My SR was bought from a running car @ auction and sat for a period of about 5 months. My importer called me & told me about it because I was looking for an SR, I didn’t want a cheap middle eastern or wrecked SR, I wanted one that would be strong and that would last. It was never run with its original oil & was changed 3 times to remove any fuel that may have entered the crankcase via the the cylinders when the engine ran super rich. I removed the oil after the knocking started and it wasn’t super dark, nor was it tainted by fuel.
Once an engine is broken in, there is no need to do it again, whether it sits for 1 day or 10 years. Engine break in just accounts for tolerances and ensures that internal components wear slightly to accomodate their new homes in an engine block. This is only done once and typically done using conventional oil to accelerate the process for a period of 3000-5000kms on a new or rebuilt engine.
I also primed the engine with the fuel pump off to re-circulate oil into the head and into the turbo. I also took special precaution with this because I have a Greddy oil cooler & filter re-location kit. As such I had far more lines and surface area for the oil to occupy and get the neccessary pressure through the return side of the oil lines from the external filter housing.
I cannot stress this enough, I know what I am doing, I have built & swapped motors before. I have a good idea of what to do & what not to do. And before someone else who is well-meaning but uneducated in the subject of engines asks me, “if my wiring was bad”, or"if i beat on the engine to hard" or if “I didn’t break it in”, please consider the following.
No electrical problem known to man will destroy a crank or rod bearing, it is strictly mechanical, electronics are for fuel delivery, fail safes, ignition, etc. not to control the rates of bearing wear. Secondly, even if the engine sat and remained unprimed for centuries, aslong as gravity exists and the car that the engine is in is on 4 tires, the crank & rod bearings generate enough pressure on cranking to lubricate them in seconds. Not to mention that the pan is sealed and oil doesnt evaporate, so usually oil never ends up leaving the bearing journals, or atleast not in any great degree. Thirdly, this isnt a GM OHV 4 cylinder, its an oversquare DOHC turbo with variable intake timing, the thing was designed to be a high revving motor, and i’f i had over revved it even given the fact that it was governed short (7000), i would have lost a lifter long before losing the bottom end. And i was only @ 7-psi, so I didn’t overload the bottom end either.
I would also like to make a point of my KA-T comment, it was strctly my opinion. I respect the motor for reliability, not speed. It is built by those who, for the most part, find it more financially feesable to turbo a low mileage KA then to buy an SR, have it installed & then do the wiring. Correct me if i’m wrong, but the guys with less financial burdens seem to have SRs. I have never heard anything to the effect of the KA being german either, not to be saying its untrue, but I’ve only ever read that it was designed for entry level USDM trucks and is only available in 1 or 2 JDM cars (Stanza & something else) but was introduced in those vehicles after its introduction in the kingcab & hustler pickups. But that is enough on that topic, this is a why the hell did my S14 blow up & what can I do about it, not an “SR vs. KA” forum.