Cam Break In Issues

[adk-roadrunner]

So I started my cam break in yesterday but it didn't go quite as planned. It's a 440 with sealed power 6 pack pistons, Edelbrock E street heads 75cc chambers , comp 284 nostalgia purple cam 484 lift and 1.6 PRW rockers. I'm using Edelbrock E street EFI that was previously running great on the 318 I had in the car but I obviously had to reset it and program in the new engine so we were starting over. I set the timing up by setting the balancer at 12° BTDC then made sure the rotor was point towards cylinder 1 and reluctor wheel point was at the pickup. I wasn't sure if I should use vacuum advance or not for break in but I hooked it up. I have a 195 thermostat and I also wasn't sure if I should run with or without it for break in. I searched these things but couldn't find straight answers on them as people seem to do both. The car fired up and ran and we immediately brought the rpms up to 2000. I had 50lbs of oil pressure so I kept going and I checked timing and I turned the rotor until it was around 30 degrees with advance hooked up. It was running but definitely seemed a bit rough and just didn't sound quite right almost like it had a miss or something. I tried adjusting the timing a bit to see if I could smooth it out but it only made a little difference. The car ended up getting warm really quick to about 200 degrees and puked a ton of water out so we shut it down. I was running it with an air bleed kit with the funnel that caps on to radiator so it can release air bubbles also I'm just running water at this point. I have 2 electric fans on a champion 3 core that are triggered by the EFI system and initially I had 1 set to come on at 170 and one at 185 but I later put them both at 160 after it got hot. I tried to run it 2 more times but it would get hot almost instantly and puke a ton of water out and we'd have to shut down. The last time the tablet read 214 after we shut it off and it wasn't running a minute. So in total it ran maybe 7 minutes and we did keep the rpm's up with 50lbs of oil pressure so I'm really hoping I didn't screw it up. If I remember correctly the EFI does run rough at first until it learns but I don't think that would cause the overheating. I decided to call it at that point so I could really check things and try again today maybe.

 

[Don Frelier]

I think you are still probably OK.
You are running the EFI without timing control?
With vacuum advance I would suggest more timing advance like low 40's at 2,000 - 2,500 RPM.
You may have some air in there but once the thermostat opened it should have worked it's way out pretty quickly.
Remember that water expands quite a bit when heated so you can't start with a full radiator unless you have an expansion tank.
With the hood off and two electric fans it should stay close to the thermostat setpoint.
But a new engine will put out quite a bit of heat.
A box fan on a chair in front of the radiator would help.
Or if need be a light spray from a garden hose on the radiator.
What did your AFR read while it was running?
Try around 13.8 - 14.0 if you can.
Check all your fluids again run for another 15 minutes and let cool completely.
214 is nothing to worry about.

 

[blue69runner]

Running a 160 thermostat in my 383 runner. Like was stated a fan blowing on the rad from the front may help it cool better. Should have a one inch space from neck of radiator never fill all the way up. Agree the motor will run hotter till broke in. At about 12 degrees btdc or in that area. At 1000 rpm's. Each motor is different. Some like more other's like less. Depending on the which cam your running. Your get it figured out it dose take some time to find that sweet spot. Took about three week's to get mine dialed in. Would drive it then bring it back in. Mine was the carb giving me problem's running too lean then too rich. But got that worked out by checking my plug's each time when giving it a test run. Best of luck with the project.

 

[#41]

To get past any overheating problems when breaking in, I always run a cold water hose in the top of the radiator at the same rate it flows out the full open petcock on the bottom. I have even done this on an engine stand with nothing but a box fan and it works great. Set up the exchange flow rate before you start so you are not blowing water all over the place.

I don't know anything about setting up EFI, but perhaps check your plugs to eliminate the possibility of a lean condition which could cause rough running and heat?

 

[65wgn440]

If I am running a thermostat, I always drill an 1/8" air bleed hole in it before install. Helps with initial fill/ air pocket problems.

 

[adk-roadrunner]

I think you are still probably OK.
You are running the EFI without timing control?
With vacuum advance I would suggest more timing advance like low 40's at 2,000 - 2,500 RPM.
You may have some air in there but once the thermostat opened it should have worked it's way out pretty quickly.
Remember that water expands quite a bit when heated so you can't start with a full radiator unless you have an expansion tank.
With the hood off and two electric fans it should stay close to the thermostat setpoint.
But a new engine will put out quite a bit of heat.
A box fan on a chair in front of the radiator would help.
Or if need be a light spray from a garden hose on the radiator.
What did your AFR read while it was running?
Try around 13.8 - 14.0 if you can.
Check all your fluids again run for another 15 minutes and let cool completely.
214 is nothing to worry about.

Yes this version of Edelbrock's E street EFI does not control timing. I'll give low 40's a shot with timing advance hooked up as well. I'm also gonna check all plugs to 1 make sure they are all firing and 2 that they aren't running super lean. My plan is to also remove the thermostat atleast for break in.

 

[adk-roadrunner]

To get past any overheating problems when breaking in, I always run a cold water hose in the top of the radiator at the same rate it flows out the full open petcock on the bottom. I have even done this on an engine stand with nothing but a box fan and it works great. Set up the exchange flow rate before you start so you are not blowing water all over the place.

I don't know anything about setting up EFI, but perhaps check your plugs to eliminate the possibility of a lean condition which could cause rough running and heat?

I thought about running the hose but only problem is it does need to hit a certain temp to go into learn mode. I'll definitely be checking my plugs today to confirm things are good today before getting it started.

 

[Don Frelier]

Leave the thermostat in heat is part of the break in process.
Maybe just put it in boiling water and make sure it opens.
You did have it in the right way...?

 

[adk-roadrunner]

Leave the thermostat in heat is part of the break in process.
Maybe just put it in boiling water and make sure it opens.
You did have it in the right way...?

Yup had it in the right way its a 195° thermostat. Its almost like everytime it opened it made all the coolant puke out. I'm wondering if I should ditch the the radiator funnel and run with the radiator cap on as well. I'm running water only for now to break in then going with antifreeze. Also I did purchase a 180 degree thermostat at oreillys but it looks strange everything is off centered on it.

 

[Mick56]

When it warms up, feel around the radiator and see if there are any cold spots. That would mean the radiator is plugged. Are you running the 318 radiator?

 

[adk-roadrunner]

When it warms up, feel around the radiator and see if there are any cold spots. That would mean the radiator is plugged. Are you running the 318 radiator?

Brand new champion 3 row

 

[Outlawd]

Your heating up fast, almost like a coolant restriction of some kind. For sure check the thermo in boiling water as Don said. I also have drilled a 1/8" hole in thermo to prevent air lock. New or used water pump? While you have the thermo housing off I would spin it by hand or with a drill to make sure it is working. Pull off lower rad hose and make sure water dumped in top flows out bottom, we had a new one once that had foam packing peanuts in it.

 

[WileERobby]

Brand new champion 3 row

Champion radiators suck. My personal limited experience & opinion.

 

[adk-roadrunner]

Champion radiators suck. My personal limited experience & opinion.

Alot of people use them. I'm sure some people have overheating issues while using them but I'm also sure alot of them are having other issues causing their overheating problems as well. We will see

 

[beanhead]

Post #2...needs more timing. More than you would normally run.
If it's not getting to 225-230 don't worry about the cooling right now....just get the break-in done. Then if necessary work on the temps after you see how it does on the road after proper mixture and timing settings.
And if it does want to creep that hot? Shut it down, let it cool, and continue until you get to your desired break-in time.

 

[adk-roadrunner]

No more overheating and finished break in. I removed the thermostat, went at about 40° Btdc, removed funnel and capped radiator, I found that I needed to update the firmware on my ecu so it may have been running lean and I kept a garden hose handy and whenever it hit 190 I'd spray water on the radiator and it would cool to 160 to 170. I went a whole 20 minutes. I have a video of the idle after I'll try and post.

 

[beanhead]

No more overheating and finished break in. I removed the thermostat, went at about 40° Btdc, removed funnel and capped radiator, I found that I needed to update the firmware on my ecu so it may have been running lean and I kept a garden hose handy and whenever it hit 190 I'd spray water on the radiator and it would cool to 160 to 170. I went a whole 20 minutes. I have a video of the idle after I'll try and post.

That's good news, nice job! Thanks for the follow-up.

 

[adk-roadrunner]

Here are a couple videos of the engine running. I just got my 2.5 inch TTI exhaust on. Not going to put my headers on until next season and just gonna run the HP manifolds for now. I need to get all my suspension and steering back in so I can drive the car