I drove the new engine for the first time tonight and wow, it feels great. It really wants to scream past 7k RPM with the TB mod and porting, so its going to be tough to keep it low for the break-in.

I filled it up, and went for a little drive. I almost had a heart attack when I heard a woosh sound and it started running terribly. I thought I blew a coolant seal or something just horrible. But it turned out the intercooler popped off, giving me a huge vacume leak. I tighted down all the clamps again just to make sure this wouldn't happen again.

But this got me thinking that maybe I shouldn't drive it to class tomorrow, 60 miles round trip. I know that I need to get some miles on it, but I'm afraid of getting stranded somewhere with a problem like what happened tonight. So I'm wondering, how long do you go until you start daily driving it again? I'm NOT talking about break in period, but just until you expect it to start every time you turn the key?

Oh, its a 90 t2, blaze red, and looks damn good driving down the road with the hood off and the sunroof open. This is also my first rebuild.

 

Congrats Skylone. I would think a 60 mile round trip would be just fine for a break in period. Not too long not too short. Just take some basic tools with you for small adjustments like the one you already encountered. If you can't fix it with a small tool set then you should have it towed anyway. 30 miles is nothing.

 

depends on how much you trust your work.

few weeks back when i finished my rebuild i drove it straight 45 miles to our local RX7 club meet in Sacramento and drove it around town and then back home. i have been using it as my daily driver since and i am not exactly a granny in driving it, i have rather unconventional break in methods on my own motors.

 

Ya, it really does depend how much I trust my work. I think for now, I'm going to say 50 miles. At least the idle will be more stable by then, and it should act a little more predictable. I'll just drive it to drive it for a couple of days and the nsee how it reacts. Yes? No?

 

best trips are round trip ones without shutting the engine off, that is where reliability is most critical. you don't want to wind up with a flooded engine in BFE. but then again everything in life is a risk, i usually am willing to take a risk because i don't want to doubt my engine or my work.


50 miles is fine, anything over fully warming up the engine is a good breakin trip. you just don't want to take short trips not allowing the engine to not warm up fully. in fact the longer the drive the better.

 

Yeah this isnt very fun. I cant wait till mines done this week. Video will be coming soon for it 2. Good luck with your break in

 

I would like to see some pics

 

I agree with everybody else, its how much you trust your own work. Ive personally built the last two motors that went through my car with used parts from multiple engines, a good 40 or 50 non stop miles was all it took for me to gain the trust of the motor. Runs great still with 10k on this one and i beat the snot outa it daily. If you did sumethin' wrong usually it'll let you know rather quickly as ive found out before. good luck with it, hope it runs great!

 

**** after me and Kevin Landers did my swap we drove it around the block a few times. Once to hardees and then I drove it 7 hours home. You can pretty much tell right away if something isn't right. But if you have good compression and the car starts without and trouble you are good.

 

Yeh, when I dropped the engine into my GXL, I drove it around the block a bit, and then for the weekend I drove 2 1/2 hours to Harrisonburg, VA

 

Nice area. I used to live in Northern VA, Richmond, and Virginia Beach, VA. And my parents live in Lynchburg, VA. So Ive been all over. That is my 'Home'.

Anywhos...I agree with others....depends on how much you trust your own work. When I got my rebuilt engine ( I didnt do it myself), I took it easy and didnt go past 5kRPMs until I was over 500-700miles. And I think the first trip we took with it we drove down 49S from NW Louisiana for about 2 hours or so and then came back. We did cut off the engine during that time to get a bite to eat (about 30 minutes) No problems starting back up.

 

Well, I drove it to class with no problems. I'm going to call it "good" as far a trustworthyness goes, so I'm happy with it. I still need to iron out the weird idle surging along with setting the timming and TPS. I can't wait for redline though.

Thanks for all the help from everyone though! You guys have been a great resource in building this engine.

Troy

 

I trust it after it starts, warms up to normal temps, and doesn't leak, smoke, or catch fire.

 

Sky, Update??

 

65 miles on it and running fine. The idle is surging when warm, so I suspect a vacume leak somewhere. I still have lots to do: find the vac leak, so I can set the idle, so I can set the timming, so I can set the TPS. Then the S-AFC needs wiring, Amp needs to be moved, battery relocated, and of course, its needs a good wash and wax. 3 month in a farm shed doesn't exatly leave it sparkling.

I'm not daily driving it yet, because of the idle. But I will be driving it to class, simply becasue that will put 300+ miles on it a week. It should be broken in in a month at that rate. Still lots of work to be done, but I'm very happy with it so far.

 

right arm