Initial start, cam break-in article Mopar Action

['67Satellite]

Hey guys, ugly question.

I was reading the new Mopar Action, and inside there's an article called "First Fire". Well it goes on about setting up you engine so it fires instantly, saving you new camshaft and lifters from spinning dry. R. Ehrenberg says, "The bottom line is this, proven, unfortunately, on a regular basis: If your new engine doesn't start virtually instantly, you're done. Or, at least, your cam is."

Is there any truth to that? He says even if you don't wipe a lobe right away, you likely will within a 1000 miles.

This has me a little scared because years ago after I assembled my 440 I couldn't get it to start initially. In fact it took a fair bit of trouble shooting. After a little while, I found a mistake in the wiring that wasn't allowing power to the coil in the "on" position of the key.

So am I toast and in need of a rebuild.... after only about 50 miles?
(on assembly, I used a ton of Comp Cams assembly lube, and Brad Penn break in oil. Once started I was able to run the motor for about 20 minutes at a fast idle.)

 

[snakeoil24]

Yes their is a great deal of truth to this. Remember again you should have all the issues resolved before a new motor start up any way. This is nothing difficult to do. Check fule delivery, check wiring, and make sure all start up issues are to your best taken care of prior to break in. This is why more and more factories break engines in using propane before delivering engines to assembly. I f you use proper oil that is designed with Zinc and Moly you will have a window before wear and tear cause damage. Does not sound like you have an issue. You can it for 20 mnutes on fast idle. Usually 2500 rpm is ideal. After engine heats up then shut down and re torque heads. I am sure some one else will disagree with me but thats life.

 

['67Satellite]

I cranked the motor for maybe a minute total before i figured it out. This was 2009 so thats just an estimate. And as i said, only gone 50 miles since. Should i open her up?

 

[coloradodave]

Contrary to Rick Ehrenberg's article, which I read, the sky really isn't falling. Under IDEAL conditions, the engine will fire on the 1st or 2nd revolution and if you immediately spin it up to 2,500 RPM, things should be rosey. In REAL life, how often does this happen? I'll bet it's not a high percentage of the time, at least for me and the people I know. Using the right assembly lube, prelubing the motor and using a break-in oil with plenty of zinc and phosphorus go a long way toward preventing undue wear on the cam and lifters. How many of us have witnessed our friends crank and crank a new motor over because everything wasn't right. Sure, a few motors here and there will wipe a lobe, but if the assembly and lube was done correctly, I'll bet it's not a large percentage, at least not as large as the article would lead you to believe. Sometimes the 'Mopar Guru' goes overboard, in my opinion.
Anyway, if you can't sleep at night worried about it, take a sample of your used oil and send it off to be analyzed by one of the many labs that do that sort of thing. Then you'll know for sure.

 

[snakeoil24]

Your right on!

 

[Moparsmitty]

I think that you might be ok, but if you are really worried about it you can do like Dave said and have the oil analyzed for metal fragments. Also you could peel the oil filter open and check that too. If you are really concerned you could pop off the intake and eyeball the cam lobes and even get the spec and check them for lift. I would just drive it instead of looking for trouble that might not be there but that's me. Good luck.

 

[Kern Dog]

Rick is playing it safe.
I do my best to have the engine fire right away, but sometimes it does not. Of all the engines I have built, (15, maybe up to 20) only THREE have fired up right away. Of those three, one of them still wasted a lobe.
* In 2003, I built a 440 for the Charger. The sucker wouldn't fire when I was ready to break in the engine. At the time, the only way I knew to look for spark was to spin the engine over. It made 30 or more revolutions before I found the distributor wasn't working. Once I got it fired up, it had low oil pressure. I shut it down and found a missing gallery plug inside the timing cover. The machinist had removed it when he had it, so i had no idea of what it was or where it went. Once I figured it out, I started the engine and broke it in. It ran great with zero signs of camshaft trouble.
* In 2008 I built a 360 for my Duster. It was a hot summer when I built the engine. I finally got around to installing and starting it in November. It started right away. Within 200 miles, it started clattering and developed a miss. #8 intake lobe was worn down and the lifter was heavily concaved. I used the included Mopar Performance cam lube, but I later figured out that since it was a very thin lubricant, it probably drained off the cam and lifters in the heat of the Summer.
Its not as if I purposely ignore good practices, but sometimes stuff happens. It isn't a death sentence.
Rick also has said MANY times that when dealing with a cars brakes, if the rears lock first, the car MUST spin out. This isn't true either. I've skidded for hundreds of feet many times in the rain and on dirt. Sometimes the car spun out, sometimes it didn't. Maybe he is just trying to scare people into being more careful.

 

[shag766]

I cranked the motor for maybe a minute total before i figured it out. This was 2009 so thats just an estimate. And as i said, only gone 50 miles since. Should i open her up?

NO

 

[383man]

I also have built a number of engines over the years and the important thing is that all the lifters rotate in their bores and the cam and lobes are lubed right. I have had a few that did not start right away and to be honest I have never wiped a cam lobe. But I always leave the intake off and do a final cam and lobe lubing and then put the inatke on and start it then. I have even seen some crank the eng without the plugs waiting for oil pressure to build as they did not have an oil pump drive rod. But even these did not wipe a cam as I had them be sure the cam had the proper lube on it and plenty of it. Nowadays its worse because of the oil but if you use a good oil with the right amount of zinc and I like to add a bottle of zinc additive most of the time you will be ok. I have always used Valvoline Racing oil which has alot of zinc. If I were you as long as your eng runs good I would go with it. If it wipes a lobe you will know when it starts missing or clacking but if it does not and runs good then drive it and enjoy. Ron