Thoughts on engine break in?

[smsgt350]

So I finally am picking up my gt350 april 8 at noon. I have a 150 mile drive home from the dealer (Kelowna to Kamloops) Ford recommends no WOT for the first 100 miles and no racing till after 1000 miles. I think I will follow their advice and of course im itching to see what this thing can do however 100 miles seems kind of early to consider it safe to redline. What do you guys think? Ive taken time off to drive the Fraser canyon (tunnels yay), sea to sky highway and sunshine coast on Vancouver island so it wont take long to hit 1000 miles.

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[Steve68]

Oh no you ditent.

http://www.mustang6g.com/forums/showthread.php?t=35275

 

[jasonstang]

I would keep her below 4000 and no more than half throttle for the first 500 miles, then no more than 6000 and 3/4 throttle till you hit 1000 miles.
Also, avoid long idle warm-ups. Start driving gently no more than 3000 rpm once the temp gauge hit 120 (rpm drops to 1000 ish).

 

[GT_Dave]

Always warm it up thoroughly, get the oil temp over 150 degrees before moderate to heavy acceleration. The voodoo engine likes to cruise no lower than 2000 - 2500 RPM in any of the first 5 gears, for NORMAL driving there is no reason to go past 5000 RPM. Don't lug it and don't over rev it for 500 miles, it should be fine.
I have 1400 miles on mine and yet to bounce it off the rev limiter. I'll be taking it to the track this weekend, so that will probably change.

 

[smsgt350]

Oh no you ditent.

http://www.mustang6g.com/forums/showthread.php?t=35275

Ok thanks ..guess I missed that thread..didn't mean to beat the dead horse again lol

 

[Myshelby3425]

Screw the manual. Be easy on it for about 500 miles with occasional pulls to 8k if you'd like.

 

[Hack]

Treat the throttle like it's digital during break in. All the way down or all the way up. Nothing else. Just keep the revs down for the first few hundred miles.

 

[jasonstang]

Treat the throttle like it's digital during break in. All the way down or all the way up. Nothing else. Just keep the revs down for the first few hundred miles.

Actually if you are at 1500-2000 rpm going WOT is the worst you can do.
Light load higher rpm is better than heavy load lower rpm when the engine is new and everything is tight.

 

[jasonstang]

Always warm it up thoroughly, get the oil temp over 150 degrees before driving. The voodoo engine likes to cruise at 2000 - 2500 RPM in any of the first 5 gears, for normal driving there is no reason to go past 5000 RPM. Don't lug it and don't over rev it for 500 miles, it should be fine.
I have 1400 miles on mine and yet to bounce it off the rev limiter. I'll be taking it to the track this weekend, so that will probably change.

Idling to 150F is going to be at 5 minutes+ idling. That is a lot of raw gas being dumped into the crank case.
Warm up by driving gently is always better.

 

[krt22]

The voodoo engine likes to cruise at 2000 - 2500 RPM in any of the first 5 gears, for normal driving there is no reason to go past 5000 RPM. .

I respectfully disagree. I loves to be 4k+ and there is plenty of reason to go past 5k. Thats right when the sound track cleans up and it turns into a nice smooth wail.

I followed the manual. No WOT for the first 100 miles, minus track use no other precautions

 

[CANTWN4LSN]

So nothing wrong with a 100-150 mile road trip first day going repetitively through gears one thru five gently up to 5-6K rpm and then down with no lugging and no constant rpm on a nice two or four lane highway?

 

[Hack]

Actually if you are at 1500-2000 rpm going WOT is the worst you can do.
Light load higher rpm is better than heavy load lower rpm when the engine is new and everything is tight.

100% agree - even at 2500 full throttle feels like lugging it.

Idling to 150F is going to be at 5 minutes+ idling. That is a lot of raw gas being dumped into the crank case.
Warm up by driving gently is always better.

Excessive idling is similar to constant RPM cruise - really bad for a brand new engine.

I also would say to go easy when the engine is cold. Details, details...

So nothing wrong with a 100-150 mile road trip first day going repetitively through gears one thru five gently up to 5-6K rpm and then down with no lugging and no constant rpm on a nice two or four lane highway?

Probably nothing wrong but I prefer lots of brief periods of WOT and closed throttle to seat the rings as well as possible for max power.

 

[Trackaholic]

If break-in was of critical importance, the instructions would be much more detailed. They even say "no EXTENDED periods of WOT in the first 100 miles". That means brief periods of WOT are fine.

1. Let the oil warm up before getting on the car hard
2. Vary the load and RPM
3. Vary the speed within reason
4. Don't do a track day until after 1000 miles.

Basically just drive normally, with maybe some additional shifting and speed variation.

And full throttle away from a stop. EVERY TIME! Just because it's fun.

-T

 

[combustor]

If break-in was of critical importance, the instructions would be much more detailed. They even say "no EXTENDED periods of WOT in the first 100 miles". That means brief periods of WOT are fine.

1. Let the oil warm up before getting on the car hard
2. Vary the load and RPM
3. Vary the speed within reason
4. Don't do a track day until after 1000 miles.

Basically just drive normally, with maybe some additional shifting and speed variation.

And full throttle away from a stop. EVERY TIME! Just because it's fun.

-T

Exactly this. You can't possibly drive it hard enough on the street to hurt anything if it's warmed up. In fact, I bet people that were afraid to WOT in the first 100 miles will see higher oil consumption from the cylinder walls glazing before the rings could seat. The first few hours of engine operation are critical to long engine life and high compression and power output. You should make a point to drive it as hard as you can without getting arrested AFTER the oil temp is >170 when you take delivery

 

[Tomster]

FWIW, the car I drove at the track attack had less than 70 miles on it. We drove those cars hard. I brought that up and it didn't phase the instructor at all.

I would follow the owners manual supplement if it was my car. 100mi and then occasional WOT. I'm still less than 500 miles and still find the floor from time to time.

I plan to do an oil change at 1000 miles with an oil analysis for my own records.

Bottom line, if the folks at ford racing school are ok with beating the snot out of a car with 70 miles on it, then you will probably be ok. Its your car. If it was mine, I would just follow the supplements recommendations.

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