Picking up new car Friday, any tips on breaking it in?
- Thread starter zen4life
- Start date
SayNoToPistons
Wheels, not rims...
- :
- CX-5 GT AWD w/ Tech, RX-8 GT 6spd w/ 'goodies'
Drive normally.
Yeah, I read that in the manual. But just after I bought the car, I had to drive 200 miles and back on the highway. Anyone know the technical reason why a constant speed is not good during the breaking in period?
costermonger
Member
- :
- CX-5
I'm curious too; I've done some engine break-in work on airplanes (low, low-tech by comparison to cars) and their manufacturers want constant speed and high temps to help seat the piston rings.
(see below)
No special break-in is necessary, but a few
precautions in the first 1,000 km (600
miles) may add to the performance,
economy, and life of your Mazda.
Do not race the engine.
Do not maintain one constant speed,
either slow or fast, for a long period of
time.
Do not drive constantly at full-throttle
or high engine rpm for extended
periods of time.
Avoid unnecessary hard stops.
Avoid full-throttle starts.
Do not tow a trailer.
1
123373
Supposedly varying the RPM's seats the rings fully preventing oil consumption. I have done this on every car I purchased and never had any issues with oil consumption so I am a believer.
I'm a believer as well.
Probably harks back to the 60's when engines just about made it to 60k before a rebuild would be the norm. Theory was the better you ran it in, the longer would last.
Over the last 30 years I have bought many brand new vans for business use, and in the early days I had an appointed driver who was "old school" like me and I used to give him any new vehicle to run it in. In the last 2 years I have bought 6 new vans and haven't driven any of them. As my business grew however, I was no longer buying vans one at a time but in bunches and had to resort to passing them direct to the appropriate drivers. I found in time made no difference, even after 150k the engines would run like a sewing machine.
When it comes to my own personal car however, I would treat it with kid gloves for at least 1500 miles even though I replace my car before it gets to 40k.
Another thing I grew up with is an oil change after 1,000 miles, that is a thing of the past as well. I feel however there is no harm in an early first lube replacement.
Alex
Probably harks back to the 60's when engines just about made it to 60k before a rebuild would be the norm. Theory was the better you ran it in, the longer would last.
Over the last 30 years I have bought many brand new vans for business use, and in the early days I had an appointed driver who was "old school" like me and I used to give him any new vehicle to run it in. In the last 2 years I have bought 6 new vans and haven't driven any of them. As my business grew however, I was no longer buying vans one at a time but in bunches and had to resort to passing them direct to the appropriate drivers. I found in time made no difference, even after 150k the engines would run like a sewing machine.
When it comes to my own personal car however, I would treat it with kid gloves for at least 1500 miles even though I replace my car before it gets to 40k.
Another thing I grew up with is an oil change after 1,000 miles, that is a thing of the past as well. I feel however there is no harm in an early first lube replacement.
Alex
Well, I just researched it a bit over the net. It seems there are just as many answers to why you should not keep the RPM constant for long periods as there are threads discussing the issue, many of them very contradictory. Break-in techniques vary wildly also (baby the engine, push it hard. Change oil soon, wait 10k, etc.). I did find a thread where a guy looks to have researched this quite a lot, and crunches what he finds here (see post 10):
http://www.toyotanation.com/forum/105-camry-hybrid/416326-break-necessary.html
My overal conclusion from all I have read is that if there is any benefit to doing anything special to break in an engine, it is very marginal, and will most likely make no noticeable difference on any modern engine.
http://www.toyotanation.com/forum/105-camry-hybrid/416326-break-necessary.html
My overal conclusion from all I have read is that if there is any benefit to doing anything special to break in an engine, it is very marginal, and will most likely make no noticeable difference on any modern engine.
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In any case I think it's best to follow the manufacturer's recommendations. A lot of engineering goes into building engines so I trust their word and would not take a risk of any trouble down the road whether it be 5,000, 50,000 or 100,000 miles. 
