Engine break in procedure

[DrumReaper]

what's with all the anger every time people mention BMW, and the stuff BMW does?

it is what it is, you can choose whatever you want to do with your car, but the engineers at BMW who designed the s65 which won many many engine of the year awards since inception clearly felt the need to list all the steps for the owners to follow during break-in.

and I am assuming your parents already trained you so Cottonelle doesn't need to.

Have you ever had breakthrough..? No Bueno!!! :cheers:

As for the BMW stuff, that works for them... Let's leave it there.

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[Hermz]

Make sure you get the engine up to a very nice warm operating temperature, than do a lot of varying revs with full engine braking. Engine braking is huge to help seat the piston rings. This is extremely important for the first 100 miles. Vary your speeds, gears and RPMs. Worst thing you can do is hop on the freeway and throw it on cruise control. I will probably do an oil change around 1000 miles.

 

[BmacIL]

The liner and rings don't get "accustomed" to high RPMs. They do not have personalities. Component loads are much higher at high RPMs. I keep the RPMs down during initial break-in to give components a chance to wear together gradually rather than hammering down the high points and dislodging all the debris at once. If you have an actual reason that makes sense for bumping the redline right away I would be interested.



I agree that ring seal is important and it is a good reason to use full and no throttle often during break in. Extended idling or excessively gentle use is not going to do the engine any favors.

Forgive my word choice of accustomed...

The point being that piston accelerations are highest at max engine speed, and since nothing is perfectly rigid, you do get rod stretch from the huge forces. It's small, but the rings will contact area of the cylinder liner that they would otherwise not at lower engine speeds/forces. I don't say this to say you should be taking the engine near redline a lot, but you shouldn't completely shy away from it during the 1000 mile break in.

 

[DrumReaper]

Forgive my word choice of accustomed...

The point being that piston accelerations are highest at max engine speed, and since nothing is perfectly rigid, you do get rod stretch from the huge forces. It's small, but the rings will contact area of the cylinder liner that they would otherwise not at lower engine speeds/forces. I don't say this to say you should be taking the engine near redline a lot, but you shouldn't completely shy away from it during the 1000 mile break in.

This is the reason Ford kept is simple... Smh. Everybody is an authority is breakin all the sudden.

Your point was well noted.

 

[BmacIL]

This is the reason Ford kept is simple... Smh. Everybody is an authority is breakin all the sudden.

Your point was well noted.

Agreed 100%...stick to what's in the manual.

 

[PonyPower]

One quick thing remember your doing a break in really more for the ecu and other components like the clutch adjust. The motor and trans are broken in at the dealership.

 

[krt22]

One quick thing remember your doing a break in really more for the ecu and other components like the clutch adjust.The motor and trans are broken in at the dealership.

O rly?

 

[Hack]

what's with all the anger every time people mention BMW, and the stuff BMW does?

it is what it is, you can choose whatever you want to do with your car, but the engineers at BMW who designed the s65 which won many many engine of the year awards since inception clearly felt the need to list all the steps for the owners to follow during break-in.

and I am assuming your parents already trained you so Cottonelle doesn't need to.

He reacts extremely any time he's contradicted. It's not just you or BMW. I like the idea of a company taking the time to add more specific information.

Make sure you get the engine up to a very nice warm operating temperature, than do a lot of varying revs with full engine braking. Engine braking is huge to help seat the piston rings. This is extremely important for the first 100 miles. Vary your speeds, gears and RPMs. Worst thing you can do is hop on the freeway and throw it on cruise control. I will probably do an oil change around 1000 miles.

I agree with the point on engine braking.

One quick thing remember your doing a break in really more for the ecu and other components like the clutch adjust. The motor and trans are broken in at the dealership.

It is important to go easy on the clutch at first, but none of the varying speeds, etc are for the clutch.

O rly?

 

[Hack]

Forgive my word choice of accustomed...

The point being that piston accelerations are highest at max engine speed, and since nothing is perfectly rigid, you do get rod stretch from the huge forces. It's small, but the rings will contact area of the cylinder liner that they would otherwise not at lower engine speeds/forces. I don't say this to say you should be taking the engine near redline a lot, but you shouldn't completely shy away from it during the 1000 mile break in.

It is true what you're saying about rod stretch. Doesn't convince me to change my plans.
:cheers:

 

[stanglife]

Even 100 miles is very short. I've heard that part of that is due to emissions requirements - they expect optimal ring seal to occur very early in the engines life to avoid blow-by over a longer period of time. The rings have a very short amount of time to make 'good' seal so leaning on the throttle a little bit (without extended WOT runs, as indicated in the manual) is thought to ensure that enough pressure actually "seats" the rings as opposed to letting them glaze over the surface and potentially never seal as well as they might have.

 

[Trackaholic]

BREAKING-IN

Your vehicle requires a break-in period. Drive your new vehicle at least 100 mi (160 km) before performing extended wide open throttle maneuvers and at least 1,000 mi (1,600 km) before performance or competition conditions.

Note: Vary your speed frequently in order to give the moving parts a chance to break in.



Hmmmm... What about that sounds vague? If there's any vagueness it's probably because the perception of the one reading feels there is a certain degree of entitlement to do as they please and not as they're told.

An an engineer, here is what I find vague:

1. They say "Drive at least 100 miles before performing EXTENDED wide open throttle maneuvers."

That statement implies that it is acceptable to perform "non-extended" full throttle maneuvers when below 100 miles. So, what does extended mean in that context? A 0-60 run at full throttle is less than 5 seconds; is that extended? Maybe I should do a full throttle 0-60 brand new?

2. They say to drive at least 1000 miles before performance or competition conditions.

Well, what is a "performance" condition? Does that contradict the first statement and mean that we shouldn't do full throttle at all prior to 1000 miles? Or are they just saying don't go to a drag strip or street race? Or is "performance conditions" referring to cornering G's and braking?

Really, the statement from Ford about break-in is almost meaningless when trying to interpret it literally, and therefore I have to assume that break-in really isn't too critical to the overall performance. If it was, they'd have something much more precise.

IMO, the best info to takeaway from the instructions is the intent behind them. My understanding would be:

1. Always warm up the car before pushing it hard
2. It's OK to go WOT or to redline right away, just not for more than a few seconds at a time (and make sure you are warmed-up first).
3. Don't track it until you've hit 1000 miles.
4. None of this is very important (except the warm up part)

I'll be picking up my car in a different state, and will have a long HWY run home afterwards. It will be interesting trying to keep the speeds varied in order to prevent the "constant speed" issues that most break-in instructions recommend avoiding.

-T

 

[krt22]

I'll be picking up my car in a different state, and will have a long HWY run home afterwards. It will be interesting trying to keep the speeds varied in order to prevent the "constant speed" issues that most break-in instructions recommend avoiding.

-T

Just drive like some crazy people do, gas...coast...gas...coast..

 

[GTA Mustang]

I'll be picking up my car in a different state, and will have a long HWY run home afterwards. It will be interesting trying to keep the speeds varied in order to prevent the "constant speed" issues that most break-in instructions recommend avoiding.

-T

That's why God dictates that this car comes with stick shift so at least the engine and transmission can get a varying speed work out!

 

[CANTWN4LSN]

With mine would like to make a 1000 mile road trip to break in taking secondary highways and backroads for variation. Passing cars, generally more curves, stop and go, more hills,etc. Then oil change when back and good to go.

 

[DrumReaper]

An an engineer, here is what I find vague:

1. They say "Drive at least 100 miles before performing EXTENDED wide open throttle maneuvers."

That statement implies that it is acceptable to perform "non-extended" full throttle maneuvers when below 100 miles. So, what does extended mean in that context? A 0-60 run at full throttle is less than 5 seconds; is that extended? Maybe I should do a full throttle 0-60 brand new?

2. They say to drive at least 1000 miles before performance or competition conditions.

Well, what is a "performance" condition? Does that contradict the first statement and mean that we shouldn't do full throttle at all prior to 1000 miles? Or are they just saying don't go to a drag strip or street race? Or is "performance conditions" referring to cornering G's and braking?

Really, the statement from Ford about break-in is almost meaningless when trying to interpret it literally, and therefore I have to assume that break-in really isn't too critical to the overall performance. If it was, they'd have something much more precise.

IMO, the best info to takeaway from the instructions is the intent behind them. My understanding would be:

1. Always warm up the car before pushing it hard
2. It's OK to go WOT or to redline right away, just not for more than a few seconds at a time (and make sure you are warmed-up first).
3. Don't track it until you've hit 1000 miles.
4. None of this is very important (except the warm up part)

I'll be picking up my car in a different state, and will have a long HWY run home afterwards. It will be interesting trying to keep the speeds varied in order to prevent the "constant speed" issues that most break-in instructions recommend avoiding.

-T

Hmmmm... I can appreciate your opinion as an engineer, but man that is deep... Too deep. I like the simplified version which is not so ambiguous unless, again, you like reading between the lines.

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