I assume you oiled the piston and cylinder when you put it together, and the cam and rockers as well.

Good old Rotella T is fine for the engine to run on....and adding an ounce or two of Redline ZDDP is not a bad idea....but is not absolutely necessary.

Start the engine up, go for a ride, and just avoid any prolonged time at a steady rpm or any high speed nonsense.  Some folks claim that fully off the throttle helps to make a vacuum to seat the rings......they don't do that on Dyno break-in runs or recommend that in any factory manual....so I am guessing that is some "old wives tale" that has been spread around a bunch.

I just ride around as if the road is slippery for a few hundred miles.

Dave      

Race mechanic told me to break my 98 in "like I hated it". Cam chain tensioner was still close to fine at 25K, valves have never needed adjusted, no odd noises anywhere in the engine.


Don't know how the 03 was broken in, but at just under 13K miles, I ought as well scrap it and start over. Either the factory seriously cheaped out, or the owner before Pine had it was a wuss.

Jsud04 wrote on 08/19/14 at 15:45:01:

Yeah but you still need to check ring gap with a feeler guage... You don't just assume that they are the correct spec. If it's a little tight you can buy a ring filer. Or just do it with a regular file.

Any other tips on doing a rebuild for the first time. I will be tackling this next weekend and would hate to ruin all the new parts in the beast performance package I got from Lancer.

Is any form of assembly lube acceptable? Or is there a preferred brand?

Did you get a new cam grind....one from Lancer?

It will come with the break in lube.  Follow the directions that come with it.  For a new cam installation you want everything ready to go when you start  the bike - you don't want to stop or idle the bike for a period of time that they specify in the break -in instructions.  The cam lobes don't like low rpm when the cam has not been used before.

For the piston rings - if the shop didn't check the ring end gap is would not hurt to do that.  Slide them one at a time into the top of the cylinder, shove them down just a bit with the piston so they are sitting square in the bore, then use a feeler gauge to check the end gap.  Most factory rings are made to spec - the only question then becomes did they bore the cylinder to the correct size for the piston and rings.  When you assemble the rings onto the piston and get ready to slice the cylinder on, lightly oil the ring and cylinder, and align the ring gaps so that none of them line up....space the gaps 1/3rd around the piston, and I try never to align anything over the tops of the piston pin......just a habit of mine.

Dave

wolfsgrin wrote on 08/19/14 at 20:31:20:


OK....What is the Beast Performance Package you are referring to?
I thought maybe it was a cam grind or Wiseco piston.