MEP003 New engine break in

[milradioman]

I purchased a rebuilt engine for my MEP003 10kw generator, I have searched here but cannot find any information on how to break in the engine properly.
Does anybody know the proper procedure, the best oil to use, how long to run it, and under what load etc?

 

[steelandcanvas]

I would run it for an hour or two and vary the load on the generator. Run it no load for 15-20 minutes, 1/2 load for 15-20 minutes, and a full load for 15-20 minutes, and then do the sequence again. Shell Rotella T or Chevron Delo 400 are both good oils...after your break-in, drain the oil, change the filter and put in fresh oil and a new filter. I don't know if there is any published break-in procedure but I have built street/strip motors and have always broke them in the way I described.

 

[Chrispyny]

There is a break in procedure . I read it once in one of the TM's thats on here or on green mountain generators website ... Don't quote me, and certainly check before you do anything but, i remember the break in procedure calling for something like 110% load for a significant amount of time .. now, that TM was probably written in the 70's or early 80's. Are there better break in procedures such as what steelandcanvass recommended ? Certainly. I very much agree what Steelandcanvass said. Start with no load to ensure the entire engine is hot, then vary loads incrementally back and forth. Use Dino oil for the first few hours. Then switch to synthetic.
The thing is, true break in on diesel engines requires a substantial amount of hours to do so. So even at 10 hours, 20 hours, 30 hours, is the engine really broken in ? .. ehh ...

Actually .. here is one thing about it ..

http://greenmountaingenerators.com/break-new-re-manufactured-engine-new-refurbished-generator-gmg/

 

[milradioman]

Thanks for the advice, I will go with the recommendation from green mountain generators, it is for the engine I have. Working on the swap this weekend, I will post what my experience is.

 

[milradioman]

Thanksgiving weekend I swapped out the old engine with the new one, according to Green Mountain site I started it at working rpm and loaded it, ran it for a few hours, shut it down to complete the installation. I now have about 160 hours on the engine and it's still running strong. I forgot how nice a good engine should run, the old one had about 12,000 hours on it, it was burning oil, and had a hard time holding the rpm steady. Thanks again for the help.

 

[Rapracing]

WOW! You put 160 hours on the engine since Thanksgiving??

 

[milradioman]

WOW! You put 160 hours on the engine since Thanksgiving??

My generator is used to supplement an off grid home in the winter months. It gets a lot of use.

 

[Chrispyny]

Glad it worked out for you. Hopefully the new engine will last you another 12k hours.

 

[Rapracing]

My generator is used to supplement an off grid home in the winter months. It gets a lot of use.

Yes it does! I hope mine doesn't get that many hours in the next 10 years

 

[storeman]

12K hours is not too shabby a service life!

 

[Triple Jim]

That's for sure, Jerry. 2,000 hours is about like a car going 100,000 miles, so that engine's 12,000 hours is like a car engine going 600,000 miles. Not being used to working around stationary equipment, I have to convert to car miles.

 

[storeman]

Wouldn't we all dream of 600K, Jim? It happens all the time on over-the-road trucks. Military gens should be built to similar endurance expectations. I don't have the same level of confidence in the most modern units or trucks. Too many electronics.

 

[Triple Jim]

I had some gravel delivered a few years ago and talked to the driver. His Mack double axle (or was it a triple?) had been well over a million miles. I thought I was doing pretty well to get mid 300,000s on my '73 Dodge van, with one engine rebuild and a couple transmissions.