Yes, reading the filter element will give you indication of normal/abnormal engine break-in. A break-in is going to have wear particles regardless as the parts wear-in to one another.

And the particles/trash can be either ferrous or non-ferrous. The oil analysis will give you that.

Just be sure the break-in oil you choose is a specialty break-in oil and is dropped (with filter) after initial run-in. No zinc additives. The additive(s) must be blended into the oil.

Choose the oil you are going to use and run the engine 500/1000 miles and drop again. This is where (IMO) you send the drain oil in with filter media section to have analyzed.

I personally think a magnet wrap on the oil filter housing can/will result in less filter media blockage.

Whatever you do, make sure the PCV SYSTEM is fully functional.

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6 VOLTS/POS. GRD. NW INDIANA

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This is the short answer.  Break-in oil only shortens engine life in that it allows the parts to wear in quicker.  If leaving it in longer than it needs to be, then excess wear is occurring specifically at the piston rings and cylinder walls.  Beyond breaking in the camshaft and seating the piston rings, a specific break-in oil is not necessarily required.

Lorena, Texas (South of Waco)

6 VOLTS/POS. GRD. NW INDIANA

"The ‘reasoning’ is: Break-in occurs VERY quickly, even with the most protective oil, and oil specifically designed for excessive wear can merely damage components. I suspect, if the engine is properly pre-lube/primed, that once all the pushrods are seen to be turning, the motor can then be safely shut down, and the oil changed (?).

You may be right about the mag wrap improving filter performance, but cutting/analyzing the filter/oil (IMO) now seems much like closing the barn door after the horse has gone (I likely won’t bother). I wonder though, assuming the cam doesn’t get wiped, a hard broken-in/excessively-worn motor may end up faster (?), if shorter lived. That was always the accepted myth, at least."

Let's start over -

The main purpose of a dedicated BREAK-IN OIL is for extra lubricity (especially using a flat tappet cam) for proper cam lobe/tappet face break-in and ring seating. It does not cause accelerated wear (unless formula has too much ZDDP or not draining immediately after break-in) and only reduces friction between parts as they wear/seat into one another,

If you use a so-called race or street/race oil (for break-in), it includes detergent/dispersant packages that may interfere with the break-in (attacks ZDDP - also can cause aeration). The break-in oil also has accelerated ZDDP content and is not meant for normal operation as the increased ZDDP amount will begin to eat components at some point. That is the main reason to drop (with filter) after run-in.

Break-in is going to create a lot of trash that you do not want left in the engine. As the engine wears over time, it will create metal particulates (ferrous and non-ferrous) that will be suspended in the oil (dispersants) (why you change oil when hot and before the trash falls out of suspension). 

At some point the filter element may become overly saturated with particulate and slow pressure/volume and possibly go into by-pass mode. The reason for a magnet, if desired, is to prolong filter media life (trapping ferrous material before filter media). This and frequent oil analysis will hopefully prevent failure(s) and possibly/hopefully give you a heads-up before $$$. Also will give indication of coolant intrusion content and/or poor CCV (condensation).

As for tappet rotation, after setting the valve-train geometry/adjustment, you rotate the engine by hand to verify tappet rotation. This may be a problem due to current cam manufacturers and tappet manufacturers parts quality/comparability.

The old days of quality parts are gone

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