I just got a reman'd 350 tbi flat tappet cam engine for my Suburban and I'm wondering what I should do for the cam break in? I've googled it and gotten all sorts of answers...I guess what I'd prefer to do is what a dealer would do if I would have had Chevy themselves replace the engine. This is my daily driver so the safest method is the best here

 

Primer the motor real good with the oil pump. Run it up to temp and shut it down. Repeat a few times. Thats all we ever did with a fresh motor. Getting the rings seated is more critical than the can break in anyway. are you sure it;s a flat tappet cam? All TBI engines where roller cam motors all the way back to 87.

 

Spartan/ATK Engines Spartan Remanufactured Chevy Engine VCM5: Shop the best Engine - Remanufactured at Advance Auto Parts

Thats the engine I got. I thought if it didn't have the guide in the valley its not a roller? Advances system doesn't mention it is a roller till the mid gen facelift.

 

along with my 4x4 rx7 thats shown in my avatar I also have a 88 rx7 with a slightly beefed up 350 under the hood - when I rebuilt the motor the guide that came with my cam stated bring engine up too operating temp then throttle it up to 3 thousand rpm and hold for 15 min - while it was coming up too operating temps I set the valves and reinstalled valve covers - when at operating temps I followed through with the cam break in at 3 thousand for 15 min - after cam break in I run her out of town at variable speeds too a steep hill out of town eased her up the hill and came back off the hill in a lower gear under compression to further seat the rings - did this several times - she has been together for several years and still runs like a raped ape - according to engine manuals the major reason for cam break in is heat tempering at a higher oil rate across the cam at higher rpms so the metal tempers and is resistant for any starting of flat spots - but the more you research and the more you look you will find everybody will have there own ways and ideas on how too break it in - what ever way you deside I wish you luck and have a good motor

 

So you let it warm up....you don't immediately take it up to 3 grand? What you did is the general method I've heard. Did you just get the throttle where you need it and zip tie it or something? Oh and to prime the oil pump can I just yank the injector fuse and crank it for 30 seconds? When I primed the pump for Bronco, Ford just used a 8mm hex on the pump shaft so I just ran it with a drill for like 3 minutes....but Chevy has some weird thing and I don't really have time to wait for Summit to send me one (I'm actually close enough I might be able to run it today)

 

you can crank it to prime. i have a tool that i made out of a old dist. pic of it was down loaded in post priming oil in this section a page back. it won't let me down load it here again. If you have a old dist. just gut it out saving the outer housing and inner shaft,then grind the gear that meshes to the cam off smooth, it works well for priming engine, lineing up dist. ect. My son was watching for leaks and such and I stayed in the car holding her at 3 grand watching oil pressure. temp and such. One other thing I do after break in is change oil and filter then change it again after 500 to a 1000 miles

 

I was looking around online and guys were saying it might mess up the cam to crank to prime it...if I do it that way how long? I do have a mechanical oil gauge installed so should I just wait till that maxes or keep going?

 

crank it a few sec at a time till you have oil pressure then for sh--s and giggles a few more times too get oil through the engine - if they assembled it with assembley lube it will have some luberacation during the prime up anyways - I know guys that just fire up a fresh rebuild with out prime but I prefer having oil through out the motor

 

On a quick break in we would just pull the coil wire and turn that sucker over till we had good oil pressure. We also only used mechanical oil pressure gauges. This is old school stuff here. Man they made a mess if the oil line broke. LOL.

 

What about break in additives?