My Harbor Freight 3500 RV generator started sounding smooth around the 25-30 hours time as an example when I summed it up to "Breaking in".
Truth or Myth: Modern Engines STILL Require Break-in
- Thread starter buster
- Start date
But was it "sudden" or was it "gradual"?
Having been in GM powertrain plants I can assure you there is some break in and other stuff you want to get out of the engine with that first oil change. But truth be told, it probably doesn't matter if you do or not as for long term engine life. New engines are very cleanly produced with minimal casting debris etc that does get caught by the filter.
Even with that my personal routine is to change the oil at the 1000-1500 miles mark in every new car I buy just to flush the junk out and check it all over.
NOW - the other end of the spectrum is the REMAN motors you get from places like ATK etc or your local rebuilder. These engines have a good bit of wear metals and debris you want to get out asap. I provide the 1st free oil change to all my customers after engine replacement at the 1000 mile mark and we also check everything over. I had an ATK (ecotec 2.4) motor with the oil filter full of small excess RTV flake all in it and the oil had a metallic sheen showing wear metals ....getting that out early makes sense.
So new car - not critical for an early OCI but still a good idea.....REMAN motors - definitely change it soon!
Even with that my personal routine is to change the oil at the 1000-1500 miles mark in every new car I buy just to flush the junk out and check it all over.
NOW - the other end of the spectrum is the REMAN motors you get from places like ATK etc or your local rebuilder. These engines have a good bit of wear metals and debris you want to get out asap. I provide the 1st free oil change to all my customers after engine replacement at the 1000 mile mark and we also check everything over. I had an ATK (ecotec 2.4) motor with the oil filter full of small excess RTV flake all in it and the oil had a metallic sheen showing wear metals ....getting that out early makes sense.
So new car - not critical for an early OCI but still a good idea.....REMAN motors - definitely change it soon!
While directly not on the subject exactly,,, in the early 1970s when building hot rod engines I read the how to hot rod small block Chevy engines and remember the author citing a sae study where the full flow filtered engines lasted much longer that the same engines equipped with bypass only filters. I have see this with industrial engines at work , the full flow filter [same] engines easily lasted double the hours as compared to the bypass only filter engines maintained on the same schedual.
It was more of a quick change b/c it hadn't sounded that good anytime before when I'd fire it up to run. It could've happened over the course of a few hours the last time it ran? I heard a certain sound up until that point & that's when I noticed the change in tune.
If manufacturers were having engine issues, wouldn't they require an early oil change? Or, is this strictly a worry that not changing oil on first change early going to cause issues down the road at some arbitrary mileage number? Something the OEM's wouldn't care about as it is out of warranty?
IF anyone is worried about it, change the oil early. Certainly won't hurt anything.
I personally don't think it makes a lick of difference. YMMV (pun intended.)
IF anyone is worried about it, change the oil early. Certainly won't hurt anything.
I personally don't think it makes a lick of difference. YMMV (pun intended.)
I could buy into this, a gradual shift over a few hours, due to break-in, on OPE. Not saying that all OPE is made in sweatshops with a dirt floor... just that, I would not be shocked if it wasn't quite the same clean room enviroment that I like to think all auto engines (or engines in general) are assembled in.
Here are some charts of real-time break-in wear data from a radioactive tracer study. The engine is a V6 from a 2015 Dodge Charger that is broken in on a dyno with a variable driving cycle. The oil and filter were not changed for the entire 144 hour test.
The wear rate is quite high for the first 10 hours or so, then it settles to a very low level, despite all the wear metal in the oil. If the oil were changed after 10 hours, maybe the wear rate would be even lower afterwards, but it's already low enough that there's not much to be gained.
Most of the wear metal in the oil that is large enough to cause wear will quickly get either trapped in the oil filter, or pulverized by the engine to a size that is unable to cause further wear. Draining out this sub-micron metal is probably not very beneficial unless the contamination level is really high. What would be more beneficial is immediately replacing the OEM oil filter with one that is more efficient, so that the larger wear metal particles can be captured during the break-in process, before they cause additional wear.
The wear rate is quite high for the first 10 hours or so, then it settles to a very low level, despite all the wear metal in the oil. If the oil were changed after 10 hours, maybe the wear rate would be even lower afterwards, but it's already low enough that there's not much to be gained.
Most of the wear metal in the oil that is large enough to cause wear will quickly get either trapped in the oil filter, or pulverized by the engine to a size that is unable to cause further wear. Draining out this sub-micron metal is probably not very beneficial unless the contamination level is really high. What would be more beneficial is immediately replacing the OEM oil filter with one that is more efficient, so that the larger wear metal particles can be captured during the break-in process, before they cause additional wear.
The longer they talk the more money they make.
Always knew about "hits".
I wonder if it's a mean average length of views or threshold numbers of certain length hits.
I wonder if it's a mean average length of views or threshold numbers of certain length hits.
Well, if you’re concerned about this break in wear issue, then you better never buy a used vehicle or only buy used vehicles from known oil nerds.
Unfortunately we are now trapped in Bob’s Paradox… This is when one is able to perform the quite coveted and highly revered “early dump” in order to achieve maximal engine longevity. But this also requires the purchase of a brand new vehicle which is known to be a decision that is ostracized and ridiculed by the community.
Unfortunately we are now trapped in Bob’s Paradox… This is when one is able to perform the quite coveted and highly revered “early dump” in order to achieve maximal engine longevity. But this also requires the purchase of a brand new vehicle which is known to be a decision that is ostracized and ridiculed by the community.
Hermann
Site Donor 2023
Have broken in 3 new vehicles in the last five years. All had oil changes at around 2K, 6K and 10K. All were treated to several Italian tuneups once up to temp. All use no oil to speak of. Almost any trip I take, results in one or two runs to 80-90% of redline once up to temp.
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I go easy the first 10-20 miles on a new engine. I gradually increase load from 20-100 miles. I will only go up to 4k rpms but put a decent amount of load on the engine. Rings seat pretty quickly from what I have read. The break-in happens relatively quickly.
It’s been over 20yrs since I bought new. However, when I did buy new I always changed the fluid early at 1k miles. Just made me feel good. And I liked shining a flash light into the old oil to see how it’s sparkled with shinny metal particles.
Most industrial truck (aka forklift) maintenance schedules call for engine oil and filter change at the first 50 hours, transmission oil, filter, and differential oil changed at first 100. Then every 500 hours engine and 1000 transmission.
No breakin required.
Most fork-lifts use Propane for fuel?
It took longer than that, but when new my diesel would not stay in top gear at 65 kph, but after a while it would go down to 60 where there was a downshift by default. Somehow there was more power available near idle after break-in....
