Running Trans-Am In

[TransAmDan]

Checked my dip-stick yesterday morning.
It's about halfway up the cross hatchings, (was at the top at Beaulieu) drop stick is a little hard to read as there is always a streak of oil up one side, but it's solid from halfway up the cross hatchings, so going by that.

As it's been nice weather I have been leaving card under the car as soon as I park up, and no oil drops at all when I checked the oil yesterday morning. So it would appear I am on top of the leak.

Club last night. getting more confident with the loud pedal. The was a BWM hairdressers car going around the roundabout before joining the motorway, he/she had no lane discipline at all in the right hand lane of the roundabout came off in the left lane on the slip road and then over to the right again. So I just stayed in the left waited for him to join the motorway then I was off. Malc was already on the motorway as coming down from horndean, so also the ideal time to accelerate a bit more than usual. He saw smoke, and smelt oil. Which was good to know.
Went for a cruise around portsmouth, great to go around old portsmouth again. On the way home I gave I even more beans, it was getting dark by then, 1500rpm on the motorway, then foot to the floor to about 2300 rpm. Torque felt pretty good. Came off the motorway, and gave it some throttle down the dual carrigeway, picked up well not missing a beat. Wanted to do it as partly wanted to know what it felt like, and second to force oil out/bed in rings. As soon as I got home, card was under the car waiting.
Checked card and oil this morning. No drips on the card.

Oil is down a little bit.

Spoke to Tim at Opie over private message yesterday, as it is a stroker the conclusion is 5w-30 to start with, but if it uses a lot of oil, switch to a 5w-40 next time.

Hi Dan
Keep an eye on the level as hopefully the consumption will slow as the rings bed in, but if it keeps going down at that rate, go for a 5w-40.
Cheers
Tim

So I believe the 3-4 litre leak to Brandshatch and back, was cured by a loose oil filter(I only done it hand tight and not the extra 3/4 turn)
The oil filters was not the only leak, as cam position sensor was still giving off a couple of drip after driving. Sensor taken out, cleaned up and put back in. (at present does not appear to be leaking, if it does I have new rubbers for it)
With card going under the car right after stopping this should prove for any leaks, as if it is leaking when driving then there should be a few drips hanging on ready to drip onto my card, card being there all night. Real tests is getting underneath at the weekend and check.

So if leaks sorted, then I'm burning it. Rings probably still need bedding in. So with more hard driving that should happen, and keep an eye on level.


As for US oil, I would be tempted to use it if available, however if not available, then perhaps I use UK 5w30 and change more often. I wonder if Opie would stock the US version, I guess that depends on if there is a requirement from many people for it.

 

[Oilman]

Hi

Good to see that it's not leaking, but as it's consuming oil, I would probably go for a 5w-40, unless it stops burning oil when it's fully run in.

5w40 Engine Oi

Out of those, the best ones are the Fuchs/Silkolene Pro S, Millers CFS/CFS NT+, Motul Sport/300V, Red Line and Gulf Competition. The Motul 8100 X-Cess, Millers XF Longlife, Castrol Edge/Magnatec, Fuchs GT1 XTL/Supersyn, Shell Helix and Mobil Super 3000 are good, cheaper alternatives.

We had a look at getting some of the US Mobil products in and the price and hassle made it impractical, when we have plenty of other oils that will be fine/better as an alternative.

Cheers

Tim

 

[TransAmDan]

Wow there is a lot of choice there, The Fuchs was looking good, then read Millers and Motul, nice cost saving on the RRP. So it's out of those at the moment for me.

I'll probably order 2 x 5L in the next day or two. I wonder if when my oil gets low that I can top up and mix oils with 5W40, during the burning of oil period?

 

[Oilman]

Hi Dan

Are you running it in with a synthetic? If so, that is not going to help the running in as the oil is too good. You want a mineral based oil for the running in, so everything beds together. This is ideal.

Millers Oils CRO 10w-40 Engine Oil

Cheers

Tim

 

[TransAmDan]

So far for the run in process.

Ran Mineral 10W30 with Com Cams engine run in oil, for 20mins at just over 2000rpm, then change oil and filter.
Ran Mineral 10W30 with Com Cams engine run in oil for 100 miles, then changed oil and filter.
Ran 5W30 mobil 1 synthetic for around 200miles, oil low, changed oil and filter
Running 5W30 mobil 1 synthetic and gone about 150miles since last oil change.

All of the running was under 3000rpm.(apart from one recent blip to 4k rpm, running it a bit harder last night, more throttle at lower RPM)

Should I switch back to mineral for a bit longer to bed in the rings?


EDIT: I had written down 5W30 mineral, but it was 10W30 mineral.

 

[Oilman]

Hi Dan

Personally, I would say it's worth giving it a few more miles with a running in oil. The 120 miles with the run in oil has probably done a lot of the running in, but it's likely that the synthetic has stopped the running in. Using a running in oil for a bit longer will hopefully allow the rings to get a better seal. I wouldn't say there is any need to keep the revs so low with a decent running in oil now, it's likely to be almost run in, so going through the range a bit can help with the running in. Also, if you use a 10w-40 running in oil, it might give a better indication of oil use.

Cheers

Tim

 

[TransAmDan]

Thanks. Yes good point, further running in is probably the way to go, and go through all the revs. I was cautious of rev due to clutch bedding in, and had valve train issues in the past, all vale trains stuff should be fine now its renewed. Not I'm ready to go through the whole rev range. Should be a blast.
So perhaps run this in it for a few hundred miles? Millers Oils CRO 10w-40 Engine Oil
Then run it on Millers, CFS 5w40 NT+

All these oil changes, I must creosote the shed again to try and use it up. lol.

 

[Oilman]

Hi

Yes, the CRO is good for up to 500 miles, so I would use it for 4-500 miles to finish off the running in. It's also fine for dyno running in, ie high rev running, so you will not have any issues if you want to have a bit of fun.

The CFS NT+ will be ideal for when it's run in.

Cheers

Tim

 

[TransAmDan]

Thanks for all your help today Tim. Order placed

Looking forward to going full throttle, need to tune in the fuelling for that area. I also have a spare pair of tyres.

 

[Oilman]

Thanks for the order.

Glad to have helped.

Cheers

Tim

 

[renchero]

Dan when i first built the ranchero engine it burnt oil. ok once run in.did worry me at the time.

 

[TransAmDan]

Dan when i first built the ranchero engine it burnt oil. ok once run in.did worry me at the time.

Thanks that's good to know.

The only measurement of quantity I have is the dipstick reads about 3mm lower after around 15miles of driving. Not sure how much in litres 3mm is as its going to depend on the size of the sump at that height. I think it would be less than 2 litres at a guess to top up from the bottom of the cross hatchings to the top.

I'm ready to do the high load running in. More running in oil coming from opie. Looking forward to blasting it around the country lanes.

Apparently a standard LS1 uses 1 quart of oil every 1500miles. If I can get to that oil consumption again that would be great.

I wonder how the 10W40 running in oil will effect my oil pressure. At around 65-70psi on idle, not seen it go over 80psi while driving yet on 5W30.

 

[TransAmDan]

Done a bit of reading of running in rings. People say they have built the engine and then straight on the dyno, the first couple of pulls are smokey and fine after that. Others say drive a bit and within 20miles do many WOT runs. Some say if you haven't run it in by 100 miles then rings need to be changed. Hopefully they are just over the top.

Well oil should arrive tomorrow, I'll stick it in, if i get time tomorrow, I'm going to do various RPM's down the country lanes while data logging, as its an ideal time to tun WOT fuelling. I may take it for a little run on the A3, a 3rd gear run from 2500rpm up to 5500rpm should give a nice curve and can check the fuelling nicely. 2nd gear will shoot up too quick (maybe 3rd will), but 4th would take me too fast at 5500rpm. So will be tuning and listening for noises.

 

[AmericanThunder]

It will be fine. Give it a little stick, keep the rpms varying. I'm sure it will sort itself out and the LSx motors are known for using a little oil.
The only other consideration is crank case pressure. Perhaps you are developing a lot of crank case pressure and oil is being blown into the intake via the PCV. Maybe invest in a catch can that sits in-line with the PCV?

 

[TransAmDan]

It will be fine. Give it a little stick, keep the rpms varying. I'm sure it will sort itself out and the LSx motors are known for using a little oil.
The only other consideration is crank case pressure. Perhaps you are developing a lot of crank case pressure and oil is being blown into the intake via the PCV. Maybe invest in a catch can that sits in-line with the PCV?

Happy to give it some stick now i have gain confidence that mechanically things are working well. I'll get the RPM's varying. Thanks for the confidence, always good to hear things will be okay.
I have the catch can attached to the left head(viewed from front). I haven't checked to see it it needs emptying since about 2 weeks after the rebuild. So that wont help if it's full, the level should give me an idea of how much oil its trying to suck into the intake.


The opie order has arrived today. Not sure if I will get time tonight to sort it, as need to visit the club clothing supplier to settle the bill.

 

[AmericanThunder]

To quote Jerry Reed in Eastbound and Down:
"Just put that hammer down and give it hell"

 

[TransAmDan]

Had some time when i got in from work.

Jacked the car up, drained the oil and put in the new running in oil.


Took it out for a blast and data logging. Had to work out at times if I had a beaming smile or if my cheeks were suffering with g-force when they were flapping by my ears. That engine just kept pulling, as its climbing the rev range the the rev counter picks up speed. I don't know when that power starts to drop off, but it feels like its past the current rev limiter of 6200.

Covered some distance in the hour drive, varying the rev range, spend many times about 4k rpm, at times 6k rpm. Really enjoyed it. could smell the engine getting warm as its never been under that much strain since the rebuild.

I found a place to pull over and just listen under the hood to check all was okay.
[video=youtube_share;5wNRf7p4KRk]https://youtu.be/5wNRf7p4KRk[/video]
All sounds pretty normal. Move towards the rear to hear it rumbling away. Then back to the front to give it a couple of revs, revs very quick and sounds great.

Its been a great evening.

 

[TransAmDan]

Made some adjustments to full throttle running, in some places I'm having to add between 8% and 20% of fuel. It was only in them cells for a short time. Next tuning session I'll run it in open loop, so avoiding the Fuel Trims and solely go with the wideband Sensor readings, as i use that for WOT anyway.
More tuning means more WOT runs, will go on the motorway, and at say 3000 rpom, i will go from 10% throttle to 100% slowly, and back down again, then hit cell 3400rpm and do the same, and then 3800rpm, and repeat. Covering the whole map, keeping the logging going I may do that a couple of time. Trpuble is throttle increases speed, so may have to apply brakes / use hills. Should get it pretty spot on. I'll also do run where 100% throttle in 3rd gear from 2000rpm to rev limit.

I'm meant to be looking at a circuit board tonight, but buzzing from the logging and the drive, and using the readings from the log to create a new file to zap in.

 

[AmericanThunder]

Just be careful out there.

 

[TransAmDan]

Tuning going very well.
Taken the car to 6200rpm (rev limit) tuning full throttle, some places in the rev range like 3500 - 4000rpm was about 12% to lean. Its now within 1%, need to do a few more runs, certainly 2k to 5k is pretty good, not done too many 5k to 6k, but should be pretty spot on too aswell.
Been tuning in open loop mode, and fuel trims switched off. Logged an 10-80 mph run and looking at the logging software it was around 7 seconds. Wasn't in a rush for gear changes, 2 were 1.2 seconds each.

Very happy.