Good day, guys and gals
My truck has sat fur 5 months now with the wheels off while I swapped out the engine. I probably should have bagged the disks. I think I should polish of the light rust but I am having trouble finding the enthusiasm to pull the calipers to get at the inner side.
What do I risk if I only polish up the outside?
Thanks,
Hugh

 

Don't do anything but put it together and drive it. After the pads scour the rust off there might be some pitting but none of it matters.

 

just take sandpaper or a small wire brush on a grinder and get 90% of it off....... you can easily reach around the side to get the back....... use a bar to rotate the disc so you can get what is covered by the brake caliper... The more you get off now, the better the brakes will work later.

 

Agree with above...avoid of any contamination onto the brake linings is a "good thing". and a shot of brake kleen is called for as well

 

By this logic you would freak out every time the rotors rusted overnight in a rain, and hurry and clean them before driving LOL. Really, its not needed. The pads grind the rust off as you make your first few stops, and the rust cleans and de-glazes the pads. After a few days everything will look normal. Rusty rotors are one of the best things you can see on your car - it means there is no petroleum or silicone contaminant that would prevent rust but also prevent stopping.

 

after setting for 5 months... and considering the wheels are already off... and he can see the RUST all over... it don't take 5-6 minutes to clean everything up......... why take the chance of grinding up some CRUD and getting it burnt or imbedded into the pads ? Why use the pads as a scrub brush to clean up crud ?

 

They're brake pads, not sponges, and they do this every time the rotors get rusty. Sure, you can clean the rotors but it really won't make a damn bit of difference. It'll raise hell on the first few stops but after that, business as usual.

 

Thanks, gentlemen
If I had waited for your input I might have saved some effort. I decided to clean the rust off with some scotch bright polishing discs and Brake Clean. We pulled the calipers to get at the back of the discs and they gave me some trouble as the you tube videos didn't show my truck's front brake set up. Very difficult to push the pistons back to pull the pads past the little ridge at the outer edge of the disk due to lack of openings.
But we got it all back together and put the wheels on.
So the bottom line: my truck is back on the road with a sound engine. Hopefully my 17 year old learned something. Maybe only that you don't swear around Mom but under the truck all bets are off.
Now to search the forum for break in advice! Anyone know any good posts on that?
And let us know if you have any questions on pulling an '05 4.6!
Hugh & son

 

Normally break in is pretty simple. Same as a new car... Don't over rev the motor, keep in the 2500 rpm max range for the first couple thousand miles, and change the oil at that time to get rid of any left over crud or shavings that fall off........ After that, back to normal.

 

Thanks, Steve
There seem to be quite a few guys that focus on changing the speed up and down on long freeway drives. But that may be aimed at transmission/differential gears which doesn't apply in this case. I also wonder about the empirical data for those opinions.
The same with changing the oil earlier.

Hugh

 

I don't know exactly what parts your replaced. On a factory new motor, you can get sand left over from the casting, machine chips stuck to the inside of the block, piston ring wear into the liner, small bearing wear to being slightly tight or out of round...... maybe,. maybe not.. It was a fact of life 40 years ago. I would assume they are more quality controls today............ Still don't hurt to change the oil out at 1000 - 2000 miles to get any crud out.............. I also like to do the transmission and differentials befor 20,000 for the same reason. Just cheap insurance.

 

Looking back over the thread I couldn't see any mention of a new engine, just a different one. The question on the oil might depend on what engine you put in it. If it was a new build that has never been started, you have to use break-in oil. If its a crate engine it has already been through the break-in cycle. If its a 'factory' rebuilt engine, it also is ready for regular oil.
Break-in oil is drained after the break-in cycle before driving the vehicle. The other engines that take regular oil should go the whole normal change interval. There is no reason to change oil early. If anything is wrong in there the damage will be done almost immediately. Once you get five miles on it with no incidents, you'll go 5000 on that oil and probably have a long service life from the engine. They used to say if you go 50 miles on it, it'll go 50,000 miles. That was when 50,000 miles was a lot.
Changing speed instead of driving a steady speed for the first 500 miles is still recommended by manufacturers and is aimed at ring/cylinder break-in and especially the development of the ridge at the top of the ring travel, to make sure it is high enough to accommodate higher speeds. I like to avoid wide-open throttle in the break-in period as well as high RPM until the engine is fully warmed up.
I'm fortunate in that where I live, I have to wend my way through subdivision streets before getting to any highway. Especially during the winter, this is great for fully warming up the vehicle before any heavy throttle.