advice - run in after new rings

[Chardy]

I thought I might start a new thread on this one given the converation was going on in a DSG thread.

so 30,000 km's old and VW have finally said they will replace the piston rings as the GTI has been burning a litre of oil for every 1,000ks.

They havent said as yet if they are going to be honing the bores but I would assume they would (ill email them today).

I guess he advice I need right now is how I should run it back in? When I first bought the car I drove it hard out of the box, not thrashing it but certainly not babying it.

[gregozedobe]

I'd be running it in exactly the same as for a totally new engine. My current recipe is (others will have varying opinions) :

For the first 1,000Km

Drive gently until it is properly warmed up (oil as well as coolant)

Varying revs, with no cruise control (to avoid glazing of the bore)

Lots of mid-range revs accelerator (increased pressure on the rings, help them and the bores to wear into each other properly)

No lugging at very low revs, no red-lining it either (2,000 - 5,000 rpm)


For the next 1,000Km you can use the full rev range, but still keep varying the revs a bit. After that it is open slather.

Check engine oil levels regularly (but seeing as excessive oil consumption was the reason you got new rings I'm guessing you will be doing that )

If your compression was a bit low because of the rings not sealing properly you may get (slightly) more power and improved fuel consumption. If it was just the oil scrapers not sealing properly you probably won't notice any difference.

The last 4 new cars I've bought have had close to zero oil consumption, the one I bought secondhand at 40,000Km (and therefore didn't run in myself using the above recipe) did use some oil. Not excessive, but enough to need adding some every 2-3,000Km.

[Greg Roles]

Since reading this interesting albeit long and tangent filled webpage, I've had huge success with several cars and bikes all performing better than they should. You basically want high combustion pressures, lots of throttle at low revs, running higher gears, make it labour. You have the added advantage that the transmission, brakes and tyres are all run in, so you don't have to be as gentle on them as new.

http://www.mototuneusa.com/break_in_secrets.htm

[PirelliAC]

hey cam its ciacc

Just make sure you do these two important things

Warm it up before booting it, and let it idle for 60sec or so before shutting it down. Anything in between is fine. I have my pirelli now and thats all i have been doing, its just clicked over 2000kms and i rekon if you baby them its worse!!

Look forward to seeing you for my bucks

Ciao

[Chardy]

hey cam its ciacc

Just make sure you do these two important things

Warm it up before booting it, and let it idle for 60sec or so before shutting it down. Anything in between is fine. I have my pirelli now and thats all i have been doing, its just clicked over 2000kms and i rekon if you baby them its worse!!

Look forward to seeing you for my bucks

Ciao

Send me some pics of the PGTI.

I emailed Barloworld to see if they will be honing the bores as well as the rings and havent had a response as yet.

When is the bucks again? That would mean 2 trips to Canberra in one year!!! ive already put 30,000 k's on the GTI in 18 months....

[CatonaPC©]

This is from MyTurboDiesel.com and it covers a few topics including running in a turbodiesel.

Everyone needs to make up their own mind about this but since you have new rings put in, you need to ask yourself whether you need to adjust your strategy a bit. I agree with PirelliAC, warm it up first and everything else should be okay.

[Steve_GTI]

Check this site for running in:

http://www.mototuneusa.com/break_in_secrets.htm

[brad]

I ran the 1.8T Skoda in using a similar method to Gregozedobe.

The oil level has dropped 1mm in 13,000km. power is good, fuel consumption is fantastic.

basically, you have to get some pressure behind the rings so that they bed in properly but don't over-rev or lug the engine. i guess that means letting the engine spin between 2000-4000rpm (at first).

[woofy]

I asked the dealers at the time and they said nothing special needs to be done. I then looked in the back of the manual and it said exactly what to do which is close to what Gregozedobe said, this was for the same engine but in a Skoda Octavia RS. Basically no cc at all, keep the revs varied, and for the first 1000rpm don't go over 3/4 of the rev range. After 1500km rev it out gradually to almost redline, after 2k do whatever you like. This last bit I found hard on 60-80km/hr roads so ended up doing it mostly in 2nd gear heading onto freeway ramps.

But make sure its always warmed up first.

[Logzy]

I ran mine in by letting it warm up properly then driving it hard.
It does not use 1 drop of oil.

[gregozedobe]

I ran mine in by letting it warm up properly then driving it hard.

Can you be a bit more specific about what exactly "driving it hard" entails (please) ?

[Logzy]

Can you be a bit more specific about what exactly "driving it hard" entails (please) ?

Hard aceleration, full rev range, full throttle take offs, even hit redline a couple of times although not on purpose but using "S" mode.
After letting it warm up properly (temp gauge up plus about another 10-15 mins) drove it like its stolen.
Whilst some wont agree with this method it's worked fine for me, zero oil consumption and zero problems.
I used the same method with my car before this one, a 5.7L VXII Clubsport. Also no problems.
I have a friend with a new turbo V8 diesel range rover sport, he also drove it like its stolen and again not one drop of oil used where he has heard that some people are having oil consumption issues with them.

Again, not everyones method of choice but its youre car, its under warranty and its up to you.

[Chardy]

Latest news....

Got the call from Barloworld today that VW are replacing my engine with a new one. I can't thank the guys at Barloworld Mentone enough, spending the last 5 days convincing VW that an engine replacement is the best option.

[gregozedobe]

I get the feeling there was more to this than just some ring sealing problems ! Did they tell you exactly what the problem was ?

So when I said "I'd be running it in exactly the same as for a totally new engine." I was even more accurate than I knew

[Preen59]

In my opinion you don't have to beat the balls off it. What you DO need to do is use large throttle percentages when you can and not labour the snot out of it, to increase the cylinder pressure and force the rings against the bore to make sure they cut and bed in properly.

Labouring the engine (low RPM), in my opinion isn't a good idea, because the oil pressure is lower and that's just not good for anything.



If it was a 2 stroke, you can labour it. For example, you should run it pretty damn rich (more fuel= more oil) and keep it reasonably cool, accelerate hard up into the mid range/top end RPM, brake and slow down to almost walking pace and repeat.

2 stroke engines are a bit different because they don't have pressure feed lubrication, which means RPM doesn't affect oil pressure, because they have none. I know we aren't talking 2 strokes, but additional info can't hurt.