Break in oil for rebuilt engine?

[ThirdGear]

Hi guys, well I'm in the process of installing a rebuilt engine into my father in law's 94 Accord (new engine will show up soon). Everything was gone through by an engine rebuilding company. Cylinders were not bored, they said it was really tight and did not need a bore. Standard pistons with new rings were installed.

I was thinking about Royal Purple break in oil, but it seems a bit expensive for what it is. Another option I thought of was just buying a basic mobil oil and adding some GM additive to it. Any other ideas or comments?

 

[KW]

Your idea of a basic Mobil oil and GM EOS sounds great to me.

 

[demarpaint]

I'd use a good conventional oil, and get some Red Line Break In Oil additive, and run the engine in with that. Give Dave a call at RL or email him and he can give you more details and technical information.

 

[MrBeachcomber]

Depending what OCI you're considering for the break in period, your solution (Mobil oil & GM supplement) might be best. After all, Honda used the factory fill as their break in oil for the original engine. I just wouldn't go beyond the factory recommended OCI for the type of service the engine will see.

Personally, I prefer using non-detergent, dino racing oil for a 500-1000 mile break in period on new/rebuilt engines (none of which are stockers, but rather high performance units). After that, I switch to Mobil 1 as the regular fill. YMMV.

 

[buickman50401]

I wouldn't bother with anything other than the cheapest name brand dino (or supertech). When I put a new (reman) engine in my Buick I just put in QS conventional and changed it at the 1000mi point and said good enough.

 

[mechtech2]

That engine does not have high valvetrain loads at all.
You can use anybody's oil for you first OCIs, and never know the differnce.
That said, you only get one shot at this first oil change, and adding the GM supplement could never hurt, and may help. So put it in. Kinda like insurance.

BTW, count on adjusting the valves in a couple of thousand miles..

 

[ThirdGear]

Thanks for the replies guys. Yeah I figured any conventional should due just fine by itself, but since we are all oil freaks I know there is a way to take it to the next level (which in this case it looks like it is EOS or Redline). I will contact Redline and see how much they recommend. I've really never used their motor oils, but I've had great success with their other fluids.

mechtech2, thanks for the heads up. I'll pay attention to the valve train noise.

 

[JOD]

When I rebuilt the top half of my V70R and did some work on the bottom, I used Brad Penn's 30W break-in oil. It wasn't crazy expensive, if I recall. It's a typical high zinc formulation. I ran it for about 3K. I really don't have any sorta testimonials for it or anything, but it made me feel better to use a break-in oil, just because...

http://www.bradpennracing.com/Products/High-Performance/Break-In-Oil.aspx