yeah i just got the vortec heads in and was breaking in my new comp cam: Xtreme Energy 262H Hydraulic Flat Tappet Camshaft Complete Kit
Lift: .462/.469''
Duration: 262/270°
RPM Range: 1300-5600 well i almost broke it in but 12 min at 2k-2.5k rpm the fan wasnt turning on and began to overheat so i turned it off. any one know if 12 min was enough? or should i do it over? i didnt connect the egr either. also about the vortec tpi intake, there is a small water outlet by the distributor where is it supposed to go? we just plugged it with a bolt. there is also another one by the thermostat which we teed off to another hose.

 

Well it's definitely not the best situation. What I do is have a hose around and just lightly mist water over the radiator while it's running just to make sure it stays cool.

As far as whether 12 mins is enough? It's not ideal, but it's probably as broken in as it's gonna be. But I would continue to break it in at least another 10 minutes. Just keep it above 2k RPMs. And be aware the stock tach is often optimistic. Dont be afraid to keep it at an indicated 3k. But you're probably fine.

A story. My xe262 (same as what you've got unless you got the 114 LSA) had to be aborted on it's first, second, and third break ins. It probably got at most 15 minutes of actual break in time on it. Since then it got put into another build and I went through the whole routine again just to be sure it was healthy.

I had a LOT of problems crop up during my break ins, and even though that motor didnt fare so well, the cam survived and still works fine. So I woudln't sweat it too much. Just keep it up another 10 minutes or so when it cools down and figure out why your fan isnt coming on. If you've got the dual fans, one should be on always and one should come on from a cylinder-head mounted temp/fan switch. At least I think that's the case.

You've got the break in lube in the oil, right?

BTW... my setup is carb'd, but I've got the same heads and cam as you, and I gotta say this thing is quite quick. Has a nasty kick to it, very very nice. Not really a drag racing setup, but definitely a fun drive and the idle isn't crazy, but it's got a bit of a lump to it. You'll enjoy it.

 

ooo yeah ill try to get the fan working. i did use break-in with the oil and followed every procedure by the book including torquing in a criss cross and all. btw this is my first engine i worked on, with a cousin who was great help. it took us a good week to do. oh we werent planning on running anything near 13s at the quarter. the most realistic is probably in the 14s with a custom dual exhaust. i need to get a shift kit in my tranny still and get a good tq converter, oh and a stronger rear with faster gears. i wonder if ill do low 14s after i do all that. at least for now i hope i can take on those imports and mustangs.

 

oh i forgot to mention the 1.6 rocker arms i used and im also adding an accel 300+ and maybe go buy e3 spark plugs

 

Well my only clean run the ET was 14.5, but I cant launch the T56 very well and I've got really tall gears for a manual. But it did trap at 102 which should still improve a little. But that's easily good enough to break into the 13's. I didnt build it to be a drag car. I've got a Holley DP and a very efficient exhaust on it, though. I think I can get that ET way down with some tuning and a little talent.

 

well it was the fan relay that was a little bad and we are running the car w/o thermostat. also forgot to connect some vacuums. we removed ac and wipers. we still need to do heat wrap on headers b/c of burning spark plug wires. then we finished breaking in the cam, but car wont idle long. It will just turn off. i think the timing on distributor needs some adjusting. the idle is very noticeable, im not sure if thats the way the cam is, or if its the timing causing this. One more thing is that theres white smoke coming out of the muffler. Dont know whats causing it. we thought it could be the break-in oil, are we supposed to change the oil right away? or is it that the car is just burning oil? it is a little bad.

 

First off, I wouldnt wrap the headers, I would put some sleeves or wrap on the plug wires.

Second, is it white smoke or blue? Blueish tinted smoke means oil, white means water. White is caused by water vapor in the exhaust. Could be coolant or just moisture in the exhaust.

 

the car was leaking coolant at the exhaust. then we checked the driver side and it was leaking only on that sides exhaust. it was cylinder 3 and 7. we took out the gasket and we had pinched a ground in between the gasket and head towards the back. so we replaced that. put everything back together and did the timing right. this time the car wouldnt idle. It would only turn on with my foot on the gas and it was shaking really bad. the two cylinders are still leaking coolant, and its only cyl 3 and 7. i dont know what could be going on. did the new gasket blow and why.

 

Are the heads ported? Are they cracked? Are the cylinder bores cracked?

Still... I had a crack in a cylinder bore and it didnt lose coolant through the exhaust. It got coolant into the oil.

Check and make sure your oil looks clean.

I'd be suspicious of that cylinder head, personally.

When you pulled the heads, how did those chambers look?

This was my cylinder head after having a crack in the cylinder bore (Never go .060 over) develop on its frist time around the block, after it's 3rd break in. I changed the oil after break in and it was clean so this crack wasnt there yet by then.



See how clean the chambers are... but yet that one chamber has a steam-cleaned exhaust valve. If you didnt notice anything like that when you pulled the heads... then that would be very odd. Because you should be able to tell even with as little run time as you've got on that thing. That head in the pic has at most 30 minutes of run time on it. But if all the chambers looked the same... then the coolant is getting in AFTER the exh valve... which means you've got a crack in the casting or a hole in the exh port somewhere. Which is, ironically, what happened on my original set of vortecs...


The shiny metal on the back right is the weld over the hole that goes through to the water jacket. The welds clearly didnt hold.


But if those two chambers look clean, you need to investigate the bores there, and see if it's somehwo coming through the intake side... but I dont see how it could off the top of my head.

I'd sayp ull that head off and investigate it a bit... maybe get it pressure tested.

 

well the heads are brand new they were just dropped in this week. i did nothing to them. were thinking it might be the intake gasket. but well check everything once we pull it out.

 

yep its the cylinder head was damaged during cam break in. for some reason we forgot to check a wire that is cut in half wich was taped together. it was for the cooling fan and when it overheated, for not even 2 min the head got damaged. im supposed to pick another one up at the junkyard. im praying for the best and hopefully it will be done soon.

 

so now im in the part of putting the intake manifold gaskets btw the old ones were leaking also. i used silicone on the coolant ports. i dont know if i was supposed to do that or not. i read somewhwere i can just use silicone without gaskets? where would i apply silicone?, just the coolant ports or also the air intake ports as well?

 

all done no problems just smelly header paint burning off really nice idle vibrates tools and things in the garage! i was very satisfied with this maybe ill post a video or something so everyone can check it out

 

Oh yeah man put a video of that up!