Date:         Tue, 26 Nov 2002 09:28:50 -0500
Reply-To:     Gary Arthur <arthuga@MSN.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Gary Arthur <arthuga@MSN.COM>
Subject:      Re: Engine break in
Comments: To: John Schaper <JSchaper@SCHSA.ORG>

On Mon, 25 Nov 2002 15:05:39 -0800, John Schaper <JSchaper@SCHSA.ORG> wrote:

>Tomorrow I should be getting back my l985, 1.9 L van with its new engine.
>Any tips on breaking the engine in?

I had my 85, 1.9 rebuilt last summer. My mechanic used 10W40 which really
hindered the seating of the rings. I was getting about 450 miles per quart
of oil for about 2000 miles of driving on that oil. I researched the
vanagon archives and found a variety of reasons for this and, after
consultation with another shop, changed the break-in procedure by removing
the 10W40 and filling the engine with the cheapest rot-gut SAE30 I could
find. Actually, I went to a Dollar store and found some off brand for $.49
per quart. I ran this for 500 miles and then replaced it with 20W50. I now
have over 1000 miles since the oil change and the engine has not used a
drop. I think the detergent oil lubricates too much so the rings do not
seat properly (search seating rings on archives) and the cheap SAE30
allowed them to polish the rough spots where the oil can get through
allowing them to seat (or seal) properly. I was really worried for a while
since you get all types of opinions on these issues in the archives. The
method I used seems to have worked for me. Good Luck! Cheers, Gary