How do you break in a new engine.I'm looking into getting a Subaru 2.0 4 cylinder turbo gasoline engine.I know not to baby the engine for the first 1K miles.I would do mostly stop and go driving after the engine has reached normal operating temp.Very little highway with no cruise control.I would get the first oil change at 3K.I mostly do highway driving to work.After break in I would do 6K OCI with Castrol Syntec and a Subaru oil filter.Joe
Correct engine break in
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Hope you have many safe and enjoyable miles in your new buggy! You'll get varied answers to your "break-in" question. Two things I have always done w/all the new cars I've bought: (1) I thoughly warm up the new engine before drive-off and (2) Change out the factory-fill early. (The Golf had it's 1st OC @2800 mi. The 05' Focus earlier, about 1k mi.) I've always followed a gentle break-in procedure w/higher revs w/higher miles. Never had an oil usage issue and the engines ran smooth and strong. Bill
I would absolutely "baby" it for the first thousand. Don't go to redline, keep the RPMs mid range. Vary throttle and speed. Full throttle only occasionally, near max RPM onoy after fully warms up. For a turbo, let it idle for 15-20 seconds before driving so the turbo is spinning slowly until full oil flow and some heat has started to expand. Let the car run near idle (drive slowly) at the end of each drive to let the turbo cool...
I should point out that all three of my turbo cars see full throttle now and then, but only after 15 minutes of run time. They get a cool down. They have their original turbos and run flawlessly. Two of them are at 180K.
What do you consider babying?
I should point out that all three of my turbo cars see full throttle now and then, but only after 15 minutes of run time. They get a cool down. They have their original turbos and run flawlessly. Two of them are at 180K.
What do you consider babying?
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Every car enthusiast will have a different take on break-in.
On my last new car I kept the rev's below 3K rpm for a few thousand miles and changed the conventional oil and the filter a few extra times. I never drove at constant RPM's during the first 5K miles and took several longer trips. At 5K miles I went to synthetic oil.
I did the same for the 84 Civic in my signature that I purchased new and I now have over 400K miles on the car.
For me, keep it simple works. A hard driving break in is fine for someone else's car. Modern engines in reality probably do not need any break in at all. My version of a break in is in the category of, it can't hurt and might help. I expend the extra effort and expense because it's my car and I then to keep cars a bit longer than most people.
On my last new car I kept the rev's below 3K rpm for a few thousand miles and changed the conventional oil and the filter a few extra times. I never drove at constant RPM's during the first 5K miles and took several longer trips. At 5K miles I went to synthetic oil.
I did the same for the 84 Civic in my signature that I purchased new and I now have over 400K miles on the car.
For me, keep it simple works. A hard driving break in is fine for someone else's car. Modern engines in reality probably do not need any break in at all. My version of a break in is in the category of, it can't hurt and might help. I expend the extra effort and expense because it's my car and I then to keep cars a bit longer than most people.
To me babying would be driving the car the way I drive my Jeep.All highway from the start.A constant 60-65 miles an hour on the highway with very little stop and g
n the weekend I would do a constant 70-80 on the highway for 100 miles straight.Could be a good thing or bad for a new engine.Joe
n the weekend I would do a constant 70-80 on the highway for 100 miles straight.Could be a good thing or bad for a new engine.Joe
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Some also say to drive it like you just stole it.
IMO, it does not make any difference anymore, maybe 15 years ago but today, just drive it normally. One of my cars purchased new was driven 600 miles from out of state dealer to mine. No doubt all interstate. Runs fine uses no oil. Other one driven normally same result. So, whatever the manual says but with today's manufacturing processes I don't think it makes any difference.
I also believe that is true for the first oil change, doing it early makes no difference and there are no studies to Show otherwise, just anecdotal comments.
IMO, it does not make any difference anymore, maybe 15 years ago but today, just drive it normally. One of my cars purchased new was driven 600 miles from out of state dealer to mine. No doubt all interstate. Runs fine uses no oil. Other one driven normally same result. So, whatever the manual says but with today's manufacturing processes I don't think it makes any difference.
I also believe that is true for the first oil change, doing it early makes no difference and there are no studies to Show otherwise, just anecdotal comments.
I was reading on the Forester forums (yes ,different engine) that people who claimed to drive it hard, but vary the RPMs and keep them low (IE - hard pulls from 1000 to 3500 RPM) were not experiencing any oil consumption. I'm not sure as to how true that is.
Don't race it and don't baby it. Just drive normally and follow the manufactures oil change recommendations because the engineers know more than us shade tree mechanics.
I would follow what Subaru recommends for break in. If they dont, then I would drive normal, no WOT until after 3000 miles and early oil change. With that, I bought a 99 Pontiac trans am w the LS1 in it brand new and I did a WOT run the next day, and it was fine until I sold it w 100k miles on it
Nothing really special to it since the critical stuff was already done at the factory.
Drive it normally and drive hard occasionally. Wait until the engine is up to normal operating temperature before driving hard (this should always be the case, even after break in).
Drive it normally and drive hard occasionally. Wait until the engine is up to normal operating temperature before driving hard (this should always be the case, even after break in).
Originally Posted By: Astro14
I would absolutely "baby" it for the first thousand. Don't go to redline, keep the RPMs mid range. Vary throttle and speed. Full throttle only occasionally, near max RPM onoy after fully warms up. For a turbo, let it idle for 15-20 seconds before driving so the turbo is spinning slowly until full oil flow and some heat has started to expand. Let the car run near idle (drive slowly) at the end of each drive to let the turbo cool...
I should point out that all three of my turbo cars see full throttle now and then, but only after 15 minutes of run time. They get a cool down. They have their original turbos and run flawlessly. Two of them are at 180K.
What do you consider babying?
This exactly.
I would absolutely "baby" it for the first thousand. Don't go to redline, keep the RPMs mid range. Vary throttle and speed. Full throttle only occasionally, near max RPM onoy after fully warms up. For a turbo, let it idle for 15-20 seconds before driving so the turbo is spinning slowly until full oil flow and some heat has started to expand. Let the car run near idle (drive slowly) at the end of each drive to let the turbo cool...
I should point out that all three of my turbo cars see full throttle now and then, but only after 15 minutes of run time. They get a cool down. They have their original turbos and run flawlessly. Two of them are at 180K.
What do you consider babying?
This exactly.
Originally Posted By: CT8
Originally Posted By: Astro14
I would absolutely "baby" it for the first thousand. Don't go to redline, keep the RPMs mid range. Vary throttle and speed. Full throttle only occasionally, near max RPM onoy after fully warms up. For a turbo, let it idle for 15-20 seconds before driving so the turbo is spinning slowly until full oil flow and some heat has started to expand. Let the car run near idle (drive slowly) at the end of each drive to let the turbo cool...
I should point out that all three of my turbo cars see full throttle now and then, but only after 15 minutes of run time. They get a cool down. They have their original turbos and run flawlessly. Two of them are at 180K.
What do you consider babying?
This exactly.
+2
And also read the manual to see what it says. The manual should provide the best insight.
Originally Posted By: Astro14
I would absolutely "baby" it for the first thousand. Don't go to redline, keep the RPMs mid range. Vary throttle and speed. Full throttle only occasionally, near max RPM onoy after fully warms up. For a turbo, let it idle for 15-20 seconds before driving so the turbo is spinning slowly until full oil flow and some heat has started to expand. Let the car run near idle (drive slowly) at the end of each drive to let the turbo cool...
I should point out that all three of my turbo cars see full throttle now and then, but only after 15 minutes of run time. They get a cool down. They have their original turbos and run flawlessly. Two of them are at 180K.
What do you consider babying?
This exactly.
+2
And also read the manual to see what it says. The manual should provide the best insight.
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It used to be that you NEEDED to seat the rings within the first couple hundred miles... you did this by by doing many mid-rpm ( 2500 to 4500 say..) , 2nd or 3rd gear full throttle pulls, with full engine braking on coast down. You need full throttle to apply max pressure to the ring / cylinder interface...
And you had to do it early, otherwise the roughness of the cylinder bore would wear away to much to ever be able to fully seat the very hard rings... and you would have lowish compression and burn oil.
Does this still apply today... who knows. But you do hear more stories about oil consumption in new cars these days... poor break in...? CVT transmissions that don't allow mid range full throttle pulls... low tension rings for max fuel economy...
And there are other non-engine parts to consider as well... should these be gently broken in ... or firmly ... who knows.
I have always done the mostly easy, but with at least a dozen or so hard pulls early... and had no problems...
I also know people who went gentle for about 2 minutes, then drove it hard... no problems.
And I do know a couple people who completely babied the car for weeks... and had no problems...
With modern engine building techniques, I'm not sure it really matters.
And you had to do it early, otherwise the roughness of the cylinder bore would wear away to much to ever be able to fully seat the very hard rings... and you would have lowish compression and burn oil.
Does this still apply today... who knows. But you do hear more stories about oil consumption in new cars these days... poor break in...? CVT transmissions that don't allow mid range full throttle pulls... low tension rings for max fuel economy...
And there are other non-engine parts to consider as well... should these be gently broken in ... or firmly ... who knows.
I have always done the mostly easy, but with at least a dozen or so hard pulls early... and had no problems...
I also know people who went gentle for about 2 minutes, then drove it hard... no problems.
And I do know a couple people who completely babied the car for weeks... and had no problems...
With modern engine building techniques, I'm not sure it really matters.
I followed the owner manual recommendation, don't redline the first 500-600 miles otherwise just drive normal. None of my cars has engine problems.
The oldest is 1994 LS400 with 370k miles has original valve cover gasket, and the same for 2000 E430 with 150k miles. The 11 years old S2000 has only 52k miles the engine is flawless, the only problem is the clutch I'm having it changed now, because it is mostly city driving so the clutch was used a lot more than highway driving.
The oldest is 1994 LS400 with 370k miles has original valve cover gasket, and the same for 2000 E430 with 150k miles. The 11 years old S2000 has only 52k miles the engine is flawless, the only problem is the clutch I'm having it changed now, because it is mostly city driving so the clutch was used a lot more than highway driving.
I had always heard that one way to break in an engine, in addition to taking it easy, was to maximize the number of heat-up and cool-offs of the engine.
The thinking was that the repeated expansion and contraction of the metals helped the break-in process.
Any truth to this?
The thinking was that the repeated expansion and contraction of the metals helped the break-in process.
Any truth to this?
With the big truck engines we drive them full throttle fully loaded 136,000lbs right from day one. Never really have any oil consumption problems, just leaks over time.
car straight out of the manufacturing facility: engine already over 80% broken in (and not smoking, pass emissions, cat works fine, etc.). The remaining part can be done with ease for the first couple of hundreds of miles within city's stop-n-go traffic.
Because these engines and cars are mass-produced, there shall always be some odd-ball situation where the engine burns motor oil from day-1, and it's not apparent until a few thousand miles down the road (when it's due for oil change, or whatever reason). These are the kind of problem where, as the owner the vehicle, should promptly take note and if excessive, start dealing with the dealership/manufacturer.
So far, I've owned my fair share of new/used automobiles, with 2 of them being fresh(new, 1st owner) from day-1, which includes my beloved fit (8yrs old now). Did I baby it from day1? Nope... I just drove it in the city during the 1st week of purchase; and went on a road trip to seattle on a relatively steady 70m/hr drive and back...then changed out the oil relatively early and move on with my own OCI regimen.
8 yrs now and never burn a single drop of oil during OCI...
Q.
I've done numerous engine blueprinting/rebuilds in the past with new rings, etc. and no, it doesn't take that long to break-in a fresh new engine (a few miles of careful acceleration/deceleration and then drive normally in the city over the next 60 miles or so).
Because these engines and cars are mass-produced, there shall always be some odd-ball situation where the engine burns motor oil from day-1, and it's not apparent until a few thousand miles down the road (when it's due for oil change, or whatever reason). These are the kind of problem where, as the owner the vehicle, should promptly take note and if excessive, start dealing with the dealership/manufacturer.
So far, I've owned my fair share of new/used automobiles, with 2 of them being fresh(new, 1st owner) from day-1, which includes my beloved fit (8yrs old now). Did I baby it from day1? Nope... I just drove it in the city during the 1st week of purchase; and went on a road trip to seattle on a relatively steady 70m/hr drive and back...then changed out the oil relatively early and move on with my own OCI regimen.
8 yrs now and never burn a single drop of oil during OCI...
Q.
I've done numerous engine blueprinting/rebuilds in the past with new rings, etc. and no, it doesn't take that long to break-in a fresh new engine (a few miles of careful acceleration/deceleration and then drive normally in the city over the next 60 miles or so).
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