Tips for breaking in a brand new engine?

[Olaf the Golaf]

Yeah, from riding the bikes i know that you need to vary the revs, but that's about it. And not redline it is pretty reasonable.

When i bought the golf the guy said the engines are run in already and there is no break-in period, which is why there is no break-in 1000km service or anything, just take it in at the usual 15K.

[Beaker]

I've built a few race engines and bought a few new cars,

Always run them in the same

- NEVER drive them cold - you have cast iron, aluminium, chrommolly, brass and a bunch of other metals in there all designed to have exacting tollarances at operating temperature, all metals expand at different rates - driving it cold WILL wear stuff premeturely its that simple - that goes for run in and afterward - it also applies to gearboxes and diffs - I love watching people warm up their race cars engine then flogging the crap out of them and then watching them halfway through the day replacing the diff. FWIW you won't glaze a bore by giving the engine 2 or 3 minutes to warm up.

- Drive it with load, but don't rev the crap out of it, you have tight tollerances everywhere and the oil needs to be able to clear the surfaces, at high revs you have the same oil pressure as at medium revs, meaning you are working your oil needlessly, change speeds, change gears etc give it a range of driving conditions up to about 800 - 900 km, then you can start to work it a little harder, after about 1500km you can start to flog the crap out of it if you like.

- Modern turbo's don't generaly need to be cooled down, having said that if you've just been flogging the daylights out of it, I would.

- Change the oil after 1500 - 2000km - it WILL be full of crap.

I know a few people I raced against who used to flog their engines from day one also believing the 'flog it or get a slug' theory - I can't recall many having more grunt, and while I've never had a DNF due to an engine failure some of them have.

Our Navara had 300000km on it when some prick pinched it. My Patrol has 150000km on it and the engine is like new, my VR4 had over 250000km on it when I sold it and it ran like a champion.

Run it in how you like, its your car, but I'll keep running in mine as above, I'm yet to have an issue doing it that way.

When I need to run in an engine, I normaly just take it for a full day drive, in my case I've taken the last four for a run down the Clyde Mountin to the coast, south along the coast to Bega and then home via the Brown Mountain. That is just about enough to run in a car and gives you everything you need in terms of terrain and speed changes and its a fun drive to boot.


I do agree that you need to give an engine a ahrd time occasionaly and that a vehicle NEVER driven hard will be a dog, but I save that for after the first 1K or so.

[JordanNaumov]

I've built a few race engines and bought a few new cars,

Always run them in the same

- NEVER drive them cold - you have cast iron, aluminium, chrommolly, brass and a bunch of other metals in there all designed to have exacting tollarances at operating temperature, all metals expand at different rates - driving it cold WILL wear stuff premeturely its that simple - that goes for run in and afterward - it also applies to gearboxes and diffs - I love watching people warm up their race cars engine then flogging the crap out of them and then watching them halfway through the day replacing the diff. FWIW you won't glaze a bore by giving the engine 2 or 3 minutes to warm up.

- Drive it with load, but don't rev the crap out of it, you have tight tollerances everywhere and the oil needs to be able to clear the surfaces, at high revs you have the same oil pressure as at medium revs, meaning you are working your oil needlessly, change speeds, change gears etc give it a range of driving conditions up to about 800 - 900 km, then you can start to work it a little harder, after about 1500km you can start to flog the crap out of it if you like.

- Modern turbo's don't generaly need to be cooled down, having said that if you've just been flogging the daylights out of it, I would.

- Change the oil after 1500 - 2000km - it WILL be full of crap.

I know a few people I raced against who used to flog their engines from day one also believing the 'flog it or get a slug' theory - I can't recall many having more grunt, and while I've never had a DNF due to an engine failure some of them have.

Our Navara had 300000km on it when some prick pinched it. My Patrol has 150000km on it and the engine is like new, my VR4 had over 250000km on it when I sold it and it ran like a champion.

Run it in how you like, its your car, but I'll keep running in mine as above, I'm yet to have an issue doing it that way.

When I need to run in an engine, I normaly just take it for a full day drive, in my case I've taken the last four for a run down the Clyde Mountin to the coast, south along the coast to Bega and then home via the Brown Mountain. That is just about enough to run in a car and gives you everything you need in terms of terrain and speed changes and its a fun drive to boot.


I do agree that you need to give an engine a ahrd time occasionaly and that a vehicle NEVER driven hard will be a dog, but I save that for after the first 1K or so.

Awesome post mate.

Looks like you and i are both waiting for the exact same car

[Guest]

This does not make any sense at all. Holding back or babying the car for 5000K. You gotta to be joking. To some people that is 6 months of driving. Just not realistic - most people will give it some stick in the first few weeks.

Sorry i meant 1000km's not 5000km
RUNNING IN A NEW ENGINE
Straight from the manual up to 1000'kms
Do not drive faster than 3 quarters of the top speed
Do not use full throttle
Avoid high engine speeds
Do not tow a trailer

From 1000km to 1500km
Speeds can gradually be increased to the max road speed or engine speed (RPM)

If the engine is run in gently the life of the engine will be increased and its oil consumption reduced.

[coastie]

Do not drive faster than 3 quarters of the top speed

Speeds can gradually be increased to the max road speed or engine speed (RPM)

So 3/4 of the top speed of the vehicles capability? ~ 150km/h or do they mean the legal limit of the road therefore 75km/h

[hoi polloi]

So 3/4 of the top speed of the vehicles capability? ~ 150km/h or do they mean the legal limit of the road therefore 75km/h

Guessing as the manual would have been written by Germans I'd say 75% of top speed... Which would still probably get you in deep **** in most places in Australia..

Regards,
Anthony.

[Coxy09]

So 3/4 of the top speed of the vehicles capability? ~ 150km/h or do they mean the legal limit of the road therefore 75km/h

lol, I think you would have a interesting time trying to explain that to the local constabulary there sharkie =p

[hoi polloi]

lol, I think you would have a interesting time trying to explain that to the local constabulary there sharkie =p

"But officer, you do realise we have some of the lowest motorway speed limits in the world..."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speed_limits_by_country



*still gets ticket

- Anthony.

[Coxy09]

"But officer, you do realise we have some of the lowest motorway speed limits in the world..."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speed_limits_by_country



*still gets ticket

- Anthony.

I notice they dont have Fiji on there, The national speed limit there is 80km/h, If ever you saw the roads you'd know why.....It is a shame about ours though, some of those roads you could easily do 150 on no problem. Ohwell, the day and age we live in i guess

[MIRSAD]

I am sure that this recording is not from Fiji ...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=voiNTM0UnVo

Can't see mileage ... if less than 1500km ... speed is not in line with VW instructions

[Coxy09]

I am sure that this recording is not from Fiji ...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=voiNTM0UnVo

Can't see mileage ... if less than 1500km ... speed is not in line with VW instructions

No i dont think that is fiji at all....firstly they are white lol.

I suppose you are always going to have people who know better than vw anyway, and its their car at the end of the day, but As i have said and a few others, its better to do what the book says cause they have been in the game for alot longer than most of us.

[WhiteJames]

Run-in Drive

Revs and Load:

Varying the revs enables the motor to be on and off load. On load: the motor will develop friction heat. Off load: allows the motor to cool. In the case of highway driving, the revs may not vary a great deal, but gradients will vary in many cases which varies the load on the motor. Going up rises loads the motor up; driving downhill unloads the motor. I wouldn’t be too concerned with varying the revs if you have to drive freeway miles, as long as the vehicle is not driven at a constant speed & load.

Temperature:

Intercooled turbo motors love cool air. Running in a motor on a hot day in peak hour traffic is not going to do much for keeping intake temps cool & reducing friction heat. Best take a long scenic route drive up the mountains to somewhere cold with plenty of opportunity to put load on/off the motor. Cool air feeds the internals to reduce the heat caused by friction. The longer the first few drives, the better imo as it saves on the heat up and cool down periods. Short infrequent stop/start drives may not allow the motor to rise up to its correct operating temperature, hindering the mating process.

High Revs:

Higher revs in a turbo motor may induce piston-ring flutter, possibly scorching the bore, which may lead to long-term excessive oil consumption. This is why you want to avoid high revs as the owners’ manual indicates. The Mark 6 GTI has stronger piston-rings than the Mark 5 GTI, but I’d still be keeping the revs under 75% as the manual states.

Thrashing motor from the outset:

Thrashing a motor is never a good idea unless you’re race car driver who rebuild their motors frequently. Start the run in process gently and gradually increase revs to a higher crescendo after the 1500km. If your motor is tight at 15,000km, it will be tighter at 150,000km.

Oil Change:

Being old-school, I believe that an oil change at 1500km is worthwhile. The service managers are constantly indicating that the type of oil used for run in period on Volkswagens does not require an initial oil change until 15,000rpm as recommend by the service manual. In addition, the motors are supposed to be bench tested. Not sure how well bench testing replicates a real world scenario with constant gradients or additional weight of passengers on board. This advice has me in two minds.

Cheers.
WJ

[MIRSAD]

No i dont think that is fiji at all....firstly they are white lol.

I suppose you are always going to have people who know better than vw anyway, and its their car at the end of the day, but As i have said and a few others, its better to do what the book says cause they have been in the game for alot longer than most of us.

That recording is from Germany (I lived there between '92 and 98 ... recognise road signs)

Fully agree with this "its better to do what the book says cause they have been in the game for alot longer than most of us"

[WhiteJames]

Don't think that the motor completely loosens up until 15,000 - 20,000km. My MKV GTI didn't start to loosen up until @ 15,000km.

My GTI is due end of May 2010.

Looking to knock up a couple of short drives (1-2 hours) from Sydney to the Gong to ensure all is initially good. After that a few day trips to the Alpine/Great Dividing Range areas.

Anyone have a good half day/day route from (1) Canberra to Cooma/Jindabyne & surrounds, and (2) Sydney to Bathurst & return.

Want to keep the motor ticking along with load with a cool temperature.

EDIT:

Any idea on this route, esp from Lake Ecumbine to Tumut. It it all bitumen roadway?

http://maps.google.com.au/maps?f=d&hl=en&geocode=&saddr=moore+street,+canberra,+act&daddr=khancoban+to:kiandra+to:cooma+to:Moore+St,+ACT&mra=pi&mrcr=3&sll=-36.16227,148.806381&sspn=0.491721,0.674973&ie=UTF8&ll=-36.165597,148.594208&spn=0.983399,1.349945&z=10

Come late May or early June, a snowy mountain run would require snow chains in some sections of roadway ... slight omission on my part.

Also looking at heading from Bathurst to Oberon & onto Goulburn - Is this roadway all bitumen? Any idea?

Cheers.
WJ

[pologti18t]

WJ, That loop you have mapped would be excellent for a run in drive.

I ran the polo in on a trip to the Oxley Hwy (via bucketts and thunderbolts.

That route is totally sealed (very well in fact). We do it on our motorbikes sometimes.

Be warned... the cops patrol the road from Khancoban to Thredbo (well the bit closer to Khancoban. As you drive up the mtn from Khancoban the cops usually hang out where the speed limit drops from 80 to 60 (how unusual!)

You will come back through the National Park but you dont have to pay unless you decide to stop in Thredbo for lunch.

Any of the minor roads may be closed during winter. Check before you head off.

If you get stuck, there is another nice loop that runs from Jindaybne (near the Station Resort) to Dalgety, then back to cooma. Pretty quiet road where you can open it up a bit.

If you know the back roads you can cut over to Nimmitabel, down to Bombala then down the mountain to the coast. There are some awesome roads down there.