blunblk68

A guy i work with said that if you breakin a new motor with new ceramic coated headers it will bake the coating off??? anyone ever had this or heard of this happening??? thanx

2000FRCZ19

if the air fuel mixture is off during the break in, the coating will turn grey about 2 inches down the pipes. if the fuel and timing are close then it should not be a problem. i just dropped my hookers off at a coating shop yesterday to be redone. i got them used and you could smell raw fuel in them. they had the grey color on them. the coating shop told me that bad air fuel mixture is what causes this condition. they told me that when i break in my new engine to make sure the fuel was correct before running it with the new coating or the same result would happen. i will be breaking my engine in on a dyno so i will get it close before hooking up the hookers to it.

dgruenke

It is not necessarily the break-in itself that can ruin them. It is that a new engine, during break-in, presumably is not yet tuned properly. The timing, fuel mixture, etc. are probably not optimal. Therefore, there is a greater chance of putting excessive heat and fire from unburnt fuel into the headers.

When you break-in an engine, you are more concerned about preventing cam failure, watching the coolant temp, etc. than you are about making sure that the A/F mixture and timing are exact.

Frank_833

The issue is not engine break-in, but rather cam break-in.

The recommended procedure for most cams is to run the engine no-load at 2000-2500 RPM for 20 minutes.

No-load means in neutral in the garage.

What happens is you put a lot of heat into the headers this way and their is NO AIR blowing over them to cool them.

The headers will get hotter than the coating can stand.

Break-in for a roller cam MAY be completely different. In any case, use the recommended procedure from your engine supplier.

Not breaking in the cam properly can lead to one or more lobes going bad real quick (sometimes in the first 1000 miles or so).

If you are going to try to do a 20 minute break-in in neutral, you MAY save the headers by blowing air over them the whole time. 2 guys with grass blowers would probably do the trick.

If you have an engine shop build a motor for you, have them break it in on the dyno. That's what many guys building high HP do. It cost me $500 to have a motor broken in and tuned on a dyno. YMMV.

eastltd

My new Hooker side pipes arrived with a warranty disclaimer stating that the warranty would be void if the pipes were used during the engine break-in period. The instructions advise the user to install an old set of pipes during the break-in period.

Glassbowtie77

I read the same thing in mine when I got them.

SanDiegoPaul

My Hedmans were coated. Of course they were cherry-red during the cam breakin procedure...now, years later there's lots of areas where the coating has failed.

But for the most part the coating lasted just fine. The areas where my header (right side) has coating peel are near the top - and I think that's becuause of coolant splash from the recovery bottle.

That's one thing that they don't tell you about this coating: Anything splashes on it while it's hot will make it peel.

68 NJConv 454

I'm hoping to have my engine dyno tuned and broken in by an engine shop when it is built. If not and I end up doing it myself I saved the old headers just for the break in period reason.

Frank_833

Also beware of the bitchy neighbor when doing that breakin with open pipes. My house is on three acres and I still managed to get on the bad side of one by running open pipes for 30 seconds at 1pm in the afternoon...

eastltd

Hey NJ, You still working in a tent? Hope your car's coming along well. PM me with some progress shots.

TopGunn

I went thru the same delema with my new motor. I actually installed the rams horns on the motor for the startup-break in then switched them to the headers later. But in my case it was a bunch of time spent for nothing, my ZZ4 motor has roller lifters and the traditional high rpm break in is not required (per GM). If you have a roller cam you should check with the engine manufacturer/builder to see what's recommended, it might save a bunch of work.

68 NJConv 454

haha yup That darn tent is holding up well. Except its cold in the winter and hotter than the outside in the summer. On a windy day I open both sides and check the aerodynamics of my car just like a wind tunnel. haha only kidding so i don't get requests for pics of the wind stream.
Interior 95% done and awsome.
GTR is helping finish up the diff.
Just need to find an engine & engine accessories and i'm off and running. Once i finish the diff i'll put-er on the ground and take some pics, you'll like a lot.

eastltd

I know what you mean about the heat. I'm thinking of adding an AC unit to my shop.

I'm looking forward to seeing your progress shots. Stay

LeMans Pete

You don't need to break in a roller cam. But I doubt Hooker would give the A-OK just because you don't have to do cam break-in. If you feel comfortable without the warranty, I wouldn't worry about it too much if you have a roller.

jerome1979

Break-in a engine with new ceramic coated is not a good idea (hooker website don’t recomand this)
Why? Because during break-in, your engine run hotter than normaly (more friction inside engine, piston ring)
And ceramic coated need to be cook several time to became “burn proof” (1600°C resistant)

Break –in even with a roller camshaft must be done (not for lifter Vs cam in this case) but because at low speed water pump don’t move enough water and it can’t destroy air bubbule in the circuit (water bubble in heads for exemple)