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Farmall & IHC Tractors Discussion Forum
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Breaking in an engine. What oil to use?

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JBlavl

09-16-2004 10:49:19




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I have heard from people that it is a bad idea to use synthetic oil while breaking in a new engine. Their reason was that it so slippery that it will glaze over the rings and they will not seat properly. Sounded like a lot of hog wash to me but then again I am no expert in motor oils. I was wondering what people here have used for engine oils in their fresh machines. I want to use synthetic because I know I don't change the oil as much as I should and I work the tractor really hard when it is in use. Sooooo o can I break in the engine with synthetic or not is what I am trying to get at.

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Aces

09-16-2004 19:46:39




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 Re: Breaking in an engine. What oil to use? in reply to JBlavl, 09-16-2004 10:49:19  
Jblavl I think the synthetic oil shouls be sin- thetic. I was told to use it in my pickup rear end and to change it every 15000 miles I never changed the iol in the reaed of and vehicle before. Had the oil changed in the rear end 5000 miles ago then had a noise which I only heard in a parking lot, thought it was in the front end took it back to the dealer and was told had to put additive in rear end. It might go bad but that the last time I change it. Has for engine brake in we did not have the plastic oil then, put in what the customer was going to use and said check the oil, work it has hard as you wish and don't get it hot. Never had a bad engine in 15 years. When we got into the big desiel's 3 hours on the dyno before any lift the shop.

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TOMMY

09-16-2004 19:19:35




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 Re: Breaking in an engine. What oil to use? in reply to JBlavl, 09-16-2004 10:49:19  
USE A 10W OIL FOR BREAK IN,,AND THEN A PREMIUM MULTI-VISCOSITY OIL. NEVER USE SYNTHETIC OIL TO BREAK-IN A NEW MOTOR !!! 2 YEARS AGO I BUILT A 500HP FOR A FELLOW WHO DEMANDED THAT IT BE BROKE-IN AND TESTED ON THE DYNAMO WITH SYNTHETIC. MY BREAK-INS ARE 4 HRS. AT 1500 RPM, AND THEN WE LOAD TEST,AT 3200RPM AND 380+HP LOAD HIS $9000 MOTOR GRENADED !!! NO ENGINE BUILDERS I KNOW ,EVEN HILDEBRANT, WOULD EVER USE SYNTH. FOR A BREAK -IN.

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El Toro

09-16-2004 18:56:44




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 Re: Breaking in an engine. What oil to use? in reply to JBlavl, 09-16-2004 10:49:19  
Hi Josh, Select a brand name oil, you say you're going to work this tractor I would use sae30 oil.
For use in the winter I would use a multi-duty
oil until spring. It's easier to change oil that
to pull that engine down again. I would change
the inital oil after about 5 hours of operation.
I use Quaker State in everything because it is sold in all of the stores in my area and each store has a sale and that is when I load up.
Good Luck, Hal

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Andy Martin

09-16-2004 15:18:51




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 Re: Breaking in an engine. What oil to use? in reply to JBlavl, 09-16-2004 10:49:19  
I'm a retired engineer and have worked Farmall M's for twenty years.

The factory recommended twice per year oil changes as a minimum primarily to get a lighter weight oil in the engine for the winter.

Since the engine was designed to give long life on what is now a subatandard oil, the only thing you should be concerned about is water contamination from too much time not running. I think synthetic oil is a complete waste of money in these old, reliable engines if they are stock or nearly stock.

Break in with the cheapest oil you can find to get the system cleaned out then use the multiviscosity oil of your choice and you will run a Farmall for many many years. I use 20w50 in all the tractors including the Liftalls.

Farmalls have very low speeds and low pressures combined with low temperatures that make the automotive advice superfulous.

I believe changing the filter only in an engine without a full flow filter is probably not a good idea.

Most my tractors get new oil once per year and use very little oil under hard pulling and no oil during light work.

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IH Rob

09-16-2004 14:01:32




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 Re: Breaking in an engine. What oil to use? in reply to JBlavl, 09-16-2004 10:49:19  
OK - Here's my couple of cents worth. I have been in the trucking industry for quite a few years, and have rebuilt a fare share of diesel engines. I have never broke an engine in with synthetic for the same reasons the other fellas mentioned. Here's the scoop on synthetic oil - it IS much better than regular oil. Why do we change oil? Because the viscosity starts to break down, which causes it to lose it's lubricating qualities. Also because it becomes contaminated with engine wear particles, dirt, and soot. Synthetic oils retain their viscosity for much longer than standard oil - therefore everyone thinks that you can go twice as long between changes. It is my OPINION that you shouldn't do this. The synthetic, although retaining good viscosity characteristics, still gets the contamination that normal oil does. You can usually go a little longer between changes, but I always recommend that oil be changed on regular intervals - synthetic or not. Diesel soot is the most dangerous "normal" contaminate. At 5% soot level, the oil is basically sludge. Synthetic just makes it slick sludge. In a nutshell, synthetic will make your engine last longer, but should still be changed at the same interval as normal oil. Make any sense to you all? Again, just my opinion.

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JBlavl

09-16-2004 13:09:55




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 Re: Breaking in an engine. What oil to use? in reply to JBlavl, 09-16-2004 10:49:19  
You guys all make very good points. I guess it really comes down to a matter of opinion. I guess I'll see how much money I have when I am finished with this project and go from there. Anyone have some left over PPG Omni brand paint in Farmall Red they want to sell LOL.



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dej(JED)

09-16-2004 12:03:59




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 Re: Breaking in an engine. What oil to use? in reply to JBlavl, 09-16-2004 10:49:19  
What's up with you guys? Synthetic ol is the way to go. Give it the best from the start. Why pay premium bucks for new parts and then let the parts wear right off the bat with cheaper lubes. Get out of the stone age in your mind.



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lee

09-16-2004 11:37:57




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 Re: Breaking in an engine. What oil to use? in reply to JBlavl, 09-16-2004 10:49:19  
The lore about synthetic on break-in is not a load of crap at least in the automotive world. No
good engine builder would use it to break in a motor. Use a straight 30 weight oil and change it out for synthetic if you want. There is an issue with automotive high performance engines now days in that most oils have had the zinc content reduced or eliminated causing break-in issues with cams, especially solid lifter cams. These automkotive cams have high lift and valve trains use much heavier valve springs than in these old tractors. Lots of guys break-in with a GM product called GM EOS an additive and a straight weight oil. They also use a special cam lube on assembly.

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MagMan

09-16-2004 11:03:02




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 Re: Breaking in an engine. What oil to use? in reply to JBlavl, 09-16-2004 10:49:19  
If it was me I would use A desent 30 weight becuase your just going to drain it after a few hours any ways. Then put the good exspencive stough in. Or I guess you could use 15/40 I really dont think in my oppinion that no matter what oil you use You should always change it a least 2 times a year spring and fall. And if it sits out side check the drain plug for water every couple months. JUST MY OPPINION JON

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Nebraska Cowman

09-16-2004 10:59:36




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 Re: Breaking in an engine. What oil to use? in reply to JBlavl, 09-16-2004 10:49:19  
If you realy care about your tractor you will leave the synthetic on the shelf and CHANGE your oil! There have been more engines ruined because the owner thought he could get a longer oil change interval with synthetic.



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Ron in Nebr

09-16-2004 11:37:06




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 Re: Breaking in an engine. What oil to use? in reply to Nebraska Cowman, 09-16-2004 10:59:36  
Like the above posts indicated, an oil change is cheap compared to an engine, no matter what kind of oil you use. But I have to admit that, even though I"m an ex-professional mechanic and should know better, I tend to put off oil changes longer than I should too. But, to answer your question, I"ve heard many professional engine builders say that you CAN break a new engine in on synthetic. But- they also say it"s better to break it in on dinosaur oil because it"s not really cost-effective to break them in with synthetic, since you MUST drain the break-in oil out within a short time, because it will contain all the dirt and foreign particles that will be in the engine after a rebuild, no matter how much care was taken to keep things clean during assembly. Along with this foreign material there will also be a small amount of metal that will be in the oil due to the "breaking in" process of the new rings, lifters, etc. As a final thought, if you DO decide to run synthetic, it"s been widely proven that you CAN go longer on oil changes, often twice as long, BUT, the key to doing this successfully is that you HAVE to continue to replace the filter and add a fresh quart on a regular basis, at least as often as you"d change oil with regular oil. The filter can and does get plugged just as fast with synthetic oil as it does with dinosaur oil, and the fresh quart(or however much the capacity of the filter is) will replenish the additives in the oil.

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