Engine break-in mixed feelings
 

i have been doing some research on engine breakin and have found some mixed feelings. i just recently did a complete rebuilt and street port, and my tuner and engine builder has told me that i need 1,000 miles of engine break-in.

here in the forum, i have seen anything from 500-2000 miles of engine break-in. many of my friends' fd do hardly any break in and work fine. they say that a rotary engine does not require break-in like a piston engine.

to be safe i am thinking of giving 500 miles shifting at 3000 rpm , no boost just vacuum. any inputs?

For customers I like to allow 1000 miles. Oil and filter change at 500, then again at 1000. During this period I like to keep the rpm under 4000 and use minimal boost/load. I always use all new seals and bearings and like to let everything set in. I use mineral oil for the break in period, then the customer can switch to synthetic if they like. On my personal car I have done as little as 200 miles but I wouldn't recommend it.

I have not personally had to break in a rotary yet (fingers crossed I don't have to any time soon) but what Ihor said is what I have seen most do. AND Ihor does TONS of these. I would listen to his wisdom.

+1.

i have seen people do longer, but i do not see that there is a reason.

Why would you think that someone on the internet would know better than the professional rotary specialist that built your engine? You paid them a lot of money because you trusted them. Now you don't?????

Here's some BAD internet advice: Rotary engines require no break in. Just rev to 10,000 rpm for 20 minutes upon your first start up. You read this on the internet, so it must be true!!! :rlaugh:

There are guys on here making a shit ton of power who do basically no break-in.

There is no right or wrong answer here. Do you have to break it in? No. Should you break it in? Yes. What does it hurt to add some insurance? I don't break mine in and make a pot load of power. As long as you heat cycle the motor a few times, your fine, but if your tuner says break it in, then do so. That is if you want any kind of support from him.

I'd love to see a detailed evaluation on rotary break-in and how long it takes to see maximum compression. I've heard rotaries can actually take longer to fully break-in than a piston engine (which can be up to 12,000 miles)

Those guys do not expect to get 80K from their engines. For most of us, durability is important.

Is a "shit ton" more than 2000 pounds :D?

I broke my motorcycle in from mile 1 with no less than 50% load. the third run from bottom of third to top of third was at 100% throttle.

I have seen comparison tear-downs between easy break ins and hard break ins. The hard break in engines had less blow by on the pistons and actually made 1-4 more hp across the board.

This was on piston engines though.

I truly don't think the hone/piston ring characteristics remotely apply. I would think with a rotary, you would want to at least heat cycle everything a few times to make sure all seals are seated properly, and the all springs are behaving normally before you really dig into it. I personally don't see a reason to do a set mileage, but rather a guideline number of heat cycles to full temp and back down to cool. Otherwise, the clearances on a built engine should be tight to the point of a long break-in becoming unnecessary.

I personally cycle the load from boost and vacuum many times over at half load and half RPM's. After 15-20 mins of that on the highway I start to let her rip like I stole the thing. That's standard piston break in for me and I've used it on rotaries with no ill effects. Don't hold me responsible if you do choose to do it that way and have problems.

I don't believe everything from the internet but i come to this forum, so i can asked people with rx7 experience. I don't think god speaks to be thru the forum, but i have learned alot at these forum. i take and leave information here.

My tuner said that he wanted the engine to have the heat cycles, normal temp than cool, and again. so i have mixed some city driving just to turn on and off the engine.

ha...God hasn't spoken through this forum in a long time :)

Don't forget that all new vehicles have run time on the motors at the factory. Even Mazda remans are run.

That is to heat cycle them, and then load test them.

Almost every engine is heat cycled and then red-lined before it is even put into a vehicle.

They rev the piss out of motorcycle engines just before shipping them out.

Never broke any of mine in really... once I got it started and burped all the air out of the coolant, smoothed out the idle and got it running good, I took it easy for a few minutes and then got right back to beating on it.

None of my motors broke from not breaking them in. It was always something stupid like a stuck wastegate or a poor build that I didn't do myself...

Break in IS a good insurance; I just never used it.