Engine Break In
 

I wasn't able to find anything on this through the Search function (maybe I wasn't looking hard enough, I am quite lazy, hahaha), but I just bought a Ford Focus and I was wondering what your guys' break-in theory is? Drive it like it's stolen or baby it for the first little bit? I'm leaning towards the latter.

Thanks.

Baby it for the first ~1000KM. After that, i still wouldn't be going WOT and sprinting through the gears until ~2500km's, Sure it may be unnecessary but the reward really isn't worth the risk in this situation.

depending on what 'babying' is to you. when i 'baby' my cars, i don't go past 2,500 rpms.. different for everybody. anyways don't do jack rabbit starts, unnecessary rev'ing wait till car is warm before driving, and do not cruise at a constant rpms for a long time. bring the car up to 4000rpms and then let it go down. do it a couple of times to break in the piston rings for the first 100kms. car will not be fully broken in until 1000-1600kms. also do a first oil/filter change around 2000-3000kms. most dealers recommend 6000-7000kms but u want to flush out all the pieces of metals from the break in time period. u don't want that shit circulating in the engine. :heckno:

I know Lamborghini breaks in all their engines by driving the cars up to speeds of 200km/h for 100kms if that's any consideration.

Airplane engines get broken in with long cross countries ie. extended periods of time at a constant rpm.

I use the Mototune method.

I am planing on it with my engine build, Have done it with a civic and an olds 442. No problems

Did it with two single cylinder Vespa scooters - no problems whatsoever and enjoyed every moment of it.

Take it easy. Vary RPMs.

What is the purpose of engine break in?
To seat the piston rings
How do you seat the rings in?
Lots of cylinder pressure
How do you get high cylinder pressure?
Heavy load

You have a small window to seat the rings before they glaze and never seat. I load it up on the first start when it reaches op temp

^^ im not sure where i read it but i think at the factory, they do the heavy load test???

Currently breaking in a car and this is what im doing:

I wait for the RPM to drop on a cold start.
Alternate the rpm within 4000rpm.
Brake bedding and braking habits (read up on brake bedding if you dont know)
Ill try to wait a bit before i turn off the engine.
I try not to make short trips.
I dont blast speakers yet because speakers need break in time as well.
(when safe) Ill drive somewhat roughly as well just to test that it can handle it like it should.

i make tell my passengers to not let their shoes hit the door and side when getting in and out, and only touch the handlebar part of doors when opening and closing it.
if its leather/ette, try not to put weight on the side part of the seat cushion as it wrinkles easily. also try to avoid the interior coming in contact with any lotion from people/myself.

and my car or not, i always do these 'things' because it wears the car less.

Though it requires 91 anyways, if it was a regular fuel car i think i would put premium for the first bit... (pulled this out of my ass, any benefits with this?)

that's a good article, follow it.

There are those and there's the other school of thought that new engines are built to such tight tolerances that....you won't be able to make any difference by running it in.

If it runs on 0W20 most likely it's one of those "high efficiency low friction" engines that really don't need that break in period because everything is simply as tight as it gets and you are just going downhill the moment you started the car for the first time.

i read around awhile ago that engine break-in isnt really necessary... but that doesnt mean you should go gung-ho on it.. just drive normally and dont go speeding...

For my car, the break-in was 2,000 kms. The owners manual also indicated that I should not rev it past 4,500 rpm

When I break in an engine I run it a 50% or rpm range for 20-30 minutes.
IE if peak power is intended to be at 7000rpm I run it at 3500 rpm for 20-30 minutes. Then do an oil change and have fun and replace the oil again at 1000km's.

Now the more important question.
If you are driving a regular a-b type car like a regular Corolla, does it really matter?
Heck, if you aren't racing your car, would you even notice the difference?

I ask this because if the dealership finds out that the break-in period as descibed in the owners manual wasn't followed, they do have the right to void the warrenty on the motor. So for the average person does it really make a difference?

your break in period has already been destroyed by the dealership lot boys.

With modern day manufacturing technology, break in period is less important because the tolerance is much tighter and there are more automated and sophisticated inspections along the line. I don't think it makes a difference for day to day cars, or even most "exotics". I can't see dealership be able to tell what's wrong within the warranty period. Things like ring burns etc will probably come later in the car's life.

If you are really paranoid, be data driven, do oil analysis the day you get your car and let what the oil analysis dictate what you should do.

Nice generalization.:suspicious:

In your example with the Corolla, my understanding is Toyota has been breaking in the motors for a few hundred KM or something like several hours before final assembly. So for the most part, cars like a Corolla (I can't speak for other manufacturers) most of the 'break-in" process has been done at the factory.

Given the way the consumer market is these days, I personally don't think it "matters" unless you keep the car long term and want to avoid further maintenance costs. Highly debatable and subjective. More of a YMMV kind of thing.

jesus, so many people on here know nothing about cars.


You need to seat the rings with HIGH LOAD and HIGH VACUUM,

so you pretty much need to beat on it stick it in a low gear and make it brake hard under engine vacuum.

Whenever I build a new engine for someone, I dont even let them break it in for themselves, because most people have no clue,

I go up and down a really steep hill 10 times, up and down, up and down, over and over, varying the RPMs,

on the first up/down, you do low rpm, and increase the rpm by 1000 everytime you up and down.

by the end youl be at redline.

then when your done, thats it, drive normally.


Oil change intervals:

turn car on, let it warm up to temp, turn off, change oil,
go up and down hill 10 times, change oil.
after 100km, change oil
after 1000km, change oil
then regular intervals after that.


This is what I do, and every motor I turn out comes out mint.

I also did this when I bought my new bike, no problems. Beat the shit out of it man, babying it is the worst thing you can do to a fresh motor.


Also the term "break in" is false in itself,

there is nothing to break it, tolerances are tolerances in your motor. The only thing that needs to happen is to seat the rings against a freshly honed sleeve wall, and get all the assembly lube out of your motor with frequent oil changes.

Dont you break in the car for the other parts of the car? Like the steering and the transmission. I always thought that the engine itself doesn't need break in because it's done during the manufacturing process of the engine.
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so the question i have here is, assuming babying/no high load, pressure method is the wrong way. Why do manufacturers still recommend it?

I've seen motoman's method many years ago. I like it, I think it makes sense, but I just never had a chance(read: money) to buy a brand new car to try on.:okay: