Breaks engines in at WOT!!!???

[wannarunem]

The owner of one of my LHS said he breaks in all his 2 stroke motors at WOT. He said he sets the needles to were it runs extremely rich...its almost like a 4 stroke motor. Is that possible? He mentioned that he runs it till he hears the engine noise change to a paticular sound...when it does...he knows thats when its broke in and begins to tune. I asked him "well how many tanks does it take to break in one using that method?" He responded...well all motors are different...theres not really a set # of tanks. Also he added...hes been doing this to all his 2 strokes for years with no tuning issues or loss of engine life....ever!!!!

A buddy of mine is supposed to buy a mammoth soon. The owner will break in his engine for (free) my buddy for buying it from him. If he decides to let him do it...i will be there to witness the break in. Anyone else ever heard of this WOT break-in procedure???????

 

[DarthRacer]

Never heard of it, but he must run it VERY rich to do that.
I always thought heat cycling was the best way to break in a motor.

 

[Revo Rancher]

Hey, it' s your (or his) money. For me, I prefer the 'by the book' method. Somehow, it all seems to work out at the end. :read:

 

[olds97_lss]

I have, but it was on plane engines.

More than likely, he will take the engine, bolt it to some sort of stand, attache a header/pipe/fuel tank and put a airplane prop on it. The fire it up and let it scream away for a few tanks.

I watched a video in my LHS in awe for about 20 minutes watching a guy do it on an OS plane engine. Depending on the prop, it will help keep RPM's at a respectable level, but it's like running a maxx or savage through tall grass at WOT for 2 or 3 tanks of fuel and not letting off.

In the vid I watched, the guy also put the piston at BDC and let it cool down to ambient temps in between tanks.

 

[Rolex]

Just as Olds said, ONLY on airplane engines. That's the way I've done all of mine. The reason they can be done this way is that they have a propeller to keep them cool and provide a load (wind resistance) at the same time. They are run extremely rich. An electronic tachometer is also used. It has an electric eye that 'sees' each blade of the prop that goes by, automatically divides that reading by 2 or 3 (depending on what it's set for and whether you have a 2 or 3 blade prop) and gives you a digital readout. When it's been broken in, the WOT will increase by about 2000 RPM over it's original RPM when first starting the break in. Usually it's 2 to 3 tanks.
If you try that method on a car, you'll waste the engine.

 

[robmob]

Here is an article regarding methods of break-in. WOT method is mentioned.

Break-in article.

 

[Rolex]

I'm amazed. However, at the end of that article it tells you the lifetime is potentially decreased. It never reaches full WOT if it's run so rich that it only reaches 190-200 just sitting there. It also says ONE GALLON !!!
I'll stick with the manufacturers recommendations.

 

[robmob]

Me too.

 

[Diver6127]

I stick to what works best for me. Too many cooks spoil the broth.

 

[rocknbil]

I don't know if he invented it, but this method was made famous by Josh Cyrul. While I'd never argue with a champion racer, I can't afford to attempt this radical method of break-in either.

 

[Diver6127]

Talk about being a radical proceedure! I'm not gonna try, you try it!

 

[olds97_lss]

I don't know about you, but 16 hours of piston/sleeve life isn't all that much in my book. That's about 2 - 3 weekends worth of summer bashing for me and a gallon and a half of fuel.

If I don't get 7-8 gallons or more out of my engines, I percieve that as doing something wrong and try to correct my mistakes.

I try to keep track of fuel/time just to see how long things really last by gallon and by hour. With a 500cc fuel bottle, I get just about an hours run-time (actual running). There are 3,785.4118 cubic centimeters in a gallon. By doing the math, I get roughly 7.57 hours per gallon. Round it down to 7.5 hours. I currently am on my 7th gallon in my OS 21 RG, so that engine has 52.5 hours on it so far, and it's still running...

You break your engine in how you want Josh Cyrul, but I prefer engine life over quick breaking in times...

 

[Rolex]

I'm not gonna try, you try it!

Let Mikey try it. He hates Everything.

 

[Candyman]

I don't know about you, but 16 hours of piston/sleeve life isn't all that much in my book. That's about 2 - 3 weekends worth of summer bashing for me and a gallon and a half of fuel.

If I don't get 7-8 gallons or more out of my engines, I percieve that as doing something wrong and try to correct my mistakes.

I try to keep track of fuel/time just to see how long things really last by gallon and by hour. With a 500cc fuel bottle, I get just about an hours run-time (actual running). There are 3,785.4118 cubic centimeters in a gallon. By doing the math, I get roughly 7.57 hours per gallon. Round it down to 7.5 hours. I currently am on my 7th gallon in my OS 21 RG, so that engine has 52.5 hours on it so far, and it's still running...

You break your engine in how you want Josh Cyrul, but I prefer engine life over quick breaking in times...

Olds totally needs a girlfriend....

 

[olds97_lss]

Dude, I'm married.... I don't think my wife would appreciate another woman in the house... or maybe she would?

 

[david93073]

Theres been alot of talk over at the RB Concepts website about WOT run-in procedures. Rody Roem of RB engines seems to endorse this method of run-in.
A 9x6 APC prop will properly load a .21 size engine, and u set the needles to maintain about 200 F (some shielding to divert the wind from the prop will be neccasary to maintain head temps).

 

[scottm]

I have played with wot breakin before. I used the small plane prop method and it does work. Here is a post in my gallery of the stand I made.

https://www.rcnitrotalk.com/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=2789&sort=1&cat=500&page=3

You guys haven't seen this before? It has come up here on rcnt probably 10 times in the last year or so...

Anyway the whole idea is to get it hot with a heat gun, then run it wot for 1 to 5 miunutes at a time. You need to adjust the mixture so it is running rich, but not blubbery rich. You need to wrap the cyl with tape or foil to keep it at 200-220 F. The small prop provides a load so it doesn't over rev, and provides more than enough airflow. It is really loud!

I heard about it from the Ulimate Nitro Tuning Guide by the RCCA people. Its biggest supporters are Steve Pond, the Tech Editor of RCCA, and that Rody guy. It does work, though I don't think it is worth the trouble and noise. 90% of the benefits come from getting the engine hot with a heat gun first, and heat cycle it for 5-10 tanks.

 

[wannarunem]

I remember that pic..but didnt realize that break in u did was at WOT. Do you still have that mill? Hows the performance?

 

[ApriliaRacer]

Engine break-in has always been a topic of discussion on the Motorcycle boards that I frequent.

Personally, I follow the break-in procedures as outlined in the manual. So far that tried-and-true method has never let me down or caused an engine to fail.

As far as what the pros do, well they don't pay for their engines, so longevity is not an issue for them. If it gets them through an event thats all that matters, not to mention they probably have some back-up engines.

 

[scottm]

wannarunem, I do still have it. It is on my storm buggy, and it still rips. It has good pinch and like-new compression. The way Steve Pond describes it, heating the engine with a heat gun before starting expands the scylinder and sleeve to normal running size. This prevents the piston from being worn down by the constricted walls of a cold sleeve. That is also why it is important to set the mixture to maintain 200+ F during breakin. The OS website says the biggest mistake you can make is to run it blubbery rich and cold for breakin. I still heat my old engines with a heat gun before starting, if it is less than about 80° F outside. So my pistons never experience wear from a cold sleeve. My engines last 2-3 times longer than my friends!