Running in a V-12

We are not into racing Ferraris so we do not hook a freshly overhauled engine up to a Dynomometer but we do like to see them make some heat prior to installing into the chassis. There is so much that can go wrong on a Ferrari engine because they have a lot of castings that can cause leaks, and there are many moving parts that can give you problems.

What we do is after assembly we set the engine up and make it run for 5 minutes to make sure everything is firing properly, oil pressure is correct and there are no major leaks. At this time I like to do a compression test just to make sure every cylinder has a reading close to all of the other cylinders.

Next I will run it for a longer time so I can dial in the ignition and spend some time tuning the airflow to the carburetors and test the heat at the header pipes. This run is usually around 10 -15 minutes, enough to get the engine up to operating temperature.
Now I will check all fluids to make sure they are not mixing, address any oil leaks if any, and do a leak down test on all cylinders.

Now I will fire the beast back up, observe the temperatures and hold the engine speed to 2000 RPM's and spend some more time adjusting the air flow to the carburetors and really check the timing at higher speed. This is generally the run that you will find oil leaks and much more likely to find coolant leaks because the cooling system is under pressure. Basically, after this run I am spending the next week trying to repair water pump leaks. The engine will go through a few higher RPM cycles to make sure no smoke "puffs" at deceleration and to add a little more heat to the cylinders to help the rings seat in.

I like to run the engine for a total of one hour at varying RPM's without any problems before I feel confident to throw it into the car. Before it goes into the car I do a valve adjustment and re-torque the heads an run it again to check for leaks. At this time I feel very confident in the engine overhaul.

Now I will put the car on a chassis dynomameter to make sure we are pulling torque numbers similar to what the factory and our own data says is correct.