Thread: Questions after engine rebuild

I rebuilt my lowport motor in my B14. I pulled a highport block: Had it bored .20 over and slapped my lowport head on it. I have roughly 1,900 miles on it. I have been changing the oil in intervals the first 100, 250, 500, 1,000, and I just recently changed it. I cut open my oil filter and found about 7 or 8 small metal shavings inside this last oil change, I havent cut open any other filters prior to this one. Ive read this is normal to find small shavings after a fresh build. Is this true?

Also, how long does it take for rings to seat? Everyone I ask tells me something different.

I have good oil pressure but I have low vacuum at idle it is around 8 in hg. I can't find any vacuum leaks.

Thanks a lot guys.

How did you break in the motor? Did you load the motor right away or take it easy? What RPM range have you been running in? The rings to not seat themselves, you have to load the engine and vary the RPM to seat them quickly. Usually go from 20% to 80% in the RPM range by slowly increasing the throttle in a higher gear or up hill to load the engine which helps the rings seat.

Did you do a compression and leak down test? This might tell you the state of the rings.

I took it easy for a bit keeping the rpms ranging between 2.5-4 rpms for shifting and light throttle, then as I started driving it more I could slowly increase rpms as the motor started getting more mileage on it, If I "get on it" I keep it around 6k, Its seen redline a few times, not many: less times can you can count on one hand.

I havent done a compression test yet, but thats a good idea and I will be doing it soon. Thanks for your reply

The rings may not be seated all that well if you took it easy. Its the pressure of the compression under heavy load that really embed the rings. The rings start to wear instantly, and you want them to seat as soon as possible. There are a million different techniques to "break in" a motor though.

Any black smoke coming out of the tail pipe?

No smoke. As soon as the motor started for the first time, I held it at a high idle around 4 grand. It runs fine and has power. However, there is a flat spot in the powerband around 4k. It pulls real hard up to 4k then nothing until 5k it pulls hard again. This only happens under a load. If I'm light on throttle pass 4k it doesnt feel like loss in power.

My setup is cai,jwt s4 cams, ssac 2.5, stock exhaust. I think it maybe my ign timing.

If it is the stock ECU, they all have the little dip around 4K. Get a tune and it will go away.

Yes it is the stock ecu. Thanks for your imput.