Hi guys,

We are in the process of installing my 2nd Reman and am just waiting on my SOHN adapter.

What is the consensus with regards to using a SOHN right from the beginning and the potential impacts to engine breakin if using 2 stroke synthetic for the SOHN/MOP?

 

Running a SOHN from the beginning is fine, I did on this engine and my last. There is no evidence that the SOHN does anything to improve reliability, it just makes us feel better

 

Thanks for the reply. Focused on engine break in ramifications if any and not the perceived SOHN benefits or non benefits.

Thanks!

 

Anecdote: I put a reman in my car in spring, with a new Sohn adapter. I drove the car around town for maybe 50 miles, changed the oil (which looked fine) and then did ten TT sessions on track. I checked the compression after two weekends on track and it was all in the green.

 

The OMP will either pull oil out of the engine sump or Sohn supply tank so it doesn't really make sense to question why it would be an issue.

 

I'm going with conventional oil in the sump and 2 stroke synthetic in the SOHN. I was questioning the break in of the combustion chamber, rotor assembly and seals using synthetic instead of breaking in a few thousand km's with conventional before switching to synthetic.

 

You're overthinking it, but I can't really blame you for being cautious ...

 

I think its a fair point - breaking in the seals with 2 stroke is a big unknown. I ended up just running mineral 5w30 oil through the reservoir sohn for the first 1000km of break in before switching to my 2 stroke of choice, safest and simplist solution IMO. Mineral for the sump obviously makes sense either way.

 

Anything is a fair point when your ignorant; that applies to me as well as anybody else ...

that said, you don't seem to realize that there have been thousands of race and modifed engines broken in using 2-stroke without issue. Or is it your contention that they poured mineral motor oil into the gas tank or Sohn tank instead? No, they used 2-stroke oil ...

 

Unnecessary insult is unnecessary.

That said, thousands? Really? Can you name any professional teams running a Sohn - I haven't heard of any. I know of one team that strongly advises against the Sohn after 'blowing a few engines' using them - but I suspect the owner is only just hovering above the gump line so that neither here nor there.

Do you recommend using sythetic oil in the pan during break in? How is this different to using synthetics in the chamber for the same theoretical purpose?

 

How can insult you when I specifically included myself? Just keep digging the hole as deep as you're up for ...

 

...words games and cryptic threats aside,

What pro teams are running a sohn? and how is the universally accepted practice and theory of using mineral oil to break in the engine internals any different to breaking in the chamber seals?

We don't have to have a pissing contest here, I am genuinely interested in your opinion.

 

You didn't fully read what I wrote is the issue. What difference does it make if it's a Sohn or premix? 2-stroke oil is 2-stroke oil regardless. There was a "pro" team racer a number of years ago on here who swore Renesis engines wouldn't last using pre-mix rather than the OMP. Plenty of people didn't have any issue and still don't. You can pretty much find anyone claiming anything. That doesn't mean they have a full grasp of the actual issue just because they race for a living. Go back even further to my last prior comment and I said it's understandable that you want to be cautious. I'm not being cryptic at all and there is no pissing contest. There's just you being overly sensitive and refusing an answer without making any sound reasoning about your own position.

Please explain why 2-stroke oil via a Sohn is bad but 2-stroke oil via pre-mix is no problem. If you can make a rational arguement then you might have a leg to stand on.

 

Yeah, I think Mark has the right idea here. I don't think there's any evidence that the method of delivery for the 2-stroke oil matters. It would have to be studied in depth to know.

What would be fair to say is that with premix you really have no control over how much oil is injected with the fuel at any given time. With the Sohn, you do. It's also not diluted with fuel.

At any rate, my opinion (which is no more valid than anybody else's) is that it doesn't really matter how you break the thing in. Heat will kill the side seals and springs, the housings will chatter and flake and the perfect-when-new clearances will grow or get gummed up. In the end, no oil voodoo will change any of that. This is not a long-lived engine.

 

^ This.

 

I've been running two stroke oil through the Sohn adapter the entire life of the RXEI8HT. Street ported motor, redlined every time its driven, has been working flawlessly. I keep it full of synthetic racing 2 stroke oil and it hasn't let us down yet. I also premix in the tank every so often to keep the seals lubed for sure, just as a precaution in case the Sohn were to quit working - which it hasn't.

Tip: break in the motor with conventional oil for 500 miles of easy driving, keeping RPM's below 4,000 the entire time. After 500 miles it's up to you. I think we did 500 miles of easy driving, then swapped to a 20w-50 synthetic oil and redlined the motor every time it gets driven now. Swapped to 10w-30 for the winter up here in MN.