Running in a new car. Did you obey the manual ?

[ravencsr]

Just wanted to know peoples opinon on whether you obeyed the owners manual when it comes to running in a new car?

My owners manual, VE SSV auto, states I should not do any hard acceleration from low gears until 1000km are reached. Dont go over 110km/h, and dont travel on constant speeds for too long.

I was speaking to an ex mechanic today at work, and he was talking about how you wouldnt need to worry too much with todays engines, that they should be able to cope. He also said I should hammer it a bit as well, to the benefit of the engines pistons or something like that.

Curious to hear whether new car owners took care early on or did you just drive it !!!!!

[Bravotwozero]

I didn't do anything special. Just didn't labour the engine too much and didn't sit on the same speed for long periods of time. Other than that just took it easy until the first oil change was done.

[jamesmp]

I gave my new VE SV6 a bit but nothing major. A few revs is important to wear the seals in properly and make the engine run efficiently. As said before though, making the engine labour and doing constant speeds will definitely do some damage.

[ari666]

labouring the engine is what breaks it in. you wanna drive it up big steep hills and really put pressure on it without revving, so the rings get a chance to compress properley. you only really need to do that for an hour or so, then just keep the revs low for the next few hundred kms.

people say modern engines dont need it, but they do really. im pretty sure the ecu's that come with LSx'x have preset 'break in' times, so after you have done 500kms the tune changes slightly. dunno why chevy would do that if break-in wasnt important.

[Blown V6 Hatch]

Run in is over rated IMO. How do guys run drag car engines in? That's right, flat out down the quarter mile...Just drive it like you normally would, but a good run up the hills or towing a trailer will do it good.

[jamesmp]

When I said don't make the engine labour I meant flooring it in sixth gear up a steep hill to maintain 60km/h when you should have shifted up.

[Slipper]

pretty sure drag car engines blow up far more often than normal everyday drivers...

[ari666]

When I said don't make the engine labour I meant flooring it in sixth gear up a steep hill to maintain 60km/h when you should have shifted up.

no, thats pretty much what you SHOULD do.

and BV6, its ok for drag cars, cos they get stripped down after each run. if you wanna keep your car for 300,000 its a different story...

[naf33n]

Run in is over rated IMO. How do guys run drag car engines in? That's right, flat out down the quarter mile...Just drive it like you normally would, but a good run up the hills or towing a trailer will do it good.

hmmm.. drag cars are not designed to last more then a few hundred meteres, not a couple hundred thousands k's
and the better teams do a degree of running in on the engine dyno when tuning new motors.

[Brett_jjj]

Labouring any engine at any time, especially whilst its being run in, excessively loads up at the main and big end bearings, which is definitely not good for bearing life. Ive not long ago stripped down a V6 engine that was in an old VR the old people up the road used to own, theyve never reved the engine, its probably never been over 4000 rpm, and it was always serviced at holden ,they used to just labour it around all the time, especially the old lady, she was really bad at it, and the way the engines bearings had worn, showed the results of labouring the engine, every crank journal was tapered and the bearings had all worn unevenly on one side.
One thing Ive heard that is supposed to be good for a new engine when its being run in, is to let the throttle off when coasting downhill in gear. This creates high vacuum in the cylinders which helps suck the engine oil up past the piston rings, helping them bed in properly. Id overheard some BMW technicians talking about this one day..They also mentioned how labouring an engine is bad for it, especially at a critical time like when running the engine in.

[Blown V6 Hatch]

You guys have missed the point, top fuelers get stripped down after each run, but a lot of race engines do a lot of work between teardowns. I still maintain that new engines don't need to be "run in" as such. Sure, don't go pegging a brand new engine on the limiter for 5 minutes, but there is no need to baby it IMO (read:my opinion).

[Bravotwozero]

You guys have missed the point, top fuelers get stripped down after each run, but a lot of race engines do a lot of work between teardowns. I still maintain that new engines don't need to be "run in" as such. Sure, don't go pegging a brand new engine on the limiter for 5 minutes, but there is no need to baby it IMO (read:my opinion).

Yep and it is a fair point

[jamesmp]

no, thats pretty much what you SHOULD do.

and BV6, its ok for drag cars, cos they get stripped down after each run. if you wanna keep your car for 300,000 its a different story...

We'll have to agree to disagree on that one ...

[ari666]

there are a billion different theorys on how it should/nt be done.

[MikeCuzzy]

I'd be inclined to obey what the manual says regarding running in.

Holden wouldn't have put it in there if it wasn't needed, and more than likely it's there so they avoid having to repair the car during warranty.

[ravencsr]

I'd be inclined to obey what the manual says regarding running in.

Holden wouldn't have put it in there if it wasn't needed, and more than likely it's there so they avoid having to repair the car during warranty.

This is the same mob that brought us the IQ System isn't it !

Will have to start a new thread on how much sh!t that thing is causing me

Thanks everyone for the posts, keep em coming.

[ClairBear]

I am old enough to remember as a kid seeing cars driving along slowly with a sign on the back "running in, please pass"

I have owned a few brand new cars and just driven them normally from the day I picked them up and never had any issues.

[VS 5.0]

I used to know a guy that was into building engines in the shed. His method for running an engine in was to let rip with a massive burnout straight up.

[ToMMMaY]

lol its like those old blokes with the f6s and xr6ts
Poor turbos dont even get a chance to be used..

Eventually they will just die because they dont open them up

[MikeCuzzy]

This is the same mob that brought us the IQ System isn't it !

Will have to start a new thread on how much sh!t that thing is causing me

Thanks everyone for the posts, keep em coming.

Well in that case, if you're not going to follow manual, you have 2 options:

1) Drive as per your normal driving habits.

2) Flog it.

Let us know how you go.

[ravencsr]

Well in that case, if you're not going to follow manual, you have 2 options:

1) Drive as per your normal driving habits.

2) Flog it.

Let us know how you go.

He He

My last car was a Renault Master Van........................... when loaded, I had to be careful around corners..........

not anymore

I wont be stupid with it, but I wont be driving Miss Daisy either !

[Darcon666]

All I can say is cain it... please see link here: Break In Secrets--How To Break In New Motorcycle and Car Engines For More Power

...And I have personally done this on all my "BRAND NEW" engine built from scratch, not a crate motors.

[Gravity]

There's something suspicious about that guys page on engine run-in, but I can't quite put my finger on it.

[T-rex]

He makes a convincing argument about it, decent read.

[Brett_jjj]

I didnt see where it mentions anything about labouring an engine uphill in the higher gears.. Full throttle runs through the lower gears are one thing, and should be done now and then whilst running in an engine, but labouring the engine up hills etc, in the higher gears at low revs will just do more harm than good. More so in a manual than an auto obviously.