OK, I know I should know, but am curious as to how many miles should I put on the new cam & lifters in my 350 Olds block before changing the oil. I used cam break-in additive and a high zinc content oil...thanks for any input.
I have never had a cam lobe go flat on a street engine. I change the oil after the first hour of operation, using the recommended procedure by the manufacturer, and then again after 500-miles. After that, it depends on the model of the engine, what clearances it has, and what type of oil is being used. Did you coat the cam lobes and lifter faces with assembly lube?
Thanks for the input, it's just a stock 350 Olds, and I did the break in procedure with recommended break-in additive and a high zinc content oil. Used the supplied assembly lube on everything as well. So it should be changed in only an hour? Really, hope I didn't screw up anything, as I have driven it about 50 miles at various speeds and it runs great....
If you just changed the cam and lifters, it should be fine. I rarely every do just that. Assembly lube does not make the best engine oil for long-term use. The small amount (relatively) that you applied to the cam and lifters should not be a huge issue in terms of oil dilution. If you had built and entire fresh engine, I would be more concerned, but not that much. I mostly change the oil after an hour to look for any expensive glitter.
should be nice and burnished in , now change the oil . like gimpy says , do the break in procedure then change it again in 500 ,miles , and do not skimp on filters , for break in buy a good one like a puralator , wix or baldwin , no frams or cheapies as they can/will plug and bypass , also in the future , get one of them big neodynym magnets that gimpy uses to collect manhole covers with his oil pan with and put it on the filter ( on the side not bottom) it will also help pull the little shavings that burnish off the cam face on break in , doesn't hurt to run one one on the filter for 2-3 oil changes afterwords either . we tried one as a experiment on a CAT with many miles and we still found some iron particles on the inside the can .
I'd say they pretty well nailed it. I doubt the 50 or so miles hurt anything but I would get the oil and filter changed before putting any more on it. I agree 100% on spend the money and buy a quality filter though. I just did an oil change on my OT daily that I picked up a while back and the old filter had collapsed. The car was a high end car when new but still runs a cartridge rather than canister filter. I figure the old one was one of the cheapies that the quick oil change places puts in.
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