JetSepter Posted February 17, 2011 Share Posted February 17, 2011 I am not going to race it so I don't need the very last bhp. But how should I approach running in? There are those who say you should only use mineral oil, or even special running in oil. But the factory put in semi-synthetic, I believe. Should I change it straight away? Then some say take it easy for the first x miles, while others say give it plenty of revs right from the start (once it has warmed up) to get a good piston ring seal. Anyone have a tried and tested (and successful!) method? Or am I in danger of taking all this far too seriously? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spiderlane Posted February 17, 2011 Share Posted February 17, 2011 Hi Jet, I attempted to use Motoman's Break in Method on my R400 by doing the initial fill with Millers Running in Oil. However Caterham took it to the IVA, so didn't get the chance to follow it from the beginning. After that I got the oil fully warm and then revved it as hard as I could on the road. Time will tell if it works! Martyn (Rattie) on this forum used the same technique on his MX5 (and attempted to on his R300), that's where I got the link from. You can decide whether you agree with the approach or not ;-). I'm sure there is a good range of opinion out there. Hope this helps, Mark Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rich N Posted February 17, 2011 Share Posted February 17, 2011 If I ever own a new car I'll give that 'hard run in' idea a go. Perhaps there should be a tick-box on the Caterham order form for "thrash the t*ts off it please" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prs Posted February 17, 2011 Share Posted February 17, 2011 Same as Spiderlane, drove it for 15mins to get the oil fully up to temp and then gave it the beans. I used Millers running in oil. 230BHP K and it doesn't use oil Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andy21 Posted February 17, 2011 Share Posted February 17, 2011 I ran my R300 Duratec in as per the book - 500 miles below 4 or 4.5k revs. Done 6k miles now, went to Bedford for a track day recently. Inc the 200 mile drive there & back it used half a litre. Excessive? Caterham weren't worried, they said they all vary... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Pikey Posted February 17, 2011 Share Posted February 17, 2011 Ford always refer to "first fill engine oil" but no one seems to know exactly what that is so I bunged some Millers 10-40 mineral oil for running in. Ain't gone bang yet. Jason Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
charlie_pank Posted February 17, 2011 Share Posted February 17, 2011 I'd do what the engine manufacturer recommends. If you don't think they know what they're talking about, then you should probably not buy their engine - they designed and built it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DJ. Posted February 17, 2011 Share Posted February 17, 2011 I'm not sure what to do either, I asked Sean and he said use the semi synthetic supplied in the first fill kit. It did cross my mind that if I use something other than what Caterham recommend and the engine expires in the first year they will use it as an excuse. As regards oil consumption, I have now had three Citroens from new and they all ran semi synthetic from the start with the first oil change at a year. None of them have needed topping up at all in our annual 8000miles (ish). Also when I had a Civic type R they recommended semi synthetic for the first 20,000 miles to "let it run in" and then onto fully synthetic after that. I did have to top that up occasionally but at 7800rpm it's bound to use some oil Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johnty Lyons Posted February 17, 2011 Share Posted February 17, 2011 I'll repeat what I've said many times before 😬 Here in N.I. we have adopted a hard break culture Most of our cars are modified engines from Day1 they are built[ filled with mineral oil] and loaded onto a trailer and taken to Emerald in Norfolk where they are warmed up on RR and then mapped at full chat by DW we've never had a problem, always had excellent compression and minimal oil use afterwards . It's your engine and you should do what your heart dictates, Just don't do what one of Mav's friends did who built it and put it up on axle stands, put it in gear and set the revs at 1500 and ran it for 4hrs thinking he was being kind to it. The engine was scrap Mav had to completely rebuild and then do a hard break Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JetSepter Posted February 18, 2011 Author Share Posted February 18, 2011 Thanks, gents, for these useful opinions. Yes DJ, I did wonder myself what the warranty position might be if a running in method was adopted contrary to Caterham recommendations. But do they actually offer any specific recommendations themselves which might be construed as limiting what one might do? Any more thoughts from anyone? - it's all grist to my slowly grinding brain mill. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spiderlane Posted February 18, 2011 Share Posted February 18, 2011 FWIW the assembly guide states "It is recommended that non-synthetic standard multi-grade oil is used for the first 500 miles to aid the running in process." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MartinH Posted February 18, 2011 Share Posted February 18, 2011 Hi JetSepter, Just to answer your last point, I have a Duratec R300 2009 kit and the CC handbook that comes with it recommends the 'soft' (I guess, 'traditional') approach to running in. I did a version of the approach mentioned by Spiderlane but already had the semi-synth oil in it that comes with the CC first fill pack so don't know if I got the full benefit. Cheers, Martin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
juleslid Posted February 20, 2011 Share Posted February 20, 2011 Hello Mr Septer, sorry if this arrives a bit late, but just got back from my hols. I feel the same as you, and after much reading I decided to run my 175 in using the Motoman method as it seemed to make a lot of sense. Millers running-in oil seems to be good idea, but I hadn't heard of it at the time so used some 10-30 mineral oil I found at the local Saxo accessory retailer. I changed it at 500 miles and then at 1000 miles went over to the Caterham semi-synth. A bit after that I got round to putting it onto a rolling road, not far from me in Congleton. The results seemed to be quite positive: Peak power 182.3 bhp @ 7147 rpm Peak torque 141.4 lb ft @ 4065 rpm. In addition, it uses less oil than my Sigma did, that having been run-in the normal way with semi-synth oil. Hope this is useful. Jules Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JetSepter Posted February 21, 2011 Author Share Posted February 21, 2011 Thanks for the additional thoughts from Spiderlane, Martin and Jules. I have also found some useful stuff under the Engine Maintenance section here So I have ordered some Millers running in oil from Opie Oils using my Lotus Seven Club membership - thank you - and will now ask Sean at Caterham whether they'll put it in for me in place of the usual semi-synthetic. If not, I guess I have a very early job to do. Given that Caterham will be IVA-ing the car and I have elected to pick it up at the Caterham South showroom rather than the factory (I assume they make the transfer by lorry or trailer?), does anyone have any idea for how long the engine will have been run before I get it? The first twenty minutes is supposed to be crucial for the camshaft lobes - 2500 revs, no idling, Mr Puma suggests. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andy21 Posted February 21, 2011 Share Posted February 21, 2011 Not sure how long they run them for or if mine is typical, but it had 62 miles on the clock when I got it last April. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
h.p.c. peter Posted February 21, 2011 Share Posted February 21, 2011 I often see them coming and going for SVA and they are always driven gently Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Q Catcher Posted March 15, 2011 Share Posted March 15, 2011 I first read Motoman's method under the heading of Moto-tune USA in about 2004. It's been adopted by quite a few people in the bike world. It seems hard to believe, but it does seem to work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Racing Snake Posted March 15, 2011 Share Posted March 15, 2011 Millers running in mineral oil, then run in the cams as per SBD Website here 1min @ 2000rpm 1min @ 1500rpm 1min @ 3000rpm 1min @ 2000rpm Then on the trailer to the 2 Steve's for mapping and power runs So really the Motomans method I will change the oil to Mobil 1 at 500 miles Job done Edited by - Mad Hatter on 15 Mar 2011 18:26:30 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stuart Miller 7 Posted March 15, 2011 Share Posted March 15, 2011 I'd be a fan of the "run it in hard" method. I had the my K series re-built last year. I ran it hard (on accleration and deceleration) on the road for a few miles and then took it to Curborough. It uses zero oil and I've just had the top and bottom end off for a look and it all looks lovely. Put back together and straight on the dyno. Indidentally, my work truck (navara) never used a drop of oil (three clutches and a couple of driveshafts though!) and has the best fuel consumption of anyone I know who owns one. It had single figure mileage when I put half a tonne in the back and hooked on a three tonne trailer and drove to Marseilles at 80mph Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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