressure on the bearings which in my opinion is good for an engine that will not be babied in the future. A general rule of thumb is cars that are run hard from the start are the fastest and actually more dependable to an extent. If you buy a used car from an old lady that has never tached past 4000rpm's for 60k miles then you start running the piss out of it, that could be the worst for the engine for many reasons. For example, the cylinder walls have a ridge worn in them equal to whatever strain the old lady exerted on the crankshaft.(not much) Then you start running the piss out of it causing the engine to run hotter and exerting more pressure on the rods, bearings, crank which in turn can cause the piston rings to over extend the original cylinder ridge wear area and a ring breaks against the ridge. I l;ike to run an engine fairly hard right out of the box. No surprizes later, the engine pretty much breaks in relative to the driver's habits.

 

[DarkFireGT]

Gaskets have absolutely nothing to do with break-in. The main concern for break in is crank and rod bearings, piston rings and such. Running a new engine fairly hard puts substantial pressure on the bearings which in my opinion is good for an engine that will not be babied in the future. A general rule of thumb is cars that are run hard from the start are the fastest and actually more dependable to an extent. If you buy a used car from an old lady that has never tached past 4000rpm's for 60k miles then you start running the piss out of it, that could be the worst for the engine for many reasons. For example, the cylinder walls have a ridge worn in them equal to whatever strain the old lady exerted on the crankshaft.(not much) Then you start running the piss out of it causing the engine to run hotter and exerting more pressure on the rods, bearings, crank which in turn can cause the piston rings to over extend the original cylinder ridge wear area and a ring breaks against the ridge. I l;ike to run an engine fairly hard right out of the box. No surprizes later, the engine pretty much breaks in relative to the driver's habits.

That's exactly what I've said in the past, and left that out of my previous posts. I know certain grooves are made to the pistons and such, and it's kinda like a bowling ball. If you throw it straight when you first get it, it'll be hard to get it to curve. If you throw it with a curve from the start, you can try throwing it straight, and it will curve. That is the exact reason I've never babied my car from the factory. By all means, I don't think it's a good idea to go run a 12 hour race in it, or take it straight to the strip and do 5 trips. But if you baby it too much, you'll have a pooch. And besides, if something IS going to break, better to do it during the warranty period. But you said exactly what I was trying to think of.

 

[DarkFireGT]

Nowadays, the piston ring seal is really what the break in process is all about. Contrary to popular belief, piston rings don't seal the combustion pressure by spring tension. Ring tension is necessary only to "scrape" the oil to prevent it from entering the combustion chamber.
The honed crosshatch pattern in the cylinder bore acts like a file to allow the rings to wear. The rings quickly wear down the "peaks" of this roughness, regardless of how hard the engine is run. There's a very small window of opportunity to get the rings to seal really well ... the first 20 miles !!
If the rings aren't forced against the walls soon enough, they'll use up the roughness before they fully seat. Once that happens there is no solution but to re hone the cylinders, install new rings and start over again or deal with burning oil.Because cars see redline when brand new doesnt make it right. If you wanna buy a car for $40+K, and beat the **** out of it, because the gaskets seated, go ahead. But im not gonna take that chance to have my engine last 4 years instead of 10 years. Ive built a "few" motors and been a master tech for Ford for about 12+ years, so I would assume the the training i get from Ford and the engines I built in my time are still running with no problems.People always bring up top fuel cars and they dont break them in, right, but on a daily driver do you rebuild after a trip to 7-11????Read the owners manual of ANY new car and there is a break in process, weather or not people belive it,its up to them. I still wouldnt break my engine in with excessive boost. I know a few people that felt its been "long enough", and they just spent 15-20K on new blown/turbo mod motor.Was it from not being broken in???Who know, but i wouldnt take that chance.

If a gasket seats, what is it really doing????If you torque the the part down, they will expand/contract, so does that mean the gasket is changing its thickness constantly???Wouldnt it leak from different materials having a different rate of contraction/expansion????

I understand what you are saying. And I believe you believe what you're saying. I don't think there's truely a real answer to this question, and it's all going to be opinion. Some facts and opinions point towards a small break in period, other facts and opinions point towards beating it from the lot. Good debate though. Unfortunately I'm not well versed with auto words, and can't form my thoughts as well as you in this instance

 

[ooraceredgt]

You need to really look for a post from "Big Cat", see what he says.
Just curious, but why a turbo instead of a blower?

i got a blower on my car right now and i have seen turbos on other cars and i want to go a different route with this, also the turbo system is cheaper than buying a blower system.

 

[anthony05gt]

Gaskets are good to go right from the start. They don't need any break in. That's just ridiculous.

 

[bigcat]

do what you are comfortable with. as stated before, opinions vary so much that it is hard get a definitive answer to this question. if you are comfortable beating on it from day one, go ahead. if you think it should be babied for XXX amount of miles, then do that. you are responsible for YOUR car. only you have the ability to decide whats right for YOUR car.