Driven break in oil

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Gary Evans
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Driven break in oil

Post by Gary Evans »

hi ally quick history, I race a nhra stock eliminator car. 69 Camaro 425 hp 427.i have a very reputable machinist and have built my own engines for twenty five years. have never had a bottom end failure until recently.the last two engines have both broken a rod.fist engine spun a bearing and broke a rod on the fifth pull on the dyno. the second engine did not go to the dyno,but broke a rod on the fifth pass last weekend. don't have the engine out of the car yet so I don't know the cause of the failure.these are two completely different engines with none of the same parts.
the questionis anybody having trouble with the driven br30 break-inoil, or am I just having some bad luck.Thanks in advance for the response
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Re: Driven break in oil

Post by BillK »

Gary,

I have used it in a couple of flat tappet engines and have never had an issue. Try to get my customers to buy it for things they are building. Not sure if I would leave it in for Dyno flogging or racing. I have always broken the engine in easy and then changed the oil and cut open the filter before really putting it to the test.

How did the rest of the bearings look in the first engine ?? I would think if it was an oil problem all of them would be showing signs. How was the pin fit in the rods and pistons ? I think a lot of unexplained failures are from piston pins that are too tight. Seems like lately the sizes are all over the place and almost all of them need to be opened up a touch. Especially rods.
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Gary Evans
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Re: Driven break in oil

Post by Gary Evans »

Thanks for the reply. The rest of the bearing looked great. The pin had .0015 the rods had .0017. At times we use royal purple 9-8 weight oil when we have class or a heads up race. Have always run the clearances this tight because of the thin oil and have not had any trouble until now
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Re: Driven break in oil

Post by 1972ho »

Your cars not wheel standing any higher than before is it and did you use the same oil pump after the first break.
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Re: Driven break in oil

Post by rp930 »

I don’t think it’s a good idea to leave that oil in.

“Good for full power pulls on the dyno, one night of racing or up to 400 miles on the street. Viscosity typical of 5W-30.”
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Re: Driven break in oil

Post by nhrastocker »

Break In oils are not dedicated racing oils and their formulations are not the same.
I use the Driven or Maxima Break In oil. After the engine is broken in, either in the dyno or at the track after a few runs, I drain it, cut the filter open and use a dedicated Maxima, HPL or Amsoil racing oil.
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Re: Driven break in oil

Post by fordified »

Used or new rods. Brand? If used, bolt type and number of torque cycles? Rod stretch history kept from new?

King bearings?
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Re: Driven break in oil

Post by LSP »

Pics of the other rods bearings?

Running any more rpm than previously with the same rods?
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Re: Driven break in oil

Post by Gary Evans »

Nhrastocker, I follow the same procedure you do and use the maxima 0-20 oil most of the time. The car has wheelie bars. Different rods but same oil pump. No pics of engine 1 and engine 2 is not apart yet
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Re: Driven break in oil

Post by ProPower engines »

Berak in oil is just that for break in only.
It lacks some of the properties that race oil has and is not intended for dyno pulls beyond break in.
We always change the oil after break in is done to the oil we intend to use under race conditions.
If you are breaking rods and they were reused during a freshen then maybe look at the life they had seen before the freshen up but if you burn a bearing and break a rod its tough call as to what really caused the damage [-X [-X
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nhrastocker
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Re: Driven break in oil

Post by nhrastocker »

Gary Evans wrote: Thu Jun 10, 2021 1:09 pm Nhrastocker, I follow the same procedure you do and use the maxima 0-20 oil most of the time. The car has wheelie bars. Different rods but same oil pump. No pics of engine 1 and engine 2 is not apart yet
What brand of bearings and clearances are you running?
I also use a baffled oil pan. I use a legal approved Milodon oil pan and ship it to Stef's to have it modified and baffled. This prevents any issues during wheel stands. Also, only Wix Racing oil filters.
I will only use ACL, Daido or old left over inventory Clevite bearings.
Have experienced issues with King and Mahle bearings and I stay away from them.
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Re: Driven break in oil

Post by novafornow »

^^^^^^Big fan of Daido bearings.
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Re: Driven break in oil

Post by Gary Evans »

They are clevite and coated by calico. Would like to thank everyone as I have received the answers I was looking for
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Re: Driven break in oil

Post by DCal »

Gary Evans wrote: Wed Jun 09, 2021 9:22 pm Thanks for the reply. The rest of the bearing looked great. The pin had .0015 the rods had .0017. At times we use royal purple 9-8 weight oil when we have class or a heads up race. Have always run the clearances this tight because of the thin oil and have not had any trouble until now
Hi Gary, We've talked a few times at Sonoma when I was working at CP. I think your clearances are perfect unless you're running .090 wall pins. I would call Hal Sorenson or Barry Polley and get their opinion, as you know they're in the same class as you and would have very close to the same components with the same weights.
Regards Dave Calvert
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Re: Driven break in oil

Post by BILL-C »

We have used Driven BR-30 in close to 2500 performance and race engines on dyno for complete dyno session.After warming up engine fully and applying a light load on engine for 20 minutes we go over lash and dump and inspect oil filter. After topping off again we run the rest of that session on the same oil without issue. The oil is not your problem. Do you monitor oil temp and pressure on dyno ? Typically the oil temp will rise very quickly if you are grabbing a bearing and power will drop . Sounds like a serious oil pan related lubrication issue. A spun rod bearing on a race engine will almost always result in a broken rod no matter what brand it is. If the rod shows excessive heat you have an oiling or clearance issue.
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