Finally got the 408 sbc going tonight. Motor break in was going great until about 10 minutes into if my buddy noticed that the coated headers were glowing red hot! My timing light decided it did not feel like working so we shut the motor down. Had about 70 psi of oil pressure at 2200 rpm. Do you guys think the cam will be ok?? When we fire it up again should we go through the 20 minutes again or just 10?? The cam is a comp xs274s. Motor temp never got over 160. I am way scared of the cam break in horror stories. My dad and buddies think all is fine. What do you guys think I should do??

[ 06-15-2004, 06:03 AM: Message edited by: 6D9 ]

richen the idle mixture 1/4 turn and if you can go for a drive.sounds like you need more cooling. that is usually provided by the radiator,if you can you could try pressure bleeding the cooling system to remove air pockets.
Eric

6D9, there is a "break in period" for coated headers. If the water temp didn't get hot, all should be ok. Redo the cam break-in from square one, and follow the Mfg. instructions on the cam and the headers.

The red hot headers might be due to retarded ignition timing. I'd advance it a little and run it another 10 minutes to finish the cam break in. IMO there is no reason why you cannot complete the 20 minute cam break in two 10 minute sessions.

Right on guys! Thanks for the tips. So you think the cam should be ok?? I will run it again for at least 10 to 15 minutes. After that it should be fine to bring it down to an idle??

As far as the cam being ok, you never know until you know. ;) I had one where everything that could go wrong on the first fire up did. Distributor 180* out of phase, float needle stuck open with trash, etc, etc and the cam was fine.

Then I had one where everything went just as planned and I lost a lobe.

Get a working timing light and advance the timing some to get rid of the glowing header problem.

Good luck!

Thanks Greg....you just scared me now... :(

6D9, don't sweat it . . . you'll be fine.

I just did a break in on 454 with a 274s, temp spiked after 10 minutes so we shut it down. A couple days later ran it for another 10 minutes, temp spiked again, shut it down and changed the oil. Drove it temp still spiked, turned out the electric fan wires were reversed and it was sucking hot air off the engine and shoving through the radiator. I've been driving the car for about 5 weeks and all is fine, cut open the first two oil filters and no metal at all. Now if I can just quiet down those solid lifters ;) .

Thanks guys I will stay positive.. graemlins/beers.gif

I would definatley get a working timing light before trying again, motors produce more heat when the timing is too retarded and I've seen headers glow like that before because of timing. I have had all sorts of problems on initial start ups, no fuel, too much fuel, water where it shouldn't be, no spark, etc. and the cams always seem to live. So don't lose faith yet!!

6D9,

Sorry dude, I wasn't trying to scare you! smile.gif

I was saying not to worry about it only running 10 minutes because I have had worse problems than that and the cam was still fine. Keep us posted!

Its cool Greg, I was just being a baby! I am sure all will be fine. If I ever end up doing a cam swap though I will step up to the XR294HR.. :cool: